K. Alexander 亞天恩
@thianun.bsky.social
台灣戰貓. Associate Professor of Chinese. Early modern popular religious literature and print history. Co-parent of CRTA.info. Book: Teaching and Transformation in Popular Confucian Literature of the Late Qing (Michigan, August 2025). she/hers
Reposted by K. Alexander 亞天恩
Good read on the dangers faced by Taiwanese firefighters on the job
www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/ar...
www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/ar...
Demographic issue: Taiwan’s firefighters gambling with their lives - Taipei Times
Bringing Taiwan to the World and the World to Taiwan
www.taipeitimes.com
November 11, 2025 at 2:20 AM
Good read on the dangers faced by Taiwanese firefighters on the job
www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/ar...
www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/ar...
Reposted by K. Alexander 亞天恩
Listen, I'm not gonna use AI to help me write this thing. I'm gonna struggle, procrastinate, self-hate, agonize, and suffer -- just as god intended!
November 9, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Listen, I'm not gonna use AI to help me write this thing. I'm gonna struggle, procrastinate, self-hate, agonize, and suffer -- just as god intended!
Entirely thanks to this image, I've been on a tangent looking for a complete version of this Chinese divination text (related to 28 lunar mansions & their animals) - 演禽三世相法 purportedly written in the Tang but the popular printed tradition starts in the late Ming
#woodblockwednesday
#woodblockwednesday
November 5, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Entirely thanks to this image, I've been on a tangent looking for a complete version of this Chinese divination text (related to 28 lunar mansions & their animals) - 演禽三世相法 purportedly written in the Tang but the popular printed tradition starts in the late Ming
#woodblockwednesday
#woodblockwednesday
My favorite part of sitting on a friend’s porch and giving candy to random children was when a small band of inflatable dinosaurs piloted by ~10 year olds roared and pretended to chomp down on the entire candy bowl. Also all the toddlers were charming and so confused in general.
November 1, 2025 at 4:22 AM
My favorite part of sitting on a friend’s porch and giving candy to random children was when a small band of inflatable dinosaurs piloted by ~10 year olds roared and pretended to chomp down on the entire candy bowl. Also all the toddlers were charming and so confused in general.
It's 1997.
Our missionary-run school in Kaohsiung doesn't allow Halloween because they think it's satanic. Three missionary families hold a Halloween party anyway because that's stupid.
Heavily influenced by the first presidential elections in 1996, I go as "The Spirit of Taiwanese Democracy"
Our missionary-run school in Kaohsiung doesn't allow Halloween because they think it's satanic. Three missionary families hold a Halloween party anyway because that's stupid.
Heavily influenced by the first presidential elections in 1996, I go as "The Spirit of Taiwanese Democracy"
October 31, 2025 at 9:29 PM
It's 1997.
Our missionary-run school in Kaohsiung doesn't allow Halloween because they think it's satanic. Three missionary families hold a Halloween party anyway because that's stupid.
Heavily influenced by the first presidential elections in 1996, I go as "The Spirit of Taiwanese Democracy"
Our missionary-run school in Kaohsiung doesn't allow Halloween because they think it's satanic. Three missionary families hold a Halloween party anyway because that's stupid.
Heavily influenced by the first presidential elections in 1996, I go as "The Spirit of Taiwanese Democracy"
Reposted by K. Alexander 亞天恩
Rewatched S1 of 俗女養成記 over the weekend - can anyone recommend other Taiwanese shows like this? Especially interested in ones that have lots of Tai-gi dialogue (especially southern accented Taiwanese).
I finally get to go back to Taiwan next summer & my Tai-gi needs practice!
I finally get to go back to Taiwan next summer & my Tai-gi needs practice!
October 27, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Rewatched S1 of 俗女養成記 over the weekend - can anyone recommend other Taiwanese shows like this? Especially interested in ones that have lots of Tai-gi dialogue (especially southern accented Taiwanese).
I finally get to go back to Taiwan next summer & my Tai-gi needs practice!
I finally get to go back to Taiwan next summer & my Tai-gi needs practice!
Reposted by K. Alexander 亞天恩
Found this great illustrated edition of 子不語 (What the Master Didn't Say) from 1914. Printed using lithography, each volume has a few illustrations followed by the text in a compact font. All four volumes are on the @wikimediafoundation.org Commons: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SS...
October 27, 2025 at 9:45 AM
Found this great illustrated edition of 子不語 (What the Master Didn't Say) from 1914. Printed using lithography, each volume has a few illustrations followed by the text in a compact font. All four volumes are on the @wikimediafoundation.org Commons: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SS...
Reposted by K. Alexander 亞天恩
We are committed to uplifting students, scholars, and readers by publishing #OpenAccess monographs and providing our readers free, online access via our Fulcrum platform. Read more about how we're celebrating #OAWeek here: buff.ly/YqPuDrC
October 22, 2025 at 10:19 PM
We are committed to uplifting students, scholars, and readers by publishing #OpenAccess monographs and providing our readers free, online access via our Fulcrum platform. Read more about how we're celebrating #OAWeek here: buff.ly/YqPuDrC
Reposted by K. Alexander 亞天恩
For #WoodblockWednesday here's 釋氏源流 (Origins of the Shakya Clan), with a preface dated 1490 CE. Printed in the Joseon dynasty in Korea. Illustrations and short texts tell the story of the Buddha's life and manifestations of his power in history.
October 22, 2025 at 6:37 AM
For #WoodblockWednesday here's 釋氏源流 (Origins of the Shakya Clan), with a preface dated 1490 CE. Printed in the Joseon dynasty in Korea. Illustrations and short texts tell the story of the Buddha's life and manifestations of his power in history.
Reposted by K. Alexander 亞天恩
Looking forward to reading this one, Peng Xu’s new book The Courtesan’s Memory, Voice, and Late Ming Drama (U Mich Press)
The Courtesan's Memory, Voice, and Late Ming Drama
Peng Xu’s The Courtesan’s Memory, Voice, and Late Ming Drama argues that courtesans of the era played an active role in the theater and their impact manifested in Chinese literary history, albeit conc...
press.umich.edu
October 21, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Looking forward to reading this one, Peng Xu’s new book The Courtesan’s Memory, Voice, and Late Ming Drama (U Mich Press)
Reposted by K. Alexander 亞天恩
It’s never too early to start drilling your tot on the basics of aerial stage combat.
From Tainan’s lively 水錦歌劇團, up north for a short stint at Bali’s 安福宮.
#TaiwaneseOpera #歌仔戲 #kuaáhì
From Tainan’s lively 水錦歌劇團, up north for a short stint at Bali’s 安福宮.
#TaiwaneseOpera #歌仔戲 #kuaáhì
October 19, 2025 at 11:17 PM
It’s never too early to start drilling your tot on the basics of aerial stage combat.
From Tainan’s lively 水錦歌劇團, up north for a short stint at Bali’s 安福宮.
#TaiwaneseOpera #歌仔戲 #kuaáhì
From Tainan’s lively 水錦歌劇團, up north for a short stint at Bali’s 安福宮.
#TaiwaneseOpera #歌仔戲 #kuaáhì
In my offline life, I'm trying to stretch more by following yoga videos most mornings, but if I'd been alive in the Ming & Qing, I would need a book like this!
萬壽僊書 via ANU library, openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/items/f57a10... (v3 has the illustrations!)
#WoodblockWednesday
萬壽僊書 via ANU library, openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/items/f57a10... (v3 has the illustrations!)
#WoodblockWednesday
October 15, 2025 at 9:41 PM
In my offline life, I'm trying to stretch more by following yoga videos most mornings, but if I'd been alive in the Ming & Qing, I would need a book like this!
萬壽僊書 via ANU library, openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/items/f57a10... (v3 has the illustrations!)
#WoodblockWednesday
萬壽僊書 via ANU library, openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/items/f57a10... (v3 has the illustrations!)
#WoodblockWednesday
Reposted by K. Alexander 亞天恩
U of Arizona East Asian Studies is hiring a tenure-track Chinese Language Program director! I'm happy to answer any questions about it, the department, Tucson, etc. Please circulate widely:
Assistant Professor, Chinese (TE)
The area of expertise is open, and
we are particularly interested in candidates with successful experiences in
grant application or grant supported pr...
arizona.csod.com
October 14, 2025 at 5:18 PM
U of Arizona East Asian Studies is hiring a tenure-track Chinese Language Program director! I'm happy to answer any questions about it, the department, Tucson, etc. Please circulate widely:
Never had this many (8 so far) students emailing to ask if I'm taking PhD students next year. Is it that I just had a book come out or that I just got promoted?
Either way, I'm absolutely not equipped to guide anyone's PhD trajectory when I still feel like I'm making it all up as I go.
Either way, I'm absolutely not equipped to guide anyone's PhD trajectory when I still feel like I'm making it all up as I go.
October 14, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Never had this many (8 so far) students emailing to ask if I'm taking PhD students next year. Is it that I just had a book come out or that I just got promoted?
Either way, I'm absolutely not equipped to guide anyone's PhD trajectory when I still feel like I'm making it all up as I go.
Either way, I'm absolutely not equipped to guide anyone's PhD trajectory when I still feel like I'm making it all up as I go.
Reposted by K. Alexander 亞天恩
"One month ago, Sept 10, was the historic date when the number of days 🇹🇼 had spent #free from martial law officially surpassed the number of days endured under its stifling rule."
#Democracy, forged through untold hardships, is what clearly positions the 23 million people of #Taiwan in this world.
#Democracy, forged through untold hardships, is what clearly positions the 23 million people of #Taiwan in this world.
October 10, 2025 at 9:16 AM
"One month ago, Sept 10, was the historic date when the number of days 🇹🇼 had spent #free from martial law officially surpassed the number of days endured under its stifling rule."
#Democracy, forged through untold hardships, is what clearly positions the 23 million people of #Taiwan in this world.
#Democracy, forged through untold hardships, is what clearly positions the 23 million people of #Taiwan in this world.
Reposted by K. Alexander 亞天恩
Andrew Lang's Book of Dreams and Ghosts (1897) — Containing 78 weird happenings, from a demon strangling Devonian farmers in 1682 to a poltergeist terrorising a contemporary Chinese couple. Read it here: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/the-book-of-dreams-and-ghosts-1897
October 3, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Andrew Lang's Book of Dreams and Ghosts (1897) — Containing 78 weird happenings, from a demon strangling Devonian farmers in 1682 to a poltergeist terrorising a contemporary Chinese couple. Read it here: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/the-book-of-dreams-and-ghosts-1897
This #WoodblockWednesday, musing over the creativity of this Guangzhou publisher's branding on nearly every page of its printed lists of successful provincial exam candidates. Making a dry subject just a little cute, page by page.
All from fasc reprint 清歷科廣東鄉試錄 search.worldcat.org/title/34561437
All from fasc reprint 清歷科廣東鄉試錄 search.worldcat.org/title/34561437
October 1, 2025 at 7:51 PM
This #WoodblockWednesday, musing over the creativity of this Guangzhou publisher's branding on nearly every page of its printed lists of successful provincial exam candidates. Making a dry subject just a little cute, page by page.
All from fasc reprint 清歷科廣東鄉試錄 search.worldcat.org/title/34561437
All from fasc reprint 清歷科廣東鄉試錄 search.worldcat.org/title/34561437
Returning to the mothership in November for the first time since graduating, it'll be ... fun?
Enlightening?
Interesting, at least for me, and hopefully also for my generous hosts and my audience.
Enlightening?
Interesting, at least for me, and hopefully also for my generous hosts and my audience.
September 24, 2025 at 12:57 AM
Returning to the mothership in November for the first time since graduating, it'll be ... fun?
Enlightening?
Interesting, at least for me, and hopefully also for my generous hosts and my audience.
Enlightening?
Interesting, at least for me, and hopefully also for my generous hosts and my audience.
Thanks for the reminder it's #WoodblockWednesday!
Below, @sudasana.bsky.social shares a link to vols 1-8 of 32 from an incomplete copy of Shi Chengjin's (~1658-after 1739) 家寶全集.
BSB also holds a second, complete, & lower budget edition produced later 1/ www.digitale-sammlungen.de/en/search?fi...
Below, @sudasana.bsky.social shares a link to vols 1-8 of 32 from an incomplete copy of Shi Chengjin's (~1658-after 1739) 家寶全集.
BSB also holds a second, complete, & lower budget edition produced later 1/ www.digitale-sammlungen.de/en/search?fi...
September 17, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Thanks for the reminder it's #WoodblockWednesday!
Below, @sudasana.bsky.social shares a link to vols 1-8 of 32 from an incomplete copy of Shi Chengjin's (~1658-after 1739) 家寶全集.
BSB also holds a second, complete, & lower budget edition produced later 1/ www.digitale-sammlungen.de/en/search?fi...
Below, @sudasana.bsky.social shares a link to vols 1-8 of 32 from an incomplete copy of Shi Chengjin's (~1658-after 1739) 家寶全集.
BSB also holds a second, complete, & lower budget edition produced later 1/ www.digitale-sammlungen.de/en/search?fi...
Reposted by K. Alexander 亞天恩
The Story of Mrs. Lovewright and Purless Her Cat – a moving vintage fable about loneliness, love, and letting go www.themarginalian.org/2015/09/18/m...
The Story of Mrs. Lovewright and Purrless Her Cat: A Sweet Vintage Parable of Loneliness, Love, and Letting Go
A playful and profound reminder that real love lives outside our stubborn expectations.
www.themarginalian.org
September 17, 2025 at 12:03 PM
The Story of Mrs. Lovewright and Purless Her Cat – a moving vintage fable about loneliness, love, and letting go www.themarginalian.org/2015/09/18/m...
Reposted by K. Alexander 亞天恩
It's #WoodblockWednesday again! Here's a bonkers book of 2000+ pp. in which the author records his thoughts on anything and everything under the sun, basically an 18th century literatus substack. Shi Chengjin 石成金 (1739-1795), 家寳全集, www.digitale-sammlungen.de/en/view/bsb0...
September 17, 2025 at 9:59 AM
It's #WoodblockWednesday again! Here's a bonkers book of 2000+ pp. in which the author records his thoughts on anything and everything under the sun, basically an 18th century literatus substack. Shi Chengjin 石成金 (1739-1795), 家寳全集, www.digitale-sammlungen.de/en/view/bsb0...
If you see this, quote the energy you bring to Bluesky
September 16, 2025 at 4:57 PM
If you see this, quote the energy you bring to Bluesky
Reposted by K. Alexander 亞天恩
The original Canon logo from 1934 is really cool. I only just learned the name of the company originates with Guanyin AKA Kwanon (觀音) and only became "Canon" in 1947.
September 16, 2025 at 2:53 AM
The original Canon logo from 1934 is really cool. I only just learned the name of the company originates with Guanyin AKA Kwanon (觀音) and only became "Canon" in 1947.