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Graham Sanders (he/him)

@gmsprof.bsky.social
416 followers 182 following 222 posts

Professor of classical Chinese literature at the University of Toronto, among other pursuits. 若復不為無益之事則安能悅有涯之生?“Without trivial pursuits, how can we enjoy a life that must end?”

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Graham Sanders (he/him) @gmsprof.bsky.social · 18/10/2025
We are all, ultimately, alone and vulnerable in the vastness of natural forces, seeking refuge in a circle of light, and finding comfort in reaching out to others who share that experience with us. In the closing couplet, Han Yu asks, “How is it that...?”—his poem is an answer to that question.
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Graham Sanders (he/him) @gmsprof.bsky.social · 18/10/2025
I think it is the mark of great art that it repays whatever amount of effort you put into interpreting it. This poem speaks to what we used to call the “human condition”. It is what the kids these days call “relatable”.
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Graham Sanders (he/him) @gmsprof.bsky.social · 18/10/2025
The closing couplet switches register to a conversational tone, as the poem moves from the world of a lone consciousness in nature to communication between two fellow travelers, who find themselves reminded of how far they are from the security of home.
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Graham Sanders (he/him) @gmsprof.bsky.social · 18/10/2025
The lamp inside produces a gentle and comforting vision with its warm halo of light, small and circumscribed; the rain in the fading darkness outside impinges on that interior, vulnerable coziness with a feeling of vast and implacable cold.
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Graham Sanders (he/him) @gmsprof.bsky.social · 18/10/2025
The ensuing line of this parallel couplet juxtaposes “night fading” and “dream awakening” as two related time markers, and the “lamp emitting a halo” with “the rain bringing a chill” as two descriptions of inanimate (are they?) objects performing actions.
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Graham Sanders (he/him) @gmsprof.bsky.social · 18/10/2025
When Han Yu rouses from his dreamy, hypnagogic state, the tumultuous, moonlit visions in his mind’s eye are replaced by the serene image of a dim lamp casting a halo of light in his room.
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Graham Sanders (he/him) @gmsprof.bsky.social · 18/10/2025
The froth on the whitecaps could appear to be flakes of frost buoyed up by the water. In the dreamscape of his imagination, sky and river merge, liquid and frozen water coexist—everything is mixed up and in motion.
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Graham Sanders (he/him) @gmsprof.bsky.social · 18/10/2025
The POV switches in the second couplet from inside/auditory to outside/visual in the eye of Han Yu’s mind. Imagining what the rushing water looks like under the bright moon, the light playing across the currents could be mistaken for reflected streaks of lightning.
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Graham Sanders (he/him) @gmsprof.bsky.social · 18/10/2025
The second line takes us inside to the human perceiver, Han Yu in bed, listening to the sound of the rushing water outside, first ebbing away, then rising again in an endless cycle. The natural world is oblivious of him, time flows on unceasin; his own life is a small current in that larger flow.
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Graham Sanders (he/him) @gmsprof.bsky.social · 18/10/2025
The first line of the poem opens with doubled reduplicative compounds that do not so much describe the torrent of water outside where Han Yu is sleeping as capture it in language that mimics the unending flow itself, its persistence and power.
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Graham Sanders (he/him) @gmsprof.bsky.social · 18/10/2025
I’ve been thinking a lot about this poem since I translated it. It is a short, powerful snapshot of a perceiving mind away from home. (Han Yu was moved around a lot because of the vicissitudes of his political career.)
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Graham Sanders (he/him) @gmsprof.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
This #poem came up during my grad seminar on Tang #poetry, and I decided to take a crack at a #translation. Han Yu (768–824) was fond of writing in a looser ancient style, but this piece is a rare example of his using the later regulated style of four couplets of five-syllable lines.
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Graham Sanders (he/him) @gmsprof.bsky.social · 10/03/2025
This is one of the best political speeches I have heard in a long time. Mark Carney is not a firebrand, and his French is mediocre, but I wholeheartedly agree with everything he has to say here about Canadian values (currently under threat from US aggression)... youtu.be/Qv6JIMtX8Qc?...
youtu.be
FULL SPEECH: Carney addresses Canadians as new Liberal leader and PM-designate
YouTube video by CBC News
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Graham Sanders (he/him) @gmsprof.bsky.social · 02/03/2025
Mental health break with the #guqin #古琴... www.youtube.com/watch?v=1b6Q...
youtube.com
水仙操 (L'immortel des eaux) (The Immortal by the Water)
YouTube video by 蘇思棣 (Sou Si-tai) - Topic
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Graham Sanders (he/him) @gmsprof.bsky.social · 02/03/2025
I found a break from the bleakness in this #poem: “The City Limits” by AR Ammons (1926–2001). consider the radiance... ...each is accepted into as much light as it will take #poetry #solace #light
The City Limits

A. R. Ammons 1926–2001

When you consider the radiance, that it does not withhold
itself but pours its abundance without selection into every
nook and cranny not overhung or hidden; when you consider

that birds’ bones make no awful noise against the light but
lie low in the light as in a high testimony; when you consider
the radiance, that it will look into the guiltiest

swervings of the weaving heart and bear itself upon them,
not flinching into disguise or darkening; when you consider
the abundance of such resource as illuminates the glow-blue

bodies and gold-skeined wings of flies swarming the dumped
guts of a natural slaughter or the coil of shit and in no
way winces from its storms of generosity; when you consider

that air or vacuum, snow or shale, squid or wolf, rose or lichen,
each is accepted into as much light as it will take, then
the heart moves roomier, the man stands and looks about, the

leaf does not increase itself above the grass, and the dark
work of the deepest cells is of a tune with May bushes
and fear lit by the breadth of such calmly turns to praise.

From The Selected Poems: 1951-1977, Expanded Edition, W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. Copyright © 1986 by A. R. Ammons.
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Graham Sanders (he/him) @gmsprof.bsky.social · 02/03/2025
Useful. Thanks!
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Graham Sanders (he/him) @gmsprof.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
Oops. That cocktail picture came out blurry. Here is a better version...
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Graham Sanders (he/him) @gmsprof.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
BONUS FALLACY And the prize for most widespread and profoundly damaging fallacy goes to... 21/20. Correlation Equals Causation It does not.
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Graham Sanders (he/him) @gmsprof.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
20/20. Poisoning the Well Presenting information in a way that is intended to discredit or undermine an argument, rather than addressing the argument itself.
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Graham Sanders (he/him) @gmsprof.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
19/20. Appeal to Consequences Arguing that a statement is true or false based on its consequences, rather than its actual truth or falsity.
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Graham Sanders (he/him) @gmsprof.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
18/20. Shifting Burden of Proof Shifting the burden of proof from one party to another, often unfairly.
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Graham Sanders (he/him) @gmsprof.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
17/20. Appeal to Ignorance Assuming that because something has not been proven false, it must be true.
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Graham Sanders (he/him) @gmsprof.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
16/20. Appeal to Tradition Arguing that a practice or belief is valid because it has been done a certain way for a long time.
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Graham Sanders (he/him) @gmsprof.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
15/20. Narrow Definition Defining a term or concept so narrowly that it excludes counterexamples that actually exist.
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Graham Sanders (he/him) @gmsprof.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
14/20. Equivocation Using ambiguous language to obscure or distort the meaning of an argument.
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Graham Sanders (he/him) @gmsprof.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
13/20. Bandwagon Arguing that because many people believe something, it must be true.
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Graham Sanders (he/him) @gmsprof.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
12/20. Appeal to Emotion Using emotional reactions rather than logic to persuade others.
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Graham Sanders (he/him) @gmsprof.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
11/20. Slippery Slope Arguing that a particular action will inevitably lead to a series of negative consequences without providing evidence for these consequences.
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Graham Sanders (he/him) @gmsprof.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
10/20. False Analogy Making an analogy between two things that are not sufficiently similar to support the conclusion being drawn.
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Graham Sanders (he/him) @gmsprof.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
9/20. False Dilemma Presenting only two options when there are more options available.
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Graham Sanders (he/him) @gmsprof.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
8/20. Appeal to Authority Using the opinion or position of an authority figure to support an argument.
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Graham Sanders (he/him) @gmsprof.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
7/20. Straw Man Misrepresenting or exaggerating someone’s argument to make it easier to attack.
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Graham Sanders (he/him) @gmsprof.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
6/20. Ad Hominem Attacking the person making the argument rather than addressing the argument itself.
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Graham Sanders (he/him) @gmsprof.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
5/20. Red Herring Switching to another topic that is only superficially related.
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Graham Sanders (he/him) @gmsprof.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
4/20. Whataboutism Pointing out that the person making the argument, or people admired by them, have done what they are arguing against.
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Graham Sanders (he/him) @gmsprof.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
3/20. Cherry Picking Citing only the evidence that supports the argument, while ignoring evidence that undermines it.
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Graham Sanders (he/him) @gmsprof.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
2/20. Nitpicking Disproving a minor point or piece of evidence, then claiming the entire argument is disproven.
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Graham Sanders (he/him) @gmsprof.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
1/20. Moving The Goal Posts Redefining the terms of the argument as one progresses.
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Graham Sanders (he/him) @gmsprof.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺, 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘪𝘭𝘭-𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦, 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧... 𝗧𝗼𝗽 𝟮𝟬 𝗠𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗔𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗟𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗱 𝗪𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗧𝗿𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗪𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗻 #𝗔𝗿𝗴𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 (which I have to guard against using myself) 👇🏼
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Graham Sanders (he/him) @gmsprof.bsky.social · 23/02/2025
Somehow, Aparna Halpé always pulls together the best looks from wildly disparate elements. The woman has #style. You can come see her and @solidaridadtango.bsky.social play at Drom Taberna in Toronto, today at 3–5pm. Fantastic live #tango #music, food, and drink. Would love to see you there!
Beautiful Sri Lankan woman dressed in funky clothes and boots, wearing a Betty Boop tie, holding a black carbon fibre violin, standing in a sunlit room on a snowy winter's day.
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Graham Sanders (he/him) @gmsprof.bsky.social · 23/02/2025
The really stupid thing is that there are a ton of Canadians on all the US teams. 44% of NHL players across all teams are Canadian. Only 27% are USian. In the end, all pro sports leagues are just a bunch of corporations playing each other.
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Graham Sanders (he/him) @gmsprof.bsky.social · 23/02/2025
Oh crap. I responded to this email to jam the signal. Does that mean I'm hired?
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Graham Sanders (he/him) @gmsprof.bsky.social · 23/02/2025
@deonandan.bsky.social late ❤️ day gift for you...
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Graham Sanders (he/him) @gmsprof.bsky.social · 23/02/2025
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Graham Sanders (he/him) @gmsprof.bsky.social · 23/02/2025
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Graham Sanders (he/him) @gmsprof.bsky.social · 23/02/2025
Elon Musk instructed federal workers to summarize their weekly accomplishments in an email, a tactic he previously used to downsize staff at X. “Please reply to this email with approximately five bullet points of what you accomplished this week and CC your manager.” You know what to do...
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Graham Sanders (he/him) @gmsprof.bsky.social · 22/02/2025
They think they are "owning the libtards" with their childish pranks.
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Graham Sanders (he/him) @gmsprof.bsky.social · 22/02/2025
There's a sadistic narcissist out there punching babies... IAN HANOMANSING: We are opening the phone lines today to hear what people think of a sadistic baby-puncher. This is not reporting; this is giving credence and attention to the worst ideas and people, who crave our attention and fear.
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Graham Sanders (he/him) @gmsprof.bsky.social · 22/02/2025
A very #Canadian picture #Canada will not be part of the #USA
Shot of a hockey fan from behind watching a Canada v USA hockey game, wearing a red and white toque and a red jersey with white lettering spelling “NEVER 51”.
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Graham Sanders (he/him) @gmsprof.bsky.social · 22/02/2025
@ianhanomansing.bsky.social Even entertaining such a preposterous proposition as annexing our country is to lend credibility to it. It’s insulting to all the citizens of our nation. Those who feel life would be better under the boot of a deranged narcissist do not have an opinion worth reporting.
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