aspiritdancinginthenight

[jdbooksforyou]

The Art of War by Sun Tzu

Sun Tzu, a military general and strategist who lived in ancient China, is one of East Asia’ s most important historical figures. Traditional historians believe that he lived between 544– 496 B.C. Sun Tzu’ s birth name was Sun Wu; the name he is well known with is an honorific that means “ Master Sun.” He is most famous for writing The Art of War, a timeless classic and one of the most important works of Eastern literature. His writing of this book has impacted both Western and East Asian philosophy and military thought in many ways, more than you can ever imagine.

Click here to buy

The Art of War is a timeless classic on War Strategies by Sun Tzu. It helps unleash your strategic prowess by acquiring wisdom from his timeless masterpiece. This highly sought after influential book provides profound insights into warfare, leadership, and perfecting the art of achieving success in today’s modern world. This book is a must-read for military enthusiasts, business leaders, negotiators, sports and athlete personalities and those seeking spectacular personal and professional growth in any field. 

[scipunk]

The Fifth Element (1997)

[journeytothewest-daily]

Welcome to The Journey to the West (西游记) Daily!

You are about to beging a reading journey to get the hidden Buddhist texts accompanied by the monk Tang Sanzang, Sun Wukong, Sha Wujing, Zhu Bajie and Bai Long Ma.

To beging this journey you must subscribe to the newsletter, which you will find at https://journeytothewestdaily.substack.com/. You wil receive your first email this week, welcoming you and sharing information about what's to come and what I will include in the emails.

However, beforehand I want to tell you already that you won't receive a daily email, despite the name of the newsletter. The chapters are dense and full of references to folklore or religion references that you might be unfamiliar with, so you will receive an email every 2 or 3 days maximum.

If this is the first time that you hear about this newsletter and you don't know what Journey to the West is...

The classical Chinese novel Journey to the West is an extended account of the legendary pilgrimage of the Tang dynasty Buddhist monk Xuanzang, who traveled to the "Western Regions" (Central Asia and India) to obtain Buddhist sūtras (sacred texts) and returned after many trials and much suffering. Gautama Buddha gives this task to the monk, whose name in the novel is Tang Sanzang, and provides him with three protectors who agree to help him as an atonement for their sins. These disciples are the Monkey King, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Wujing, together with a dragon prince who acts as the monk's steed, a white horse. The group of pilgrims journey towards enlightenment by the power and virtue of cooperation.

The novel is perfect for the epistolary format, since it's is divided in different and disconnected adventures, so you don't have to always remember what happened in the previous chapter to read the next!

We'll be reading Anthony C. Yu's translation since it is the first unabridged version that we have available in English. It is about 100 chapters long.

As I said, you will receive a first email as soon as you subscribe and an introductory email in a few days. Please, share this post so more people can read along. Use the hashtag #jttwdaily if you want to comment your impressions. I'll share the most important dates soon.

May the Buddha help you in your endeavours.

[makhonkit]

許冠傑 (Sam Hui) - 急流勇退 (Retreat) 鋼琴版 by Ray Mak

[nickolashx]

Still Wakes the Deep (2024)

Still Wakes the Deep is a horror video game developed by The Chinese Room and published by Secret Mode.

You are an offshore oil rig worker, Cameron "Caz" McLeary, fighting for your life through a vicious storm, perilous surroundings, and the dark, freezing North Sea waters.

All lines of communication have been severed. All exits are gone. All that remains is to face the unknowable horror that’s come aboard.

[gon-iii]

振り向き桔梗

2019年、向島百花園。

あちこちを向いて咲く桔梗。振り向いているようだ。

[hanfugallery]

handmade chinese hanfu by 飞竹柴feizhuchai

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

💙❤️Happy Holidays!❤️💙

[wangxian-the-zhijis]

For those who want to see the full translation of Lan Wangji’s invitation letter to Wei Wuxian at episode 31, here you go.

Written letter:

送呈

魏嬰今日安否 金氏子軒公子與江氏之女喜得貴子 將滿百日 金氏設宴金麟臺 眾親朋來賀 嬰當以禮赴之

藍忘機

Translation:

To submit

Wei Ying, are you well today? Young Master Zixuan of the Jin clan and Lady Jiang have been blessed to have a son, who is about to reach a hundred days. The Jin clan will hold a banquet in Jinlintai (Koi Tower). A lot of relatives and friends will come to celebrate. According to the ritual, Ying should attend.

Lan Wangji

The lovely thing here is that, lwj started the letter with, “are you well today?” showing his concern to wwx in the most formal way, telling him ‘I’m here, I’m still by your side. Are you okay? 🥺’ He even dropped wwx’s surname and directly called him ‘Ying’ 😭 If this was wwx, he would 100% call lwj ‘Zhanzhan’ or ‘A-Zhan’ 😭

Detailed explanation of the letter under the cut—

送呈 - submit

送呈: submit; to give to whomever is going to read

魏嬰今日安否 - Wei Ying, are you well today?

魏嬰: Wei Ying; Wei Wuxian’s birth name

今日: today

安否: safety; welfare; well-being

金氏子軒公子與江氏之女喜得貴子 - Young Master Zixuan of the Jin clan and Lady Jiang have been blessed to have a son

金氏: Jin clan; Jin Family

子軒: Zixuan; courtesy name without the surname

公子: young master

與: and; together with

江氏: Jiang clan; Jiang Family

之女: daughter; lady

喜: happy; delighted; pleased; blessed

得: get; obtain; gain

貴子: son

將滿百日 - almost fill a hundred days

將: be going to; be about to; will; shall

滿: full; fill; complete; reach

百: hundred (automatically means one hundred if there are no numbers written before)

日: day

金氏設宴金麟臺 - The Jin clan will hold a banquet in Jinlintai

金氏: Jin clan; Jin Family

設宴: hold a banquet/celebration/festival

金麟臺: (place) Jinlintai; Koi Tower

眾親朋來賀 - A lot of relatives and friends will come to celebrate

眾: many; numerous

親朋: relatives and friends (親屬: relatives; 朋友: friends)

來: come; attend

賀: celebrate; congratulate

I have doubts with the last sentence [[follow the colors to see which translation goes to which]]

嬰當以禮赴之 - Ying should be treated with courtesy if he will attend // According to the ritual, Ying should attend

嬰: Ying, Wei Wuxian’s birth name without the surname

當: ought to; should; must; treat as; regard as

以: with; by means of; according to

禮: courtesy; politeness; ritual

赴: go to; attend

藍忘機 - Lan Wangji

藍忘機: Lan Wangji; courtesy name

[rocketqueen1989x]

you can tell Duff is on dad mode

(GRACE IS SO FUCKIN PRETTY !)

[lilac-nites]

List of Lolita Resources

Someone in my comm encouraged me to make this list of resources for new lolitas. We were talking about how hard it can be to find information from Google search and there's just so much misinformation out there. I have a list of links that I've bookmarked and read over the past decade for when I finally become a lolita. I organized the list by sections in a specific order. It goes from information about the fashion and then to where to buy it.

To any new lolitas, there is so much information out there about lolita fashion that is still available. Part of the fun for me was researching the fashion, looking at coords, and learning what makes lolita lolita. There's so much information out there for you to immerse yourself in and even more stuff that's not listed in this resource list.

What is Lolita Fashion

Fyeah Lolita - This is my favorite blog and I still go back and read it. The last post was made in 2016 and the fashion has changed a lot since then, but it's pretty comprehensive and provides a good base knowledge. Imo, I think these articles (1 2 3 4) are required reading for anyone entering the fashion Lolita Fashion 101 - Bay Area Kei did several videos on lolita fashion during lockdowns. I recommend them for anyone that prefers video format. Raine Dragon's Lolita 101 series - Raine is a lolita that still updates her blog and has a lot of information on the history of lolita fashion. And she has a really great article on Chinese indie brands that should also be required reading for anyone new to using Taobao.

Costs of Lolita Manufacturing - One of the first things you'll notice is that lolita can be expensive. This resource breaks down the costs associated with manufacturing and why brands charge what they charge.

Substyles of Lolita Fashion

The below links are for the three basic styles of lolita fashion. If you research more, you'll find that there are different directions that you can take your wardrobe, but I recommend starting with one of the three above to make it easier for to build your wardrobe. Classic Lolita Sweet Lolita Gothic Lolita

Where to get Lolita Fashion

Before even buying anything, you will need a tape measure to take your measurements. You'll need to measure your bust, waist, hips, and shoulder width in centimeters. That's how you will find out which clothes will fit you. Sizing can be different from brand to brand and country to country. I know many are used to buying using letter sizes, but it's best to go by actual measurements. Aim to buy clothes that are 4 - 6cm larger than your actual measurements to allow room for breathing/eating/etc. If you're brand new to the fashion, I highly recommend sticking to the sources listed in the videos below. It's very easy to get scammed if you don't know what to look for and I'd hate for anyone to lose their money on barely wearable clothes from Amazon/Ebay/Aliexpress. Where to Buy Lolita FashionHow to shop for Lolita Fashion online - secondhand is life for lolita fashion and there are so many options. PinkFakeFlowers goes in depth into the many ways to get it. I personally recommend 42lolita for anyone looking to buy from Chinese brands on Taobao.

Plus Size Lolita

Unfortunately, many of the Japanese brands and even some Chinese indie brands are not size inclusive. If you can't fit into the mainstream brands, don't worry there are still options. I always recommend Meta since they have a Plus Size and occasionally a Plus Plus size of their dresses and blouses that goes up to 160cm or even 200cm in some releases. Plus Size Lolita Crash Course Where to Start as a Plus Sized Lolita - This is a wonderful resource listing brands that are size inclusive.

Online Spaces for Lolita Fashion

Lolita fashion is pretty spread out now compared to the EGL (still recommend reading livejournal because its a cool time capsule of the lolita comm) days, but there are still groups on Facebook. BSoLF - Great for beginners to ask questions and be helped by others. It's hard to search here but I recommend looking through the group for info. Your Local Comm (if applicable) - most are still on Facebook even if they still have a Discord. You can search for your local one on this list.

More Resources for New Lolitas

Lolita Tips for New Lolitas Three helpful tips for coordinating an outfit Lolita Tips Tumblr - I don't recommend Fanplusfriend anymore, but 42lolita is a good replacement. This tumblr is a great resource for inspo and there are many answered asks to reference. Unfortunately, polyvore is no longer a thing and many pictures are missing as a result.

Bonus

These are just a mishmash of links to resources/lists/blog that I like. Lolita Collective

Lolita youtubers ask

Lolita tumblrs ask 20dollarlolita and her post on replicas

More plus size lolita brands ask Japanese Wikipedia entry for Lolita fashion and list of brands

Azuki Mikan

Buttcape

Old School Lolita

[xinyuehui]

⁺˚⋆｡°✩ Celestial ₊ Message ✩°｡⋆˚⁺

[absolutebl]

China *bats eyes innocently* we have a new.... not BL

meanwhile Thailand be like

[archiveofliterature]

every day i become more convinced letty fetishised ramy bc tell me why i just found out that the royal pavilion is in brighton which is WHERE LETTY'S FROM

btw the royal pavilion looks like THIS

rf kuang really chose her details right bc letty could've been from anywhere in england but no she was like let me pick brighton where a prominent example of orientalism architecture was built

[jimzittos]

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ忠ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ　勇　ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ真

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ@plushdaniㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ and the only times we've held hands is when i threw a punch and you caught it ༺

[gon-iii]

黒壁に鬼灯

2019年、神楽坂。

黒い壁に鬼灯の色が映える。