Diaries from the House of Atonement offers a rare glimpse into the intellectual world of Yang Zengxin (1864–1928), the pragmatic ruler who maintained relative stability in Xinjiang from the fall of the Qing dynasty until his assassination in 1928.

Rather than recounting his administration, Yang's diaries explore Confucian and Daoist thought, personal cultivation, political philosophy, and China's uncertain future. They reveal the intellectual principles that may have shaped his approach to governance, including his reflections on moral order, cultural tradition, and religion.

The diaries also show Yang's understanding of the Bagua (八卦) and the I Ching, showing how classical Chinese philosophy could inform practical life and political thought. This translation introduces English-language readers to Yang not merely as a regional ruler, but as a reflective thinker whose writings illuminate the encounter between Chinese tradition, political crisis, religious thought, and the search for social order. 

About the Author:   Yang Zengxin (1864–1928) was a Chinese politician who ruled Xinjiang from 1911 until 1928. He maintained control of the region through a policy of political balance, keeping order while avoiding direct conflict with powerful local ethnic and religious groups. Yang generally supported the authority of the Chinese central government but exercised considerable autonomy in Xinjiang. He was assassinated in 1928 and succeeded by Jin Shuren.      

About the Translator:   Berlin Fang is a translator working between English and Chinese. His previous translations include the Chinese editions of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith), The Sound and the Fury (William Faulkner), Love (Toni Morrison), Let the Great World Spin, Apeirogon, and Songdogs (Colum McCann), A Bend in the River (V. S. Naipaul), Boyhood (J. M. Coetzee), Oh, What a Paradise It Seems and Bullet Park (John Cheever), and Netherland (Joseph O’Neill). 

Introduction

Preface

Diaries from the House of Atonement

Appendices