In Chinese-born, British citizen Xiaolu Guo’s release, “Everyday Tang: On What We Can Learn From a Dynasty,” we journey to her “motherland” in China alongside her 11-year-old Londoner daughter, Moon, to learn how the past informs our present — and future.
The duo examined their shared roots and morphing-yet-steady identity in a contemporary youthful lens, while discussing the cosmopolitan achievements of China’s Tang Dynasty, which took place between 618–907, long before either of them — or any of us — were born.
They asked a lot of questions and received a lot of answers.
Guo’s objective was twofold: to show Moon where she had come from, and to rediscover what lingered and remained of an enigmatic period that had long fascinated her: the Tang Dynasty.
Guo, an accomplished author who has written over a dozen books — often with themes of migration, cultural alienation, memory, feminism, and transnational identity — chose to embark on the mother-daughter trip (without Moon’s father) to completely immerse in the critical topics at hand before Moon entered adolescence.
It was the right time and the right place and space.
In true Guo fashion, she thoughtfully explored feminism forms in futuristic flashes, examining empowered women in the Tang era and connecting that to the contemporary culture of Moon’s London.
They traveled together in the summer of 2024 from their home in England across China, visiting Xi’an and Luoyang, and crossed the Wei and Yangzi Rivers.
Guo and Moon discussed the artistic, intellectual and social achievements of the Tang Dynasty and its eventual influence on Western culture. It is all distinct and yet strangely connected.
While Guo grew up in China and was familiar with many of the facts, this was a chance for her to reckon with the feelings they evoked, such as the erasure of Chinese history during the Cultural Revolution.
Moon, as her name implies, served as an anchor and grounding force, pulling the light and enlightenment from her mother, the source, or the sun.
Out in Notting Hill Editions (UK) and New York Review Books (US), this slim offering, of slightly over 100 pages, is part travelogue, part memoir, and fully compelling.