https://stephenjones.blog/

David Watkin obituary Cellist who co-founded the Eroica Quartet and won awards for his recording of Bach’s six solo Suites

www.theguardian.com/music/2025/j...

Tico tico Earworms can be most insistent. For some reason my current one is Tico tico no fubá, composed in 1917 by Zequinha de Abreu. I first got to know it via the Nimbus CD Choros from Brazil by Os Ingênuo…

The catchy Taco taco no fubá, including versions by Orquestra Colbaz (1931, Ethel Smith, Carmen Miranda, the Andrews Sisters, and the Bahia Youth Orchestra!!!
stephenjones.blog/2025/08/01/t...

Red ritual Before my diachronic ethnography of Gaoluo village was published, I surveyed the modern fortunes of amateur village ritual associations on the Hebei plain south of Beijing in “Ritual music un…

Articles on ritual under Communist regimes—Peruvian Andes, Cuba, Vietnam, China, Hungary
stephenjones.blog/2025/07/27/r...

*MUST-WATCH* film on the 1995 New Year's rituals in Gaoluo village south of Beijing!!! stephenjones.blog/2024/11/19/g...
1995年南高洛村音樂會正月儀式
Do share!

You must believe in spring After blithely adducing French film music for Bach’s Zerfließe, I’m reminded of You must believe in spring—for those tricky moments when you seek inspiration and the Resurrection of Our Lord …

RIP Cleo Laine
stephenjones.blog/2017/04/19/y...

Who Will Be the Next Dalai Lama? | China Books Review The Dalai Lama, who just turned 90, writes in his memoir that he will reincarnate in the “free world.” But will his political, religious and moral power transfer with him?

The Dalai Lama, who just turned 90, writes in his memoir that he will reincarnate in the “free world.” But will his political, religious and moral power transfer with him?

Read @tshakya.bsky.social review of "Voice for the Voiceless" by the Dalai Lama: chinabooksreview.com/2025/07/24/d...

Reminder of the Chinese-subtitled version of my film on the 1995 New Year's rituals in Gaoluo village!

Instrumental lives I’ve been admiring Instrumental lives: musical instruments, material culture, and social networks in East and Southeast Asia (2024), edited by Helen Rees, professor of ethnomusicology at UCLA, who,…

Stimulating perspectives on the lives of musical instruments in society stephenjones.blog/2025/07/12/i...

stephenjones.blog/2022/09/08/o...

Iga’s first Wimbledon final makes a pretext to remind you of this post on wacky diacritics and nasal vowels: Polish ogonek and Portuguese til—with matching anagram and limerick!
stephenjones.blog/2022/09/08/o...

Thanks @robbiebarnett.bsky.social for referring to work by @bennoweiner.bsky.social and me for this ChinaFile discussion on the Dalai Lama’s succession www.chinafile.com/conversation...

Beethoven's Wimbledon adventure, apud Monty Python
stephenjones.blog/2017/01/21/j...

A playlist for Emma and Leylah Photo: Timothy A. Clary/AFP. The fairy-tale dénouement of the US Open women’s singles was an even more intense and moving contest than anyone dared imagine. Just exhilarated by this rare mome…

A remarkable world music playlist celebrating Emma Raducanu's 2021 US Open victory!
stephenjones.blog/2021/09/12/e...

Dalai Lama says there will be search for his successor after his death, ending years of speculation Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader releases video statement in run-up to 90th birthday celebrations The Dalai Lama has said the centuries-old Tibetan Buddhist institution will continue after his death, ending years of speculation that started when he indicated that he might be the last person to hold the role. Speaking at prayer celebrations ahead of his 90th birthday on Sunday, the Nobel peace prize-winning spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhism said in a recorded statement that the next Dalai Lama should be found and recognised as per past Buddhist traditions. Continue reading...

Dalai Lama says there will be search for his successor after his death, ending years of speculation

The spiritual economy: young Chinese turn to fortune tellers as anxiety about the future rises Growing popularity of mysticism can also be connected to increasing sense of cultural confidence as Chinese brands and products go global

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

Changing times: Daoist and Buddhist groups at Daxing funerals 1995
stephenjones.blog/suburban-bei...

Reminder of the Chinese-subtitled version of my film on the 1995 New Year's rituals in Gaoluo village!

Across China, temples are quietly transforming into destinations for lifestyle consumption. Brand crossovers, cafés, vegetarian cuisine, and even venture capital activities now form what some call the “temple economy.”

Read more: ow.ly/Gvlb50WhoUT

Paltry reflections Having not exactly been hibernating, I now find myself in what doesn’t merit the term of “sabbatical”. It’s partly that I’m beset by a lack of focus; while it’s …

Some comments on the (possibly welcome) paucity of posts on my blog of late...
stephenjones.blog/2025/06/25/p...

Society and soundscape, some sample posts

Resisting the Trump Regime — a how-to handbook Contra Trump 抗心希古 Sixty years ago, Li Ao, a Taiwan-based popular historian and mud-racker, published ‘The Art of Survival’. It was, as he put it, about ‘the art of living in the chaotic world while

chinaheritage.net/journal/resi...

The Robert van Gulik Archive at Leiden University Libraries is now fully described and accessible online: edu.nl/d7p3m

Do foreigners really choose images that expose the “ugliness” of China (and is that what my films do)?! Please feel free to circulate articles on the topic!

Many posts on north Indian raga collected here
stephenjones.blog/2021/09/16/g...

That is the snake that bit my foot If you’re thinking of dabbling with Japanese, then as a more practical guide than the sketch “How to learn Japanese in three easy lessons” (freezing cold, constipated, and absent-minded—available o…

A noir plot suggested by a Japanese phrasebook!
stephenjones.blog/2017/01/21/j...

Sooo happy for Coco!!!
stephenjones.blog/2019/07/09/c...

The artistry of the craftsman in Istanbul stephenjones.blog/2023/06/20/s...

Tiananmen: bullets and opium Within China, as for the whole of the Maoist era, public memory of the righteous student protests of 1989 in China continues to be repressed. A valuable recent addition to the extensive literature …

Public memory of the righteous student protests of 1989 still suppressed within China
stephenjones.blog/2020/09/30/b...

又到六四纪念日。关于六四的书，你最近打算读哪部？

欢迎参考民间档案馆六四档案推荐，所有推荐档案的全文均可在民间档案馆网站查看下载：
chinaunofficialarchives.substack.com/p/58f

On the eve of another anniversary of June Fourth, please check out our editors' recommendations on books to read on what happened in 1989. (See link above.)

Chinese-subtitled version now available both on my sites and in China!
stephenjones.blog/2025/05/31/g...