This paragraph introduces the "silkpunk" science fiction genre proposed by Chinese American author Ken Liu, explaining how it draws inspiration from the philosophy of technology to treat technology as a cultural linguistic structure. Centered on Eastern pre-modern technologies (such as bamboo airships and fox-spirit cyborgs), it combines classical literary forms with nostalgic characteristics while ultimately pointing toward future rebellion. The text reviews three existing research approaches and emphasizes that Liu's definition of "silkpunk" focuses on the "punk" core: breaking the authority of American mainstream culture through a decolonized Chinese American perspective and the fusion of Eastern and Western cultures. Finally, it notes that this paper will approach from "technostalgia," using "The Hunting of the Gods" to explore its rebellion against Western homogenism and the path of "rooted cosmopolitanism."

1　Redefined Technology: What Is Technostalgia?

This section discusses the theoretical construction of "technostalgia," noting its formation in the tension between Western postmodern philosophy of technology and ancient Chinese philosophy. It first reviews the paradigm shift in the Western context from "technology of memory" to "memory of technology," emphasizing technology's transformation from an objective tool to an "exteriorized memory" and "third kind of being" with dual material and cultural nature. It then contrasts this with ancient Chinese views on technology, clarifying the Daoist concept of "unity of Dao and instrument" where technology and human nature, nature itself are interconnected—technology is not merely a tool but an externalized form of cultural spirit. Ultimately, it points out that technostalgia makes technology itself a subject of memory, achieving dialogue between past and present through reshaping history, excavating new historical potential to critique reality and refract future ideals.

2　Cultural Metaphors of Technostalgia: The Divide Between Magical and Modern Technology

This section explores the cultural metaphors and power relations of Eastern and Western technological forms in "The Hunting of the Gods." It first analyzes the cultural origins of ancient Chinese technology, noting that the Eastern magical technologies in the novel are rooted in shamanistic traditions, manifested as swallow-tail swords, feng shui geomancy, fox-spirit transformation techniques and other supernatural arts, embodying an "organic naturalism" technological view—technology coexists with nature, following the cosmic order of unity between heaven and humanity and unity between instrument and Dao, emphasizing yin-yang dialectical holism and pluralistic relationalism, where spirits and humans coexist interdependently across dynamic boundaries. It then reveals the violence of Western modern technology, symbolized by trains crushing rice paddies and causing children's deaths, tracing this to ancient Greek techne's dualistic thinking of overcoming contingency and transforming nature, possessing what Heidegger calls the "challenging-forth" essence, replacing Chinese organic naturalism with modern mechanical paradigms. This technology is not merely a form of knowledge but a manifestation of power, leading to spatial differentiation in Hong Kong society: railways divide racial hierarchies, Westerners occupy Victoria Peak through steam technology while Chinese are relegated to底层苦力, traditional rituals dismissed as superstition. Ultimately, the author notes that through this technological contrast, Liu presents both nostalgic memories of Eastern harmony and, based on his dual cultural background as a Chinese American, implies imaginative transformation of real society, with technological fusion and dual rebellion reflecting his appeal for new cultural identity.

3　Rewriting Under Technostalgia: Dual Rebellion of Gender and Ethnicity

This section discusses the rewriting of gender and ethnicity issues in "The Hunting of the Gods" from a technostalgic perspective, noting that technology, as a symbol of social power struggle, plays a key role in reconstructing gender roles and racial hierarchies. In the gender dimension, the author analyzes the composite identity of the fox-spirit Yan'er: she inherits both the negative label of "fox spirit" from classical texts and divine characteristics. Liu connects technological power with fox-spirit subjectivity, transforming "hunting" from a symbol of male power into an expression of Yan'er's subjectivity in her animal form, thereby rebelling against traditional gender orders. However, Western invasion leads to the loss of Eastern technology, imprisoning Yan'er in the objectified identity of "Oriental prostitute," with Westernized clothing and a body subjected to the gaze, metaphorizing the intersectional oppression of gender and race in the Chinese American predicament.

In the ethnic dimension, the chapter contrasts the different survival strategies of Liang and Yan'er: Liang improves his status by learning Western technology yet falls into what Homi Bhabha calls the "mimicry" predicament, unable to escape racial hierarchy even as a core engineer; Yan'er insists on Eastern cultural difference, refusing complete hybridization. Ultimately, Yan'er completes her cyborg transformation with Liang's assistance, incorporating Western technological elements such as Parisian plaster and chrome skin into the Eastern "magical" system, achieving fusion of machine and flesh guided by her own blueprint, both critiquing technological violence and maintaining cultural roots through "traces of the mother." The revival of the metal fox and the retrieval of the swallow-tail sword at the ending symbolize the regeneration of traditional power through the interweaving of old and new technologies, this cultural bricolage not mimicking Western standards but achieving dual rebellion against Eastern and Western hegemonic orders while maintaining difference, ultimately moving toward "rooted cosmopolitanism" that emphasizes cultural subjectivity.

4　Silkpunk and the Possibility of Constructing Rooted Cosmopolitanism

This section discusses the localist concept proposed by Liu, noting that silkpunk breaks Western science fiction's cognitive standards and homogeneous spatial concepts through technostalgia and Eastern narrative. The article analyzes the historical connections between Western science fiction and the scientific revolution, colonial expansion, pointing out the Western centrism and technological homogenization tendency implicit in its "Copernican Revolution" background. Silkpunk implants Eastern pre-modern technologies into science fiction writing, using local knowledge to counter universal knowledge hegemony, restoring the value of indigenous technologies degraded as "magic." Distinct from steampunk's European industrial aesthetics, silkpunk constructs Eastern technological language based on natural bionics. In its nostalgic path, it reverses Western linear progressive historiography, returning to the cosmic concept of unity between heaven and humanity, establishing local historical space-time. Ultimately, silkpunk transcends East-West binary opposition through "fox-spirit cyborg" style cultural bricolage, constructing a cosmopolitan vision oriented toward globalized problems through the fusion and rewriting of traditional technologies, forming an open and inclusive aesthetic ideal.

5　Conclusion

This section discusses how silkpunk achieves dual rebellion through technostalgia, bringing Eastern technology into the science fiction field to break Western authority, constructing cultural polyphony in the connection between the local and the cosmopolitan.