Highlights

Imagining that the political concerns of Chinese writers are the same as what the Western reader would like them to be is at best arrogant and at worst dangerous. Chinese writers are saying something about the globe, about all of humanity, not just China, and trying to understand their works through this perspective is, I think, the far more rewarding approach.

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A biology student who couldn’t leave the country had no job prospects domestically, especially since he was clearly the sort who was better at reading books than hustling. (Chen Qiufan, "The Year of the Rat")

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I gritted my teeth as I did each push-up. I thought, If someone would just get a revolt started, I’m sure all of us together can whip him. Everyone else thought the exact same thing, so nothing happened. (Chen Qiufan, "The Year of the Rat")

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You made me understand that living with an awareness of the closeness of death is nothing to be afraid of. (Xia Jia, "Tongtong's Summer")

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What has my exhaustion accomplished…? (Xia Jia, "Night Journey of the Dragon-Horse")

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To put it simply: technology is neutral. But the progress of technology will cause a free world to become ever freer, and a totalitarian world to become ever more repressive. (Ma Boyong, "The City of Silence")

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I have lost the ambition and the will to change the world, but I do not want to see everyone become like me. (Ma Boyong, "The City of Silence")

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On this world, everyone is always saying, “Yes, I will,” but nothing is ever done. No one takes such promises seriously, though promises do make life more interesting. (Hao Jingfang, "Invisible Planets")

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From start to end, the direction of narrative is not guided by the tongue, but by the ear. (Hao Jingfang, "Invisible Planets")

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Only by continuously talking can they ascertain their own position, be sure that they’re still alive. They compete with one another to speak louder, because only by doing so can they make themselves appear brighter, more noticeable to others. (Hao Jingfang, "Invisible Planets")

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The young were no longer so terrified about survival; they cared far more about appearances. (Hao Jingfang, "Folding Beijing")

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[S]he wanted to keep alive the possibility so she could feel better about herself. (Hao Jingfang, "Folding Beijing")

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He wasn’t sad or nostalgic. This was a beautiful, peaceful place, but it had nothing to do with him. (Hao Jingfang, "Folding Beijing")

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If he could see some things clearly but was still powerless to change them, what good did that do. (Hao Jingfang, "Folding Beijing")

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Contemporary science fiction reflects much suspicion and anxiety about technological progress, and the futures portrayed in these works are dark and uncertain. Even if a bright future appears occasionally, it comes only after much suffering and a tortuous path. (Cixin Liu, "The Worst of All Possible Universes and the Best of All Possible Earths: Three-Body and Chinese Science Fiction")

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[O]ne side rebels against the government reflexively (sometimes without knowing what its “cause” is) and trusts nothing it says; the other side retreats into nationalism to give itself the sense of mastering its own fate. (Chen Qiufan, "The Torn Generation: Chinese Science Fiction In A Culture In Transition")