Writing
Reviews, reading notes and essays, 2021 to now.
Pieces in Chinese are marked 中, pieces in English EN. Some books get both a review and a set of notes.
All pieces
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2026
从云冈石窟到小西天，在越来越精致中走向了崩溃
起源于印度的佛教在传入中国的过程中经历了明显的汉化过程，伴随着数次民族融合，最终演化为了带有浓郁中国特色的宗教体系。这一经由中亚、新疆、河西走廊并最后在中国广泛…
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Old Road to New
The county town where I was born still has only one main road even today. Like in many other cities, it’s called Jiefang Road (Liberation Road). I grew up right along this…
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2025
I Have Seen the Darkness of the Night
I am accustomed to conveying subtle, delicate, and deeply personal emotions through minute imagery. This habit has kept me in a long-term state of trying to judge major, critical matters through the…
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The Radiance of France
In fact, what surprised me most after finishing this book was the extent to which its arguments are saturated with Foucauldian undertones. For a long time, I felt that Foucault’s grand discourses…
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Seeking Certain Numbers: Making It Count
A Review of Arunabh Ghosh’s Making It Count In the grand narrative of the history of science and technology during the Cold War, Arunabh Ghosh’s Making It Count offers a unique revisionist…
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The Quest for Delicious Rice
This article was written during the most grueling period of my PhD application process. I am deeply grateful for the inner peace brought by cooking, growing vegetables, and gardening—activities that allowed me…
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Ci Yungui
国防科技大学出版社 2017年2月1日 ISBN:9787567304864 雷勇
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China’s Techno-Warriors
This monograph was published in 2003. Reviewing it now, two decades after its release, one cannot help but adopt the perspective of a Monday-morning quarterback. The passage of time, the declassification of…
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China’s Techno-Warriors: reading notes
Part 1： p. 19: However, according to the research of Shen Zhihua, China and the Soviet Union never reached a consensus on the matter of a nuclear protection umbrella; nor did the Chinese…
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Arguments that Count
Regarding weapons research and computing research during the Cold War, the works of Nathan Ensmenger (The Computer Boys Take Over), Fred Turner (From Counterculture to Cyberculture), and of course, Rebecca Slayton’s Arguments…
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China’s Path to Modernity Through the Typewriter
In 2012, for an undergraduate reading report, I submitted an analysis of Lin Yutang’s The Gay Genius: The Life and Times of Su Tungpo. It was in that book I first learned…
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Inventing the Internet: Rediscovering the Tension between Military and Civilian Technology
Professor Janet Abbate’s Inventing the Internet is a foundational work in the study of the internet. Precisely because it is a foundational work, looking back from two decades later at this book—published…
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The Death of the Degree: A History of the Demise of American PhDs
The author, who earned a doctorate in middle age, wrote this book—a raw outpouring of true feeling—after serving several years as an adjunct instructor, filled with boundless hope for tenure. Although the…
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学历之死：美国博士消亡史
一个人到中年才取得博士学位的作者，在当了数年兼职教师之后，带着对Tenure终身教职无限的期望，写下了这本真情实感流露的书。尽管在最后作者一再强调回到过去并不意…
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万火归一 Todos los fuegos el fuego
胡里奥·科塔萨尔是马尔克斯都要嫉妒的对象，科塔萨尔确实是天才的小说家，万火归一这本书是他的短篇小说集，是南海出版社圈钱的工具，分明是《南方高速》这本小说集的一部…
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The Rise and Fall of American Growth
My initial interest in this book stemmed from a stray thought I had back in 2014, when I was chatting with a friend about a question on how to define economic growth:…
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2024
Agricultural Technology and Its Political Continuity: Red Revolution, Green Revolution
Beginning with The People’s Peking Man, Professor Schmalzer has demonstrated a keen focus on the history of popular science in China, particularly through the lens of elite-mass relations. Red Revolution, Green Revolution…
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Carbon Technocracy: Energy Regimes in Modern East Asia
the relative reviews are in the end of this passage. The book’s entry point is exceptionally sophisticated. By analyzing the developmental history of a coal mine spanning nearly a century, it explores…
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Carbon Technocracy: Energy Regimes in Modern East Asia
本书的切入点非常精妙，通过分析一个跨越近百年的煤矿的发展历史，来探究经营这个煤矿的历史上的政权是如何试图通过这个煤矿来解决自己的问题。从封建制度的清王朝到帝国主…
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托斯卡纳的艳阳和罗马的雨
今年4月的广东，下了破纪录的大雨。 看似突然的暴雨并不会突然开始，一切都有迹可循。从春节后就开始酝酿换工作，最终在4月底完成了被裁员，也就是在同一时间内，做了大…
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The Cold War and the Fate of the Sino-Soviet Alliance
读书笔记 reading notes出版年: 2013-1出版社：社会科学文献出版社ISBN: 9787509731888 This work is undoubtedly a masterpiece. It is always deeply moving to witness a massive volume of historical materials skillfully organized to elucidate historical truths. The numerous documents and…
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无奈的选择：冷战与中苏同盟的命运
这部作品无疑是一部杰作。每当看到海量的史料被巧妙地组织起来以阐述历史真相时，总是令人深感震撼。众多的文献和资料，强有力地支撑了作者对中苏关系的深入论证。沈志华教…
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2022
沉睡的吉普赛人
春节的时候就开始陆陆续续读起了詹森的《艺术史》，这是一本1200页的精装胶版纸大部头巨著。从开始读的第一天，就希望可以在某一天遇到我熟悉的那些优秀的作品。 终于…
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2021
新的人间化装舞会早已经开演
年初，我终于下定决心要买辆车。这辆车成为了今年我生活中的一条贯穿的元素。它对我来说意义重大，这是我人生中一些关于车辆重要时刻的延续。7岁时坐进公爵王副驾驶爸爸带…