Hsi-men Ch'ing was drinking wine with Li P'ing-erh in her bedroom when he suddenly heard the sound of someone playing the p'i-p'a in a nearby dwelling. Who's playing the p'i-p'a? he asked. It's the sound of the Fifth Lady, over there, playing her p'i-p'a, replied Ying-ch'un.

When ponds are cleaned out periodically, fish are trapped or dragnetted and finally the pond is drained to remove all fish.

“Look, cuntwaffle—” Phee had much too broad vocabulary.

As Ms Shafak summarises, “the state is privileged, all-powerful and yet paradoxically safeguarded as if it were a fragile entity in need of protection.” Between it and its citizens a gulf looms; conversely, officials elide its interests with their own.