Everyday Tang

Part travelogue, part historical reflection, Everyday Tang is a profound, and often startling, meditation on one period in Chinese history: the magnificent and cosmopolitan Tang Dynasty (618–907).

In the summer of 2024, Xiaolu Guo travelled from England to China with her eleven-year-old in search of what remains of the ancient past. As they wander through the great cities of Xi’an and Luoyang, and cross rivers such as the Wei and the Yangzi, Xiaolu ponders the achievements of the Tang in science, arts, trade, spirituality, sexuality and women’s freedom, shedding new light on our understanding of the Tang Dynasty.Xiaolu Guo is a novelist, memoirist, and cineaste. Her novels include A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers, I Am China and A Lover’s Discourse, which was shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize in 2020. Her memoir Once Upon a Time in the East won the National Book Critics Circle Award 2017 and was shortlisted for the RSL Ondaatje Prize. Named as one of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists in 2013, she has directed a dozen award winning films, including How Is Your Fish Today (Sundance Official Selection). Her feature She, A Chinese received the Golden Leopard Award at the Locarno Festival 2009 a documentary We Went to Wonderland was selected for ND/NF at the MoMA.