FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
What is 枝丫1 about?
The 枝丫stories are set in a Beijing hutong in a contemporary, alternate reality where the 树, a mysterious, tree-shaped organism implanted at birth, monitors and directs each individual’s thoughts.
Xiao Li has obeyed the tree’s rules all his life, limiting his words and actions to avoid its punishments. But when his father, Lao Li, begins - painfully, twig by twig - to remove the tree from his own body, and Xiao Li meets a woman at work whose tree has been almost entirely removed, he faces a life-changing dilemma. Will Xiao Li continue living as he always has, following the tree’s dictates? And what will he do about the 树 and his young son, Xiaoxiao Li?
枝丫1：Chapter 1 | 枝丫1：Table of contents | Complete 枝丫1 story, just 汉字
What is 枝丫2 about?
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 is a work in progress.)
枝丫2：Chapter 1 | 枝丫2：Table of contents | 枝丫2 so far, just 汉字
Have you ever been to China?
In my imagination, I’ve been in China since reading a Scholastic book fair copy of Pearl S. Buck’s The Good Earth over 50 years ago. I studied Chinese history in college with Dr. Young-tsu Wong, one of the people to whom this work is dedicated. In real life, no, I have not been to China.
Why are you writing 枝丫？
To attempt to create art. To explore the opposites-can-both-be-true power of 树-like ideologies to offer order and predictability while, at the same time, restrict human creativity, connection, and possibility. To imagine interaction in Chinese while living in a place with few opportunities to speak Chinese in person. To attempt to give myself and other learners the 3 to 17 exposures to a new word needed to learn it. To attempt to be of service to fellow adult learners of Mandarin Chinese who struggle to find texts that take on the human condition at a readable level.
How long have you been studying Chinese?
I took one semester of Chinese in 1981 at the University of Connecticut. I returned to studying Chinese in 2020.
Why do you study Chinese?
To connect. To attempt to discover the depth and breadth of insight and understanding available to a human who can speak one of the world’s oldest continuously spoken and written languages, perhaps so close to the language used by the very first human able to utter a sound, expressing the deepest human longing inherent to any communication: “I see you. Please see me.”
What do you have in mind as you write 枝丫?
I do my best to “show, don’t tell” in the story. I attempt to follow the guidance of William Carlos Williams: “No ideas but in things,” William Zinnser: “Is every word doing new work?”, and Samuel Taylor Coleridge for poetry: “the best words in their best order.” Although it is difficult to do, I have in mind Ralph Waldo Emerson’s guidance in “Self-Reliance” - an essay I read and studied with Dr. Doreen Hunter in 1980 - “Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.”
What are central themes in 枝丫？
很多时候， 我们的感觉和想法有矛盾，关系和生活 也有矛盾。这种情况好像是对立的，但是，两个同时都是真的。比如说，在生活中，有时候既行，又不行。在一种关系里，一个人想远一点，而另一个人想近一点。在自己心中，回忆让自己痛苦，想待在家，而必须去工作。生活既顺利，又困难。两个同时都是真的。
这是矛盾心理。很难。怎么办？我们必须跟矛盾并肩行走。怎么做？我们需要意识到：对立是可以共存的。
我们有感觉；我们不是感觉。我们的感觉与我们自己可以共存。我们没有被自己的感觉和想法迷惑，也没有被它们压倒。
我们可以希望事情不一样。但是当我们面对事实和现实时，我们有能力接受事情就是这样。我们可以有勇气，也要勇敢。带着勇气，带着自我关爱，我们需要并肩行走。我们奋勇前进。
在《枝丫》的故事里，枝丫人想找到下一步怎么做，一边面对社会（树）规则的期待，一边想怎么让生活有意义，怎么勇敢，怎么爱。他们一边与渴望、失去，还有不确定并肩行走。
An additional theme in《枝丫》is creating 协同作用 xiétóng zuòyòng synergy in human affairs, particularly in relationships: 从一些你，一些我，多。
矛盾 máodùn contradiction, conflict
对 duì opposite
立 lì stand
对立 duìlì opposite; to oppose
两个同事都是真的。Liǎng gè tóngshí dōu shì zhēn de. Both are true at the same time.
既……又…… jì... yòu… both…and…
痛 tòng pain
苦 kǔ bitter
痛苦 tòngkǔ suffer, suffering
困 kùn trapped, sleepy, distressed
困难 kùnnan difficulty, hardship
矛盾心理 máodùn ambivalence, conflict, contradiction; the presence of opposite feelings at the same time
并肩行走 bìngjiān xíngzǒu co-travel; walk side-by-side
压 yā press
倒 dǎo to place upside down
压倒 yādǎo overwhelm; overpower
共 gòng together; common
存 cún exist; store
共存 gòngcún coexist
迷 mí to be lost, to confuse
惑 huò confused, puzzled
迷惑 mí huò confusion, bewilderment
勇 yǒng brave
勇气 yǒngqì bravery, courage (n.)
敢 gǎn dare
勇敢 yǒnggǎn brave, courageous (adj.)
奋 fèn to exert oneself; to make a vigorous effort; to rouse oneself
奋勇前进 fènyǒng qiánjìn forge ahead bravely
社会 shèhuì society
规则 guīzé rules
期待 qídài expectations
“The best arguments in the world won’t change a single person’s point of view,” he [Kenneth Burns] said. “The only thing that can do that is a good story. Good stories are a kind of benevolent Trojan horse. You let them in, and they add complication, allowing you to understand that sometimes a thing and its opposite are true at the same time.”
Interview with Kenneth Burns, The New York Times, July 5, 2025
Last updated 07/07/2025
More FAQ were published here on 07/18/2025.