Eating idol’s poems: inside the wild, ancient history of Chinese fan culture

China’s fandom culture predates today’s pop idols and live-streaming celebrities by millennia. In ancient times, fame was cultivated in the streets, restaurants, and poetry circles, where beauty and talent transformed poets and performers into objects of public fascination. One of China’s earliest heartthrobs was Pan Yue, a writer from the Western Jin dynasty (266–316), better known by his nickname, Pan An. Celebrated in the book, A New Account of the Tales of the World, for his striking good...