“Yang Kuei-fei, now Empress in all but name, and her sisters the Duchess of Kuo, the Duchess of Ch’in, and the Duchess of Han.” Uhhhh how did ALL these sisters marry SO fucking well?
fête champêtre /ˌfɛt ʃɒ̃ˈpɛtr(ə),French fɛt ʃɑ̃pɛtʀ/ noun an outdoor entertainment such as a garden party.
Ch’ang-an: I have never in my life seen it spelled Like This
“Tu Fu’s description of the scene contains just that mixture of admiration, envy, and disgust which exhibitions of high living and conspicuous consumption are liable to arouse in the bourgeois breast.” Ah yeah I thought that was the vibe! Hateration! in the dancery
Lustrations: Lustratio was an ancient Greek and ancient Roman purification ritual. It included a procession and in some circumstances the sacrifice of a pig (sus), a ram (ovis), and a bull (taurus) (suovetaurilia).
Okay so do they retain enough of a sense of this picnic as a purification ritual, and a commotion to the natural, that the extravagance and artifice are rather obscene?
Passement: an ornamental braid or decorative trimming resembling lace and made of gold, silver, or silk threads.
Bandeaux: a narrow band worn round the head to hold the hair in position.
“Roasted camel-hump” what the fuck
“Bā-zhēn: the Chinese have a passionate weakness for numbered categories. There is an ancient text which enumerates eight particularly delicious and costly dishes; but the expression is used here to mean simply ‘delicacies’. The number is not meant to be taken seriously.” Just like-—wake me up when the numbers mean anything
Frogbit is an attractive aquatic plant that floats on the surface of ponds, lakes and still waterways. Looking like a small water-lily
“an incestuous relationship with his cousin, the Duchess of Kuo.” Cousins are incest for them? “
Hsi Wang Mu, the Fairy Queen who rules over the Garden of Paradise in the Mountain of Kunlun” where can I learn more about this concept of fae?
Re: 3. 麗人行 Lì-rén xíng
fête champêtre /ˌfɛt ʃɒ̃ˈpɛtr(ə),French fɛt ʃɑ̃pɛtʀ/ noun an outdoor entertainment such as a garden party.
Ch’ang-an: I have never in my life seen it spelled Like This
“Tu Fu’s description of the scene contains just that mixture of admiration, envy, and disgust which exhibitions of high living and conspicuous consumption are liable to arouse in the bourgeois breast.” Ah yeah I thought that was the vibe! Hateration! in the dancery
Lustrations: Lustratio was an ancient Greek and ancient Roman purification ritual. It included a procession and in some circumstances the sacrifice of a pig (sus), a ram (ovis), and a bull (taurus) (suovetaurilia).
Okay so do they retain enough of a sense of this picnic as a purification ritual, and a commotion to the natural, that the extravagance and artifice are rather obscene?
Passement: an ornamental braid or decorative trimming resembling lace and made of gold, silver, or silk threads.
Bandeaux: a narrow band worn round the head to hold the hair in position.
“Roasted camel-hump” what the fuck
“Bā-zhēn: the Chinese have a passionate weakness for numbered categories. There is an ancient text which enumerates eight particularly delicious and costly dishes; but the expression is used here to mean simply ‘delicacies’. The number is not meant to be taken seriously.” Just like-—wake me up when the numbers mean anything
Frogbit is an attractive aquatic plant that floats on the surface of ponds, lakes and still waterways. Looking like a small water-lily
“an incestuous relationship with his cousin, the Duchess of Kuo.” Cousins are incest for them? “
Hsi Wang Mu, the Fairy Queen who rules over the Garden of Paradise in the Mountain of Kunlun” where can I learn more about this concept of fae?
billets-doux: love letters
Kingfisher-feathers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tian-tsui
“And now, with music of flutes and drums mournful enough to move the very gods, ” yeah you can taste the sarcasm