This is a pretty obvious observation; even for the 17th century. The brilliance of the work is how effectively Shangren captures the way in which even virtuous individuals – either through fear, adherence to predilections, or a desire for normalcy are self-convinced into an illusory existance, and led to ruin.

Southern Ming officials maintain their idyllic lifestyles by turning Nanjing’s imperial court into a replica of the recently fled palace in Beijing – and fill it with the same pleasures and distractions – including an intense interest in opera and theater. An opera within the opera urges the very same rulers to “stop living a fantasy at the opera, and confront reality.” The obvious irony was hopefully not lost on theater watchers at the time.

As a result of such distractions, the southern Ming are unable to mount an effective resistance against the Manchu invaders. Indeed, the perceived danger pushes some of them further into a fantasy world. Shangren is very clear about the consequences, though never so explicit to condemn the Manchus (a pragmatic move, since they were firmly in control of most of the country by the time he was writing). Historical estimates place the Chinese death count at approximately 25 million, a staggering number for the period.* 

Curiously, Shangren never demonstrates that a path to salvation exists – defining only the events that lead to collapse. The few heroes in the work are either killed or go into self imposed exile, remaining loyal to the non-existent Ming authority.

The epilogue showcases three such exiled officials, sought out by a Manchu messenger who explains that a severe lack of bureaucratic talent within the new Qing administration is leading to food shortages throughout the country. The exiles respond only by saying their escape was not thorough enough, and flee – denying a world desperately in need of their abilities. By this point, the only heroic trait remaining in any of the characters is this form of blind, objective loyalty – with a final suggestion in the last aria that even such a virtue can contribute to delusion. Referring to the newly adopted peasant lifestyles of former rulers, Shangren writes:

Fisherman and woodcutter

Chatting of the past,

Each to each recalling

Dreams that did not last 

* England’s population in 1650 was ~5.5 million, China’s population is estimated at ~110 million before the invasion.

happiness[tony] = f(readingindex)

readingindex = f(complexity,obscurity,lengthofbook,fontsize,v)

Where v is a vector of other stuff I’ll make up later. This hackneyed psuedo-equation suggests that my satisfaction is purely a function of the books I bring along. This is not an unreasonable assumption, given that the only other necessary things to pack are really: clothes, and medicines. Since medicines are physically very small, they don’t factor into my choice set. Since I can buy tailored clothes in China for a fraction of the cost here, I don’t plan to bring very many. 

So how to optimize the book problem? As per the original equation, it’s necessary to find tomes that are interesting, re-readable (=incomprehensible), unrelated to China (escapism), and physically not large (no differential equations textbooks, though this would fit the other criteria perfectly). Obscurity also helps, since it’s always possible to travel to one of the huge book houses in Shanghai or Beijing to pick up the latest UK editions of popular works. With all of this in mind, here is my initial packing list:

The Economics of Time and Ignorance
Mario Rizzo and Gerald O’Driscoll

It’s difficult to sing the praises of this book highly enough. I’ve read it twice through already, though comprehension is still at about 10%, leaving ample room for further (mis)interpretation. It also provides a reasonably good overview to modern Austrian economics, as I understand the discipline. 

An Introduction to Mathematical Reasoning
Peter Eccles

Much like being able to tie a tie, or change oil, knowing how to write original mathematical proofs is something every guy should know how to do. 

Time and Realism
Yuval Dolev

Another (physically) small book that provides an overview of the competing “presentist” (the present is privileged over the past and future – there is a ‘now’) and ‘eternalist’ (past, present, and future are not mutually exclusive categories; labeling them as such is a heuristic convenience that keeps we people from going crazy) camps in the metaphysics of time debate. As a text, it’s good enough for providing good explanations of both views – and does so in the first two chapters. The rest of the book is devoted to exploring how both views presuppose ontological status of tense (?) and how this makes both views untenable. Apparently, Dolev then presents a third option for how to view metaphysical time. (I haven’t gotten that far yet – again, one of those things that requires numerous reads to digest, all in a beautiful 100 page package). 

Gravity’s Rainbow
Thomas Pynchon

In case I run out of pills. Neuroticism can be channeled.  

Coordination Games
Russell Cooper

Comes highly recommended, and focuses on games with strategic complementarities. It also promises to instruct in how to use the following terms in conversation: supermodular game, Pareto-dominant Nash equilibria, increasing first differences, and strategic substitutability.

Elements of Style
Strunk and White

It’s tiny, and another read or two might turn me into a good writer.  

C Primer Plus
Stephen Prata

It violates the size rule, but I foresee being stuck inside for extensive periods on colder days. While the ‘learn language’ side of the brain is engaged, might as well learn more simple programming. Additionally, Learn C on the Mac is an excellent e-book, which occupies no space at all.  

Probability: the Science of Uncertainty with Applications to Investments, Insurance, and Engineering
Michael Bean 

Traditional statistics method may be quickly going out of vogue, which is too bad, since it’s one of the more interesting intellectual enterprises. I picked this up free-style at a Math. Association of America conference using teaching assistant privileges to sidestep the hefty cover price. Finally time to start perusing.

Another important category of books (of the ‘not-trying-too-hard-to-impress-people’ category) include guilty pleasures:

Culture Series
Iain M Banks

The benefit of bringing an extensive space opera series is that you can always request more from home – enough to keep one occupied for a very long time. And what better than ‘Star Wars on David Fincher’? Banks’ culture series depicts a conflict between two post-scarcity societies, the man-machine symbiote ‘Culture,’ who live in massive free-floating orbital rings (the folks over at Bungie have definitely been reading more than Niven in the past ten years). Arrayed against them are angry religious three-legged aliens who largely eschew artificial intelligence, but make up for this shortcoming with zeal. And huge guns. 

So good. 

And for the plane, we want something super-small – I happen to just have stumbled upon a vintage edition of:

Nova
Samuel Delany

Moby Dick in space!? By one of the best sf authors of the 20th century? Yes please. The main character is even named Lorq.

Best 14 hour flight ever.