Archive - The Cleaver and the Butterfly

I Have Seen The Future and it is a Chinese Vegetable Washing Machine

But I am nonetheless concerned about "black technology" marketing and a possibly fake British kitchen appliance company.

Jan 23, 2022 •

Cool Footnote # 2: Pertaining to the promiscuity of rice

In the year 1012, the third emperor of the Song dynasty, Zhenzong, having grown increasingly concerned about the intersection of famine and population…

Dec 15, 2023 •

Black Chariots of Pepperoni Fire

A footnote concerning the mysteries of Enoch and Neal Stephenson

Oct 21, 2024 •

Joan of Sichuan

First: an apology.

Feb 21, 2021 •

A Unified Theory of Pork Belly

From North Carolina to Berkeley to Chengdu, a price-point sensitive love affair to die for. (The Cross-Stitched Pig, Part IV)

Oct 5, 2022 •

The Mystery of the Returned Pearl

A footnote about an wuxia footnote

Jan 3 •

Filial Piety on Willie Mays Night

It is the afternoon of September 25, 1973.

Jun 19, 2024 •

The Road to Shu is Hard

The road to Shu is hard.

Oct 17, 2019 •

The Impossible Dictionary of Truth

Or: How everything I knew about hogs in Chinese homes was wrong. The Cross-stitched Pig, Part III

Jun 23, 2022 •

Sichuan Pepper Tariff Trouble

So I thought this was going to be diverting.

Apr 17 •

What The Fire Taught Me

The following essay has an interesting provenance.

Jan 16, 2022 •

Hacking the Huainanzi

A 50-year-old handwritten note weaves ancient Chinese numerology into a 1970s minicomputer

Jul 1, 2022 •

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