Twig 枝丫
The 枝丫 stories are works of fiction set in a contemporary, alternate universe in an unnamed Běijīng 胡同 hútòng. Modern hútòngs are communities of residences and businesses lining alleys formed by 四合院 sìhéyuàn, courtyard residences.
In the hutong, most people live with the implanted tree-like organism twined around their bones without issue, 没问题。
枝丫1
Xiao Li has abided by the tree’s rules, limiting his words and actions to avoid the tree’s punishments. But when Xiao Li’s father begins to, twig by twig, remove the tree from within his own body, and Xiao Li meets a woman at work whose entire tree has been removed, he faces a life-changing dilemma. Shall he live as he always has, following the tree’s dictates? And what about his young son, Xiaoxiao Li?
小李, his wife，王雪梅 Wáng Xuěméi, and co-worker 刘依诺 Liú Yīnuò, all work at 安全新能源公司 Ānquán Xīn Néngyuán Gōngsī Safe New Energy Company, located in a high-rise building near the hutong. In the company’s name, 新能源车 xīn néngyuán chē, means “new energy vehicle” and usually refers to electric cars. For more electric vehicle-related vocabulary, see Andrew Methven’s In the Driver's Seat: China's EV brands overtake international competitors.
枝丫1：《枝丫》第一部
Chapter 1 PPT slide with a highlighted grammar point, related vocabulary, example sentences, and AI-generated images to study on your own or to discuss with a teacher.
The complete story, just 汉字, no pinyin or word lists.
Google Translate English version, first few chapters.
Table of contents includes links to chapters, audio recordings, and PPT slides.
More learning materials
Word Lists are available for review in Hack Chinese.
More resources are on the for students page.
枝丫2：《枝丫》第二部
Zhang Laoban has worked hard to build a quiet life of principle after enduring hardships in his youth, then losing his wife and daughter in a traffic accident. In his seventies and deeply introspective, Zhang Laoban is the proprietor of a hutong bookstore and a member of a secret group opposed to the 树. Zhang Laoban has cut most of the tree from his body with his own knife. When his sandtimer - a gift from his late wife used in the group’s meetings - disappears, Zhang Laoban finds himself in anguish from old wounds he thought were scars. With the help of his new assistant, Yang Zhuli, Zhang Laoban becomes a reluctant detective, navigating complex relationships with hutong locals, co-traveling with loss - of innocence, of loved ones, of independence, and with the intentional loss of the 树 - as he seeks the location and return of the sandtimer.
枝丫2：Table of contents
枝丫2：Chapter 1
Complete 枝丫2 story, just 汉字
Note: If you would like to read the content in your native language, you can copy and paste the content from the Just text page or other posts or pages into Google Translate or into the translating software of your choice. Using Google Translate, paste the text into the left-hand text box. Google Translate usually detects the language accurately. If it doesn’t, you can select “Chinese (Simplified” from the dropdown menu at the top of the left-hand text box. Translated text will appear in the right-hand text box. To view the story in the language of your choice, choose your preferred language from the dropdown menu at the top of the right-hand text box.
An imagined Wikipedia entry about the 枝丫 stories might look something like this:
Twig (Chinese: 枝丫; pinyin: zhīyā is a fantasy novel written in Simplified Chinese characters for intermediate level readers by American writer Anne Giles, edited by Chinese instructor and translator Hou Huiying (Chinese: 侯慧颖; pinyin: Hóu Huìyǐng).
The 枝丫 stories explore the universal human experience of ambivalence regarding the costs and benefits of being both an individual and a member of society.
枝丫 is set in an unnamed Beijing hutong (Chinese: 胡同; pinyin: hútòng, alleys formed by lines of courtyard residences Chinese: 四合院; pinyin: sìhéyuàn) in a fictional present. Beginning in a forgotten past, a tree-like organism of unknown origin began to be implanted in all human infants. To maintain order in human affairs, the tree directs words and actions and creates an inner sense of distress when disobeyed, but does not affect awareness or consciousness.
In 枝丫1, the main character, Xiao Li (Chinese: 小李; pinyin: Xiǎo Lǐ) becomes reluctantly aware of his growing ambivalence about the presence of the tree, and about the costs of both living with it and attempting to be free of of it, including for both himself and his small son Xiaoxiao Li (Chinese: 小小李; pinyin: Xiǎoxiǎo Lǐ). Xiao Li tells his son, Xiaoxiao Li, about the history of the tree in Chapter 32.
A primary theme of 枝丫 is disambiguating one's individual human values and priorities from those taught by family, community, and culture. The 树 can be seen as symbolizing psychological and cultural beliefs that restrict individual freedom in favor of creating and maintaining social order. The 树 might symbolize convention, custom, tradition, and legacy beliefs, particularly practices and ideas passed on as fact that are unsupported by logic or science and, perhaps, do harm.
In the fantasy world of 枝丫, the 树 is implanted at birth, before an individual has conscious choice. Most denizens of the world of 枝丫 live with the implanted trees. One character in 枝丫，刘依诺，has the tree forcibly removed from her body by her stepfather. Other characters choose to keep the tree, remove parts of the tree, or remove most of the tree. The forced and chosen removal of the tree represents the painful, psychological ambivalence that can result from various levels of individual decision with regard to limiting or embracing societal and cultural beliefs.
The story line has a single element of fantasy in a human world and would probably be considered in the subgenre of "light fantasy."
About the writing
The idea for the novel originated from the author's knowledge of Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT). Using CPT, counselors help clients discover unrealistic, unhelpful beliefs - termed cognitive distortions - held about a traumatic experience. Cognitive distortions can result from personal interpretation or familial or cultural teachings. Held very deeply, these beliefs can be imagined as branched throughout the body's full length, as if a tree were growing within. Beliefs without basis in fact or logic can result in self-blame, guilt, shame, and suffering. Finding, challenging, and removing these cognitive distortions is akin to pulling out lengths of the tree's branches, twig by twig. Hence the title, 枝丫. The 树 symbolizes the broader, universal cognitive distortions that can shape human life.
Drafts of the first three chapters of 枝丫 were written in mid-August, 2022. The story was left to simmer in November, 2022, and restarted in early March, 2024.
枝丫 began publication as a podcast on April 25, 2024, and as a serialized novel on April 26, 2024. 枝丫 is the first installment in a planned series that follows the stories of other characters introduced in the first novel.
All views are my own. All errors are mine. Although many people help me, I am responsible for the content of the final draft.
This is a work of fiction. Unless otherwise indicated, all the names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents in this book are either the product of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental
.Illustration by Derek Zheng for Chapter 8.
“I often think that one hallmark of a successful novel is whether its emotional universe is immersive enough that I forget my own concerns. In this case, though, I was glad to remember that sometimes the best art can help you make sense of baffling, vexing or downright ambiguous chapters from your real life.”
- Joumana Khatib, an editor of The New York Times Book Review, newsletter to subscribers, 4/8/2025
“Write for love and revenge, to change your life and the lives of others.”
- Elizabeth McCracken, A Long Game: Notes on Writing Fiction – A Practical Guide to Character, Revision, and the Blank Page from 35 Years of Teaching, 2025
“It’s all a big mystery. You don’t know where your ideas come from, you don’t know how to get them onto the page, and you have no idea how the world’s going to react to them. You’ve got to learn to be comfortable with the not knowing, or at least learn to live with it.
-Jay Perry, main character in Ghost Town by Tom Perrotta, 2026, quoted in The New York Times.