Chrisman uses numerous Chinese words and phrases to give color and authenticity to his stories. Some of the words are translated, while others are left to the reader's imagination. Chrisman also incorporates Chinese patterns of speech and styles of description into his writing. For example, a beloved son is his father's "pearl in the palm" and a beggar is addressed as "old back of the hands turned down." Streets and mountains are named in a down-to-earth fashion: "Street of Wang's Broken Tea Cup" or "Mountain of Huge Rocks Piled."

Chrisman's vocabulary is vivid and lively. He uses sophisticated words such as "audacious," "languished," and "geomancer." And he creates new words to fit the mood of a story, such as coining the word "fore-umbrellaed" to describe an astrologer who is always prepared for the rain.

Because Chrisman selects individual words with care and incorporates rhyme and alliteration...