When I was in 9th grade, my brother told me “if you want to be smart, you need to start carrying a notebook around in your pocket and making lists all day”.
I related this story once on a forum I like. Someone had made a thread that served as a kind of ode to the joy of list-making. It had been years since I approached lists as a serious art-form. When I saw that thread, I thought for a few moments about once more trying my hand at some list compilation, but I was too lazy and undisciplined at the time. In the last few months though, I've found myself making lists without even realizing it. I figure I should have a place for them on my website.
Lists can be serious and objective. One can spend years compiling them together then eventually publishing them. Thesauruses, concordances, and phonebooks are all lists that aim at some level of exhaustiveness. That's where their value derives from. On the other hand, lists can also bask in subjectivity and temporality. Like haiku or jueju, their art can lie in their triviality. One doesn't aspire to write a single jueju that will be an everlasting representative work. Like jazz improvisation, the value of such momentary artforms comes from engaging in them again and again over the course of one's life.
As you probably guessed, most of the lists here are of the second type. These lists will constantly be updated — particularly the cross references and links. Maybe some of them will even turn into essays someday. A lot of essays are ultimately lists with the bullet points removed. One pads the items of the list with words in order to create a work of significant length, and thereby a sense of value. For now though, let's just stay in the world of bare lists.
Every one of these is a work in progress. If you feel a list is missing something important, please tell me. I'll be sure to credit you for your help.