FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

What is 枝丫1 about?

The 枝丫stories are set in a Beijing hutong in a contemporary, dystopian world 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：Table of contents | 枝丫1：Chapter 1 | Complete 枝丫1 story, just 汉字

What is 枝丫2 about?

Zhang Laoban, the quiet proprietor of a hutong bookstore and a member of a secret group opposed to the 树, experiences old wounds and unwelcome challenges when his sandtimer - a gift from his late wife used in the group’s meetings - disappears. With the help of his new assistant, Yang Zhuli, Zhang Laoban becomes a reluctant detective, 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 | 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.”