In the rural mountains of Okayama sits Songenji — a 300-year old Zen temple that is both a pillar of Japanese discipline and tradition and a maverick of globalism and progress. It’s a place where women live and study Zen side-by-side with men as coeds (something once unheard of), and the sangha (monastic order) is mostly Western foreigners.

Do translations of spiritual texts have to be so foreign-sounding? Do non-literal translations distort the words of the prophets and sages? A translator of Chinese Buddhist and Taoist scripture weighs in on the subject.

China’s crackdown on fantasy literature and video games poses a critical obstacle to readers, authors, and those who seek to make these works accessible. Why restrict these apparently innocuous stories? Eric R Stone relays accounts from censored writers who describe how censorship and outright banning of certain concepts, words, and allusions render works of fiction unintelligible.

The unconventional appearance of Ji Gong and the unique experience of hearing the god speak fascinated a foreigner who seeks authentic travel adventure in Taiwan.