silkpunk means A subgenre of science fiction that depicts advanced technology combined with East Asian aesthetics and philosophy. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 95 out of 100.
Why this word is great
SILKPUNK — [Noun] A subgenre of speculative fiction where advanced technology and social innovation are envisioned through the aesthetics, materials, and philosophies of pre-industrial East Asia. From silk (the fine, strong fiber produced by silkworms, long associated with East Asian culture and trade) + -punk (a suffix denoting a subgenre of speculative fiction with a rebellious or countercultural attitude, as in cyberpunk). Coined by author Ken Liu in 2015. Unlike "steampunk" (which exhales the coal-smoke of a Western industrial revolution) or broad "fantasy" (which often retreats into outright enchantment), silkpunk is an act of cultural re-engineering. It is the airship powered by trained cormorants, the siege weapon carved from a single living tree, and the abacus that calculates not sums but the harmonies of the Dao—a vision where progress is not a conquest of nature, but a sophisticated negotiation with it, a library of lost possibilities patiently waiting to be woven.
noun
- A subgenre of science fiction that depicts advanced technology combined with East Asian aesthetics and philosophy.