The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories

In many of these stories, the Chinese language is featured not just as a form of communication, but as an art with hidden meaning. Because the written word in Chinese is based on pictures and patterns, Chinese calligraphy can illuminate reality. This idea is most prevalent in “The Literomancer,” in which Mr. Kan tells Lilly’s fortune and explains concepts to her using Chinese characters.

Liu uses this device in several other stories, including “The Paper Menagerie,” in which Jack’s mother is only able to express her true emotions through writing in Chinese, and Jack is possibly able to connect with her spirit at the end by tracing the Chinese character for “love.” Readers also see the power of the language (using kanji, in which Japanese writing is formed with Chinese characters) in “Mono No Aware,” which begins with the kanji character for umbrella, representing the solar sail that propels the last survivors of Earth away from their home planet, and also includes a kanji symbol that represents Hiroto himself, saving the people he loves by patching the solar sail.