Barbarians at the Gate

Barbarians Remix: Do you really need to learn to write characters to study Chinese?

Originally released on October 3, 2023. Warning: GEEKY CONTENT Hosting solo in this week’s episode, David takes a geeky deep dive into the digital revolution in Chinese language learning in conversation with Chinese language pedagogy expert Matt Coss. The Sisyphean task of learning to write hundreds of Chinese characters has long been the bête noire of Chinese language students. The explosion of digital devices and apps for processing Chinese characters is giving rise to a radical rethinking (no pun intended) of the handwriting and dictation components of Chinese language curricula. Matt Coss is on the front line of a new generation of Chinese language educators who advocate a drastic reduction, if not outright elimination, of the handwriting requirement for Chinese language learners. Topics covered include the disturbing drop in the number of American students studying Mandarin, the implications of AI tools such as ChatGPT for Chinese language learning, and the escalating problem of native Chinese speakers forgetting how to write common characters (“character amnesia” tíbǐ wàngzì提笔忘字). Matt Coss holds a BA in Hispanic Linguistics and Asian Studies (Chinese) and an MA in Second Language Acquisition from the University of Maryland, College Park, and a PhD in Second Language Studies from Michigan State University. Matt has taught Chinese classes at George Washington University and Georgetown University and has worked as a Second Language Acquisition Specialist on the STARTALK project at the National Foreign Language Center. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Applied Linguistics & Language Assessment Coordinator at the University of Alabama. Mentioned in the podcast: Transforming L2 Hanzi Teaching & Learning in the Age of Digital Writing: Theory and Pedagogy (《电写时代汉字教学的理论与实践》) published by Routledge 2023 https://scholarworks.brandeis.edu/esploro/outputs/bookChapter/Save-Your-Strokes-Further-Studies-on/9924210987301921 [https://scholarworks.brandeis.edu/esploro/outputs/bookChapter/Save-Your-Strokes-Further-Studies-on/9924210987301921] L1: First language (i.e., native language) L2: Second language    “The New Paperless Revolution in Chinese Reading.” Olle Linge’s Hacking Chinese Site. https://www.hackingchinese.com/the-new-paperless-revolution-in-chinese-reading/ “Character Amnesia Yet Again” Victor Mair, Language Log, April 28, 2022. https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=54465 [https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=54465] Hanzi Yingxiong 《汉字英雄》 “Chinese Character Heroes” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaoxdiwKaHo&t=337s [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaoxdiwKaHo&t=337s] Zhongguo Hanzi tingxie dahui《中国汉字听写大会》”Chinese Character Dictation Competition.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=insD5qbJw2g&list=PL0eGJygpmOH4xEZ7Gu2IluCL07GYcHiZu [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=insD5qbJw2g&list=PL0eGJygpmOH4xEZ7Gu2IluCL07GYcHiZu]

The Many Lives of Da Shan: Mark Rowswell on Chinese Poetry, Performing Live, and Staging Shawshank in Mandarin

In this episode, we reconnect with an old friend of the podcast, Canadian performer Mark Rowswell, better known in China as Dashan, or “Big Mountain.” Mark reflects on his early career in China, where his remarkable fluency in Mandarin launched him from a young foreign newcomer into the world of xiangsheng (相声, crosstalk), and soon after into a highly sought-after TV host and cultural ambassador bridging East and West. He also shares insights into his latest creative project: a series of online videos featuring his recitations of classic Chinese poetry. What began during the pandemic with a relatively obscure Chu Ci (楚辞) poem that went viral has since grown to include well-known works by Li Bai and Su Shi, with Mark’s fresh approach—eschewing the traditional, formal style of langsong (朗诵) in favor of a more natural, conversational delivery—quickly gaining a wide audience. Over time, the project has grown increasingly ambitious, incorporating longer poems and rich musical collaborations, including performances with the Toronto and Winnipeg Symphony Orchestras. Finally, Mark offers a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at his role in adapting The Shawshank Redemption into a Chinese-language stage production performed by an all-foreign cast. He discusses recruiting Mandarin-speaking actors, translating and culturally adapting the script, and the production’s warm reception among Chinese audiences. Chinese Glossary tuōkǒu xiù 脱口秀 — Stand-up comedy (derived from “talk show”) Tǔcáo Dàhuì 吐槽大会 — A popular roast-style comedy show format cābiānqiú 擦边球 — Literally “edge ball”; skirting the line of what is acceptable bēiqiū 悲秋 — Mourning the arrival of autumn; a metaphor for aging píng píng zè zè 平平仄仄 — Strict alternating tonal meter in classical poetry Dìngfēng Bō 定风波 — A classical poem noted for syncing well with musical rhythm Shēngshēng Màn 声声慢 — A famous lyric poem (ci) with musical accompaniment Qiāng Jìn Jiǔ 将进酒 — Li Bai’s boisterous drinking poem Chánghèn Gē 长恨歌 — “The Song of Everlasting Regret,” a 10-minute tragic epic Chūnfēng táolǐ huākāi rì 春风桃李花开日 — A line from Changhen Ge nǐ néng shuō ràokǒulìng ma? 你能说绕口令吗？ — “Can you say a tongue twister?” Tā zhēn huì! 他真会！ — “He really knows his stuff!” Zhāng Kēmín 张科民 — Pianist and composer Lǐ Délún 李德伦 — Zhang Kemin’s grandfather; pioneered symphonic music in modern China Zhāng Guólì 张国立 — Actor and director Links Dashan’s YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@Dashan] Li Bai, “Bring the Wine” 李白《将进酒》 (folk rock version) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGx5E9s83gg] Comments on the Chinese stage Shawshank Redemption [https://www.youtube.com/shorts/R9n56alRXAs] Night Rain by Bai Juyi 白居易《夜雨》, music by David Moser [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hzy-lUnhMo] Ding Feng Bo 《定风波》苏轼, music by David Moser [https://www.youtube.com/shorts/26NX3otMxz4] (also in the episode) “Ballad of the Pipa” by Bai Juyi 白居易《琵琶行》 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlBd__VBYBs]

Lee Moore's China Backstory: Why Saying "History Proves" Actually Means "I Haven't Done the Reading"

Lee Moore's new book challenges both Chinese state propaganda and Western pundits on Taiwan, Xinjiang, the Chinese economy, and Hong Kong with 1400 endnotes, and a drinking game for beheadings. A historian who writes about Ming emperors getting stabbed in the balls, a drinking game for beheadings in Xinjiang, and why almost everything politicians say about Taiwan’s history is wrong. Lee Moore joins Barbarians at the Gate to discuss his new book. In this episode, we talk with Lee Moore about China’s Backstory: The History Beijing Doesn’t Want You to Read [https://chinasbackstory.com/]. It is often said that China is the most talked-about country that Americans know the least about. Lee’s book seeks to enlighten readers with a fresh perspective and a deep dive into four China-related topics that frequently appear in American media: Taiwan, Xinjiang, the Chinese economy, and Hong Kong. Despite his academic credentials, Lee has chosen to write the book in an accessible style that Jeremiah characterizes as “making the complex simple and the simple complex — complicating narratives without complicating the language, and simplifying complicated histories without dumbing them down.” With this lively and occasionally risqué prose style (one chapter is entitled “The Most Important Motherfucker in Taiwanese History”), Lee challenges the simplistic historical narratives that often dominate both Chinese state propaganda and Western commentary on China. Our conversation explores several of the historical questions raised in his book. Was Taiwan always a part of China? It did not even appear on Chinese maps until the 17th century, and the Qing Dynasty did not take control of the island until a year after William Penn founded Philadelphia. Were the Uyghurs the first inhabitants of Xinjiang? The answer is complicated, but the region’s earliest known inhabitants may actually have been Indo-European. And is the Chinese Communist Party’s tight state control over the economy really the “secret sauce” behind China’s rise? Lee takes direct aim at Western pundits who have argued exactly that. Lee also explains how he makes extensive use of Chinese poetry — from Tang Dynasty border verse to Qing-era colonial writing — translated into colloquial English, to convey the emotions and states of mind of the historical figures who populate his book. Lee Moore has a PhD in Chinese literature. He is the founder of the Chinese Literature Podcast [https://www.chineseliteraturepodcast.com/] and has written for The Economist, the China Books Review, and The China Project. China’s Backstory: The History Beijing Doesn’t Want You to Read [https://unsungvoicesbooks.square.site/product/china-s-backstory-the-history-beijing-doesn-t-want-you-to-read-preorder/BXJSID5U6P4RVONS7V4HSZSH] is available from Unsung Voices Books wherever books are sold. Find the Chinese Literature Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Warning/Advertisement: This episode contains explicit language.

Décadence Mandchoue: The wild (and almost certainly fictional) affair between Sir Edmund Backhouse and Empress Dowager Cixi

It’s another Barbarians at the Gate crossover with China Books Review [https://substack.com/profile/424451465-china-books-review]. This month’s China Archives column covers Decadence Mandchoue by Edmund Backhouse, edited and annotated by Derek Sandhaus [https://chinabooksreview.com/2026/02/17/decadence-mandchoue/]. CBR Associate Editor Alexander Boyd and I sat down to talk about all things Backhouse and try to parse one of Sinology’s more controversial memoirs. Backhouse was the son of a British baronet who dropped out of Oxford, fled to Beijing in 1898, and spent the next four decades as a fixer, translator, and professional eccentric in the hutongs. He was also a forger, a fabulist, possibly a fascist sympathizer, and the author of what may be the most explicit expat China memoir ever written. His central claim: an extended sexual relationship with Empress Dowager Cixi. His central problem: almost nobody believed him. And there’s a good reason. He almost certainly invented the whole thing.The real question isn’t whether Backhouse was making stuff up. He was. A lot. The question is whether this gifted fabulist, writing from inside (or at least adjacent to) the world he’s fabricating, can still tell us something real about the fall of the Qing Dynasty. Join us as we explore the decadent world of sex, lies, and power during one of the most tumultuous periods of Chinese history.

Barbarians at the Gate x By Their Own Compass: Emily Hahn's Shanghai

Welcome to a special episode of Barbarians at the Gate. David and Jeremiah are off this week preparing for Chinese New Year, but as a special gift to our listeners, we are cross-posting this bonus episode about the life and China travels of the American writer Emily "Mickey" Hahn. This episode is from By Their Own Compass, a podcast looking at historical travelers and past journeys co-hosted by Jeremiah with travel expert Sarah Keenlyside. Emily Hahn partied with poets (and her pet gibbon) at Shanghai soirees. Wrote biographies while dodging bombs in wartime Chongqing, and did her best to keep herself and her family alive in Japanese-occupied Hong Kong. Along the way, she became famous (some might add “notorious”) for her affairs, including with Chinese writer Sinmay Zau (Shao Xunmei 邵洵美) and the head of British intelligence in Hong Kong, Charles Boxer. Mickey lived through some of China’s most tumultuous moments. While many foreigners experienced these events, Mickey gave her readers an unvarnished look at what was happening, with a style all her own. We hope you enjoy this special bonus episode. Follow By Their Own Compass at bytheirowncompass.com [http://www.bytheirowncompass.com] or search for By Their Own Compass on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or where you get your podcasts. Links:  Books referenced in the episode * China to Me [https://www.amazon.com/China-Me-Autobiography-Emily-Hahn/dp/1497638267] by Emily Hahn * Nobody Said Not To Go [https://www.amazon.com/Nobody-Said-Not-Go-Adventures/dp/0571199658] by Ken Cuthbertson (biography of Emily Hahn) * I Wonder as I Wander: An Autobiographical Journey [https://www.amazon.com/Wonder-Wander-Autobiographical-Journey-American/dp/0809015501] by Langston Hughes * The Soong Sisters [https://www.amazon.com/Soong-Sisters-Emily-Hahn/dp/149764870Xhttps://www.amazon.com/Soong-Sisters-Emily-Hahn/dp/149764870X] by Emily Hahn Tours & Resources: * Historic Shanghai  [https://historicshanghai.substack.com/]- walking tours (Patrick Cranley and Tina Kanagarathnam) Further Reading: * Her Lotus Year: China, the Roaring Twenties, and the Making of Wallis Simpson [https://www.amazon.com/Her-Lotus-Year-Roaring-Twenties/dp/1250287472] by Paul French * Hong Kong Holiday [https://www.amazon.com/Hong-Kong-Holiday-Emily-Hahn-ebook/dp/B00J90BZ7E] by Emily Hahn * No Hurry to Get Home: A Memoir [https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J90BYZM?tag=arcsite-20] by Emily Hahn * Mr Pan [https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J90C1ZE?tag=arcsite-20] by Emily Hahn