https://stephenjones.blog/
@stevejonesblog.bsky.social
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Daoism—lives—language—performance. And jokes
pinned post!
Roundup for 2024: China, world music, modern Europe, West/Central Asia, jazz, Western Art Music, language and drôlerie, film, fiction, sport...
stephenjones.blog/2024/12/31/r...
12 months ago
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For Christmas, a wealth of posts on Bach
stephenjones.blog/2017/12/23/b...
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A Bach retrospective
Some might say that the only good thing about Christmas is that one can bask in Bach. Whatever your reasons for exploring this blog, I can’t help regarding his music as an essential basis of our cu…
https://stephenjones.blog/2017/12/23/bach-retrospective/
about 1 year ago
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And just as moving is Messiaen’s Vingt regards sur l’enfant-Jésus
stephenjones.blog/2021/12/23/v...
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about 1 year ago
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Léon Theremin and his ethereal invention, divinely played by Clara Rockwell, against the background of the Russian Revolution, America’s Great Depression and the celebrities of the day, Stalin’s gulag, two world wars, the cold war, and perestroika
stephenjones.blog/2021/08/16/t...
13 days ago
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Part of my series on Bach
stephenjones.blog/2017/12/23/b...
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15 days ago
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Mesmerising: Bach in an empty Japanese forest
stephenjones.blog/2022/11/01/b...
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Bach in an empty forest
Like Bach’s Air, or the Adagietto from Mahler 5, Jesu, joy of man’s desiring is another of those pieces to which we may have become somewhat inured by media recyclings—but here it’s mag…
https://stephenjones.blog/2022/11/01/bach-empty-forest/
15 days ago
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My new film on the 1995 New Year's rituals in Gaoluo village south of Beijing!!!
stephenjones.blog/gaoluo-the-f...
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Gaoluo: the film
My book Plucking the winds (2004), a detailed historical ethnography of Gaoluo village on the plain south of Beijing, includes many black-and-white photos and an audio CD. But the village’s r…
https://stephenjones.blog/gaoluo-the-film/
about 1 year ago
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now with YouTube trailer too!
stephenjones.blog/the-film/
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about 1 year ago
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Sport: ritual and gender
stephenjones.blog/2020/05/29/s...
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25 days ago
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The great Ronnie O'Sullivan at 50
stephenjones.blog/2019/01/14/r...
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Ronnie: a roundup
As the Masters tournament breaks off again at Ally Pally, it’s that time of year when I make another futile attempt to Rend Asunder the Bonds of Daoist ritual, the Iron curtain, and Bach by e…
https://stephenjones.blog/2019/01/14/ronnie-a-roundup/
26 days ago
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Links to a wealth of articles on ritual and soundscape in the temples of old Beijing and amateur ritual associations on the plain just south
stephenjones.blog/2018/04/25/b...
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Three baldies and a mouth-organ
*UPDATED with links to posts on the Zhihua temple and related topics!* Early in 1986, only a couple of days after my first arrival in Beijing, hearing the former monks of the Zhihua temple 智化寺 on a…
https://stephenjones.blog/2018/04/25/baldies-mouth-organ/
27 days ago
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In the top menu, "Roundups" rubric leads to many themes
30 days ago
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Late imperial Chinese artefacts: the riches of fieldwork on living regional traditions going back many generations, surpassing museum collections
stephenjones.blog/2023/05/22/c...
about 1 month ago
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Society and soundscape: a roundup of posts
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about 1 month ago
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For Holodomor Memorial Day
stephenjones.blog/2022/03/27/s...
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Some posts on Ukraine
Here are some of the main posts in which I learn from the work of distinguished scholars on the troubled 20th-century history of Ukraine: Famine: Ukraine and China—Robert Conquest, Timothy Snyder, …
https://stephenjones.blog/2022/03/27/some-posts-on-ukraine/
about 1 month ago
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notably the GDR, on which I particularly admired Maxim Leo's Red Love
stephenjones.blog/2021/03/05/r...
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about 1 month ago
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Roundup of posts on life behind the Iron Curtain
stephenjones.blog/2019/11/10/l...
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Life behind the Iron Curtain: a roundup
There’s been some fine media coverage to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the fall of the Wall. So apart from my numerous posts under the Maoism tag, here’s a roundup of some of…
https://stephenjones.blog/2019/11/10/life-behind-the-iron-curtain-a-roundup/
about 1 month ago
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Links to my series on flamenco, one of the glories of European culture—based on the remarkable documentary series Rito y geografïa del cante, including cante jondo and palmas; gender, politics, wine, and deviance
stephenjones.blog/2019/06/21/f...
9 months ago
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What is "serious" music?!
stephenjones.blog/what-is-seri...
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What is serious music?!
Surely you can’t be serious —Airplane Here I’d like to explore two main themes: the demotion of “classical music”, and the flawed concept of “serious music”. Following on from the…
https://stephenjones.blog/what-is-serious-music/
about 2 months ago
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The Li family Daoists: a misleading official name, and the Heritage shtick
stephenjones.blog/rectifying-n...
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Rectifying names
On the state system’s distorted official packaging of local ritual traditions,and its misguided yet largely futile attempts to promote them. In Yanggao, as across a wide band of northwest Chi…
https://stephenjones.blog/rectifying-names/
about 2 months ago
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Household Daoist ritual groups of Hunyuan county, Shanxi
stephenjones.blog/hunyuan-daoi...
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Daoists of Hunyuan, Shanxi
The connection of the Yanggao Daoists with the temple Daoism of Hengshan may be spurious, but household Daoists in Hunyuan county-town at the foot of the mountain have their own traditions. Our vis…
https://stephenjones.blog/hunyuan-daoists/
about 2 months ago
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From my series of fieldnotes from the 1990s: village ritual associations of Xiongxian, Hebei
stephenjones.blog/xiongxian-ri...
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Ritual groups of Xiongxian, Hebei
Through the 1990s, one of the most fruitful sites for our fieldwork project on the Hebei plain south of Beijing was the area around Xiongxian county, just south of Bazhou, and east of the regional …
https://stephenjones.blog/xiongxian-ritual/
about 2 months ago
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Alison Killing
about 2 months ago
Absolutely shocking that the Chinese govt pressured a UK university to shut down research about forced labour in Xinjiang and the links to global supply chains. The work of Laura Murphy and her team had been instrumental in getting Chinese companies sanctioned.
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
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UK university halted human rights research after pressure from China
Exclusive: Leading professor at Sheffield Hallam was told to cease research on supply chains and forced labour in China after demands from authorities
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/nov/03/uk-university-halted-human-rights-research-after-pressure-from-china
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Today: annual köçek dancing with drum and shawm in Istanbul!
stephenjones.blog/2021/11/09/k...
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Köçek in Kuzguncuk!
A fanfare in advance of the anniversary of Atatürk’s death on 10th November Just back home after an ecstatic week in Istanbul—first time I’ve needed my passport since visiting Li Manshan in 2…
https://stephenjones.blog/2021/11/09/kuzguncuk-kocek/
2 months ago
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The qin zither under Maoism: five vignettes
stephenjones.blog/2021/12/21/q...
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The qin zither under Maoism: five vignettes
This is how I opened my series on the qin zither scene in Beijing under Maoism: I’m still seeking in vain to atone for my reservations about the dominance of the elite qin zither in Chinese music s…
https://stephenjones.blog/2021/12/21/qin-zither-maoism/
2 months ago
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Three baldies and a mouth-organ: roundup of posts on the ritual/music of Beijing temples and village associations
stephenjones.blog/2018/04/25/b...
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Three baldies and a mouth-organ
*UPDATED with links to posts on the Zhihua temple and related topics!* Early in 1986, only a couple of days after my first arrival in Beijing, hearing the former monks of the Zhihua temple 智化寺 on a…
https://stephenjones.blog/2018/04/25/baldies-mouth-organ/
2 months ago
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Collected posts on folk cultures of Europe
stephenjones.blog/2024/07/14/f...
complementing regional surveys on east Europe, Italy, Portugal, flamenco, Irish folk, and so on
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Folk cultures of Europe
A major theme of this site is the rich variety of regional folk expressive cultures, in China and around the world. Quite by chance, the compelling drama of Euro 24 has provided me with a wacky per…
https://stephenjones.blog/2024/07/14/folk-cultures-of-europe/
3 months ago
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A fabulously eclectic playlist of songs
stephenjones.blog/2018/09/02/w...
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A playlist of songs
Apart from the mainly-Chinese playlist in the sidebar (commentary here), below are some links to an eclectic selection of All-time Great Songs* on this blog. Besides the songs, the posts are worth …
https://stephenjones.blog/2018/09/02/world-songs/
3 months ago
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Part of my Mahler series!
stephenjones.blog/2022/09/06/m...
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3 months ago
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My current earworm: the 2nd movement of Mahler 5
stephenjones.blog/2019/12/04/m...
3 months ago
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An online archive of Armenian culture on the eve of the 1915 genocide
stephenjones.blog/2025/10/02/a...
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An Armenian archive
A recent talk at the Orient-Institut in Istanbul, when Ara Dinkjian (son of the great Onnik) and Vahé Tachjian introduced early recordings of Armenian classics, led me to the impressive website Hou…
https://stephenjones.blog/2025/10/02/armenian-archive/
3 months ago
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Serendipitous courtesy
stephenjones.blog/2025/09/29/s...
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Serendipitous courtesy
In our modern world, the flight booking reference consists of a seemingly random combo of six letters and numbers, so on booking my recent flights for Istanbul I was impressed to find the last thre…
https://stephenjones.blog/2025/09/29/serendipitous-courtesy/
3 months ago
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As well as this sketch of Shan Fuyi, another main source for our material on the early and modern history of Gaoluo
stephenjones.blog/2019/09/25/v...
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3 months ago
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A village elder, before and after Liberation
stephenjones.blog/2019/07/11/v...
Part of my series on the modern history of Gaoluo
3 months ago
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A new collection of essays on rebetika
stephenjones.blog/2025/09/21/n...
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A new rebetika volume
After my dabblings with Songs of Asia Minor, Road to rebetika, and Folk traditions of Greece, I’m browsing the new volume The SOAS rebetiko reader: a selection of papers associated with the H…
https://stephenjones.blog/2025/09/21/new-rebetika-vol/
3 months ago
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In memory of the great ethnomusicologist David Hughes
stephenjones.blog/2025/09/16/i...
4 months ago
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Recopying the Li family Daoist ritual manuals
stephenjones.blog/2018/12/31/r...
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4 months ago
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Li Qing’s Daoist uncle Li Peisen had already anticipated the ravages of Maoist campaigns by moving to the safety of his wife’s natal village, preserving the family ritual manuals—as explained in this post on Women of Yanggao
stephenjones.blog/2017/06/13/w..
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4 months ago
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Nuances of Maoist society: the great Daoist Li Qing takes refuge from the famine by joining a state Arts Work Troupe
stephenjones.blog/2019/01/19/d...
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A Daoist serves a state troupe
My post on the folk–conservatoire gulf reminds me of the brief sojourn of the great household Daoist Li Qing in the grimy coal city of Datong as a state-employed musician. Indeed throughout China, …
https://stephenjones.blog/2019/01/19/daoist-in-state-troupe/
4 months ago
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Since my film on the 1995 New Year's rituals in Gaoluo won awards at the Chinese Musics Ethnographic Film Festival in Shanghai, I reflect further on the gulf between ethnography and reified glamorisation, and issues in discussing politics
stephenjones.blog/2025/09/11/g..
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Prizes for Gaoluo film!
I’m most gratified that my film Seated at the altar, on the 1995 New Year’s rituals in Gaoluo village, was awarded two prizes at the Chinese Musics Ethnographic Film Festival (CMEFF) In…
https://stephenjones.blog/2025/09/11/g..
4 months ago
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An upcoming international conference at Oxford in honour of Craig Clunas brings together leading scholars in the field of Ming studies and art history
stephenjones.blog/2025/09/07/e...
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Echoes of Great Brightness
An international conference in honour of Craig Clunas will be held on 16–17 September at Lincoln College, Oxford, bringing together leading scholars in the field of Ming studies and art history. Fr…
https://stephenjones.blog/2025/09/07/echoes-of-great-brightness/
4 months ago
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2) for Gaoluo village, subject of my most detailed historical ethnography:
stephenjones.blog/2025/04/30/d...
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Donors’ lists 2: Gaoluo
Towards a dynamic approach to material artefacts in diachronic social context Further to my previous post giving background on material support for amateur ritual associations on the Hebei plain, I…
https://stephenjones.blog/2025/04/30/donors-lists-2/
8 months ago
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Thor Benson
4 months ago
It's often been debated if Trump could pull off a fascist takeover of the United States, because he's clearly not very smart. I talked to
@anneapplebaum.bsky.social
about that for my newsletter
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Fascism and stupidity are not mutually exclusive
People have often said Trump is too stupid to lead an effective fascist takeover of the United States. Not so fast.
https://madness.ghost.io/fascism-stupidity-not-mutually-exclusive/
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Djokovic's celebration reminds me to document some of the diverse ways of playing the violin
stephenjones.blog/2024/08/31/w...
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Ways of playing the violin
A companion to Indian and world fiddles. Image: Paul Childs/Reuters. Source. This summer, after yet another victory, Novak Djokovic paid homage to his daughter’s early steps learning the viol…
https://stephenjones.blog/2024/08/31/ways-of-playing-violin/
4 months ago
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Survey of village ritual associations on the Hebei plain
stephenjones.blog/sects-hebei/
add a skeleton here at some point
7 months ago
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Collected posts on Mahler, soundtrack to all the anguish and elation of the 20th century: symphonies, chamber arrangements, piano rolls, Alma and Anna...
stephenjones.blog/2022/09/06/m...
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4 months ago
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Mahler at this year's Proms!
stephenjones.blog/2025/08/26/m...
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Mahler at this year’s Proms!
By way of reminding you of my series on the great Gustav Mahler, some brief comments on the three symphonies of his performed at this year’s Proms, while I consult Norman Lebrecht’s han…
https://stephenjones.blog/2025/08/26/mahler-2025-proms/
4 months ago
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A noir plot suggested by a Japanese phrasebook!
stephenjones.blog/2017/01/21/j...
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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…
https://stephenjones.blog/2017/01/21/japanese/
7 months ago
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*Don’t miss* the late lamented Nicolas Robertson's astounding series of anagram tales, based on composers’ names, Mozart operas, and so on!!! My index can only hint at the riches contained within them…
stephenjones.blog/2021/08/30/a...
4 months ago
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Ravel and Stravinsky at the Proms, with copious links—and a party game...
stephenjones.blog/2025/08/16/p...
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Proms: Ravel and Stravinsky
Ida Rubenstein leading the original 1928 production of Boléro. Source. Ravel’s Boléro and Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring have become concert “classics”, but they are challe…
https://stephenjones.blog/2025/08/16/proms-ravel-stravinsky/
5 months ago
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www.theguardian.com/music/2025/j...
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David Watkin obituary
Cellist who co-founded the Eroica Quartet and won awards for his recording of Bach’s six solo Suites
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/jun/19/david-watkin-obituary
5 months ago
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