The Wenchang Seal

The Seal of Wenchang will have succeeded if, after closing the book, readers find themselves thinking any one of these three things: 1. “Every Chinese character I write each day stands on the shoulders of five thousand years.” A renewed reverence for Chinese civilization. 2. “My life isn't just a script someone else has laid out for me.” A renewed awakening to the power of writing my own story. 3. “There are people in this world fighting for my right to tell my story.” The deep comfort of being seen and respected. The Institute of Narrative Oversight has never truly won. In every age, it simply changes its face, taking on a more refined appearance as it carries on with its work. In the Shang, it was the shamans. In the Western Zhou, it was the ritual officials. In the Qin, it was the legal clerks. In the Han, it was the Confucian scholars. In the Ming and Qing, it was the examiners. In the modern age, it is the algorithms. “Do you see it?” Cangjie said. “Your enemy isn't an organization. It's part of human civilization. It's our own desire for certainty.”