China Books

If the name John Blofeld means anything to you, you've probably been consulting the I Ching. Blofeld wrote a popular translation to the Chinese oracle at a time when the only other version available in English was Richard Wilhelm's groundbreaking but somewhat turgid text.

"City of Lingering Splendor" is an autobiographical travelogue, one of the best ever written. Dedicated to ' the hermits, scholars, youths and courtesans who inspired these pages ' it's a love letter to Peking and the breathtaking greatness of an ancient civilisation at its twilight, about to be extinguished.

While remote jungles still offer anthropologists the chance to chew the fat with stone age peoples, the romantics among us are simply out of luck. Until someone invents a working time machine, Ancient Egypt is gone forever along with Homer's Greece and Imperial Rome.

But in 1934 it was still possible to travel back in time. Back to Old China, to a culture that had remained virtually untouched for thousands of years---and chew Peking Duck with Taoist sages. . .

Wonderful reading.

This is the most sensitive, respectful and intelligent book I have read on traditional Chinese culture. The writing is terrific, on a par with Peter Fleming's, though more from the heart.

It records the author's love affair with the city before WW2 (and includes a return to Beijing after it). While meeting many of its remaining Daoist, Confucianist, Bhuddist and literary leaders and exploring its temples, nightlife and food, we get a last sympathetic, philosophical, tragic glimpse of the splendour decaying under the Republic. Before it vanished under the Maoists.

If you thought there was little more to pre-War China than footbinding, Dowager Empresses, opium and Shanghain greed and degeneracy, this book will even the score a little.

I had no idea when I picked up this book that I had such a pleasant experience in store for me. Beginning in 1934, a young man in his twenties spends "three exquisitely happy years" in a China at the edge of the abyss. Japan had already invaded Manchuria and made no secrets of its intentions of further conquest. The shaky Chinese Republic was ruled out of Nanking; and Peking was still full of memories of the old Dowager Empress, the last of her line.

The streets of Peking were full of Confucian scholars, aging palace eunuchs, adepts of Taoism and Buddhism, starving White Russian refugees, 14-year-old opium addicts, and gentle courtesans and flute girls. Blofeld threw himself headfirst into this world which was on the point of being snuffed out forever. Most memorable are the White Russian hermaphrodite Shura and the Rasputin-like Father Vassily; the decorous Buddhist scholar Dr Chang; Yang Taoshih, the Taoist sage, and his friend known only as the Peach Garden Hermit; the lovely courtesan Jade Flute; and the mysterious Pao, who elopes with a young girl intended for a Japanese colonel.

After Blofeld leaves for a trip to England, the Japanese finally invade. There are two bittersweet chapters at the end where Blofeld revisits the scenes of his youth after 1945. His fragile Peking of the 1930s is now poised between a growingly thuggish Kuomintang secret police and the great unknown of Mao Tse-tung's Eighth Route Army.

Blofeld's Dr Chang says it all: "Decay is inherent in all things, as Shakyamuni Buddha bade us always remember. Death swallows all that has been born; rebirth or re-creation follow in their turn, as spring follows winter. Things rise and wane in unceasing flux."

CITY OF LINGERING SPLENDOUR is recommended to all sentient beings who were ever young once and are now faced with a confused welter of possibilities, none of which seem particularly appetizing.

I have been reading John Blofeld since the 80's. His writing is honest and straight forward. What is special about this work is the time frame. It is a first hand account and we are not brought down by the dreary chronology or dry scholastic jibberish of Western history academics. His introduction warns of his awareness of the flaws of the culture, but he wishes to show the strengths and beauty of a dying civilization. Truly unique, inspiring and thought provoking

Rosalind Goforth and her husband, Dr. Jonathan Goforth served in China more than 30 years. This account of Mrs. Goforths personal spiritual struggles, failures, and triumphs makes great reading, and inspires and encourages the reader. Highly recommend

This is a very good book which is also very challenging. The Goforths definitely did not live in a life of complacency which you find alot in the church today. I recommend this book for anyone who is a Christian.

A very moving and challenging story of a woman and man sold out for God. Fascinating - especially the account of the months they held "Open House" in China in order to prove that they didn't pickle and eat babies, and of the thousands of visitors who passed through their home at that time.

This is a very good book which is also very challenging. The Goforths definitely did not live in a life of complacency like the church is in today. I recommend this book for anyone who is serious about the Lord and doing the work of His kingdom.

The book was exatly what I was looking for, a very no hassel transaction which makes it a real pleasure. We have found Amazon to be a very honest company. Nothing else to say. Cheers Chris

Good book to read about Lladro porcelains but it's pretty outdated and doesn't contain samples of the newer Lladro pieces. But then again, Lladro related books are so rare, this itself is a jewel. Majority of the pictures shown here are the 'official' photographs of piece by Lladro themselves. It would have been great to see pictures taken by the author or owner as it would give a different angle and view of the pieces. I'm an avid collector and was thrilled to see many of the older pieces and read a short history about them in this book. Perhaps the author would consider to publish a newer edition?? And also source out Lladro examples from a more varied selection of collectors. A view of how they are stored in display cabinets at individual homes would be great too, to give a more personal and homely touch to the pieces. This is a great book and I'm sure it took a lot of effort to come out with it.... I would recommend it to anyone and hope that new editions will be published in the near future.

For anyone who is interested in learning more about Lladró, the company, the history, the incredible artistry, "relatives" such as NAO and Zaphir, collecting and becoming better at collecting, and how to care for your collection, this book is fantastic and I highly recommend it! Peggy Whiteneck is truly an expert in this field, and has a passion for collecting Lladró that shows in every page. This second edition includes updates and new information as well as even more photos. Lladró collectors will not want to miss this!

As a Lladro collector of more than 25 years I found this book to be most informative. Even though I have read much about Lladro there were topics covered that were new to me. A new addition would be most welcome.

I have been seriously collecting only a few months now and have decided to sell. This book is well organized and the best of 3 reference books on flow blue that I have. The hard cover is a good idea since I think I would wear it down to stubs if it had been a paperback!!

If you collect, are interested in collecting, or want to identify and value flow blue items, this book is a must. You can look up items by pattern, which are cross-referenced to the manufacturers' names. The book is full of color photographs of makers' marks as well as examples of hundreds of patterns on various types of pieces. The back of the book contains values for the photographed pieces. Another helpful feature is the section on reproductions. This is a great reference book.

This book along with the entire series of Flow Blue books by Mary Frank Gaston are vital in Flow Blue identification and history. This book is brimming with photos and identification marks, along with manufacturing dates and makers. There is also a section on 'fakes' and how to look for and avoid them.
Each book has different photos of the many patterns and shapes Flow Blue comes in. I highly recommend owning a copy of each of Ms. Gaston's books if you are a true Flow Blue collector. You will enjoy these books for years to come. They are well made with high quality color and material.
Enjoy!

This is an essential guide for collectors of flow blue china. It features over 400 pieces photographed in color and described in detail.

For identification purposes, all of the manufacturers' marks on these pieces are shown in enlarged b/w photos. There are also cross-references for manufacturers and their patterns and types of objects other than plates.

For the collector, there is a history of flow blue, information on collecting methods, a glossary, and market trends including modern reproductions to watch out for. A current value guide is also provided for all the items illustrated.

The photography is excellent. Captions for each item include maker & pattern, size and reference to the photo of the mark. This will be a great reference for the beginning or advanced collector of this beautiful style.

I just read this in one day while juggling housework and my 4 children. Couldn't put it down. The book added so many details to the knowledge I already had. I have such a love and respect for fellow Christians in China. Now if only Mr.s Lawrence and Wang had written a sequel in the last year or two...... I highly recommend this book for a glimpse at the work of God in China since the Cultural Revolution until the mid-nineties.

This is one of my favorite Christian books, and Carl Lawrence is a favorite author. The book repeats some of his earlier book, now out of print, "The Church in China." Even so, this does not detract. Lawrence details the movement of the Holy Spirit in China, while giving examples. Also, the book gives a history of Chinese missions, at least partly explaining this movement of Christianity in a hostile country. A great book!

This book renewed me more than anything I've read in ten years. God is moving in China!

Reading this book encouraged me greatly. The work of the Holy Spirit among Christians in China is phenomonal. The lesson of how God turns what to man seems evil into good is prominent throughout this book. I recommend this as reading for all Christians who believe that what we are about is to follow Jesus' command to go forth, make disciples, teaching what Jesus has taught us. I sincerely pray that this book will be printed again.

The Confucian tradition [of moral self cultivation] spanning over 2,500 years - Kongzi ("Confucius" - 551-479 B.C.E.), Mengzi ("Mencius" - 391-308 B.C.E.), Xunzi ("Hsun Tzu" - 310-219 B.C.E.), Zhu Xi (1130-1200 C.E.), Wang Yangming (1472-1529 C.E.), Yan Yuan (1635-1704 C.E.), Dai Zhen (1723-1777 C.E.) - in a nutshell! Organized, clear, concise, superb! Enriching endnotes with works cited for further research/reading.

A highly recommended first text reading for an overview of Chinese philosophy for the professor of Chinese philosophy to student or layperson!

Excellant book, well written. Conveys core ideas succinctly. Uses modern spellings. This book has chapters on 7 Confucian masters: (1) Kongzi (Confucius), (2) Mengzi (Mencius), (3) Xunzi (Hsun Tzu), (4) Zhu Xi (Chu Hsi), (5) Wang Yangming, (6) Yan Yuan, and (7) Dai Zhen. Then there is a four page long conclusion where he discusses different models of self cultivation. A thoughtful and educational book. There are many aspects of Confucianism, but this book focuses on self-cultivation. It was enlightening and stimulating, yet kind of academic. For a more practical view of how Confucianism can be applied in your life, see "Achieve Lasting Happiness, Timeless Secrets to Transform Your Life" by Robert Canright.

If you are a beginner or student of Chinese philosophy, you should buy this book. This is a great introduction to Confucian thinkers written in accessible and clear language. I found it to be extremely easy to read and very easy to understand. Like the anthology he co-edited with Dr. Van Norden (whose review is below), this book is excellent. And it is very reasonably priced as well.

- J. McCausland

Ivanhoe provides a readable and reliable overview of some of the major figures in Confucianism from over 2,500 years. Each Confucian is discussed in terms of two themes: the relative emphasis he gives to study and reflection, and his conception of human nature. Confucius himself was somewhat ambiguous on these points (leading to much dispute among later followers). Mencius, since he believed that human nature is good, said that reflection on our innate instincts could provide us with ethical guidance. Xunzi disagreed with Mencius, arguing that human nature is bad, so we must study to reform our nature. Later Confucians like Zhu Xi and Wang Yangming were deeply influenced by the Buddhist notion of a transpersonal self that all humans share. However, Zhu Xi thought that our selfish desires heavily obscured our good, original nature, so we must study in order to better understand our own nature. In contrast, Wang Yangming, while recognizing the danger of selfish desires, warned against the dangers of purely academic study. He held that each of us has, prior to study, the ability to exercise a "pure knowing," through which we both know the good and will act in accordance with it.

I use this book a lot in my classes: I recommend it highly.

(This book is a revised version of a much more expensive hardback edition published by Peter Lang.)

This collection of short stories is easy to read and never boring. It gives the reader a picture of life in China that is very different from the propaganda we get from the governments in China and in the United States. If anyone wants to know about a culture or a country, observing the bottom of society is much more enlightening and accurate than looking at the society from the top. I suspect that most of us, in China and the rest of the world, are much closer to the bottom of our societies than we are to the leaders of those societies. I thank the author for braving the wrath of his government to show us a glimpse of real life in the real China. It makes me think that the more different we appear to be, the more we are all the same.

I read this book after seeing a positive review in the Chicago Tribune and it did not disappoint. Each story of everyday Chinese citizens and their struggles was very memorable, touching and thought-provoking. As an American, I also found it very enlightening, and thought the stories were so important that I recommended the book to family and friends.

The Corpse Walker is the kind of book you will think about long after you've finished reading it!

The collection of stories in The Corpse Walker is comparable to the most fantastic of Jorge Luis Borges' fiction, except they are real. I always thought that China, as big as it is, must be home to some of the weirdest human stories in the planet. Add some fifty years of communist dictatorship to the mix and it is impossible that it wouldn't be. Now Liao Yiwu, the only Chinese among the 1.5 billion that I can truly say I would dig a whole all the way to China in order to meet, gives to the world a glimpse of what some of those stories are. Where else would corpse walking exist as a profession? Where else would they select choice human excrement for delivery to a commune, once visited by Chairman Mao, where it was used as fertilizer?

Throughout, you get a hint that Liao Yiwu did not stumble into the stories by accident. His wit and genius comes through loud and clear.

My only complaint is why only one volume? Why did Pantheon Books not publish the three volumes that are mentioned in the introduction?

On the strength of this book, I think Liao Yiwu deserves the Nobel Prize. Since there isn't one for muckraking, he should be given one for Medicine on the grounds that he helps keep the world sane.

I picked up this book after reading a review in the Financial Times. And I couldn't put it down. There is so much being written about China but nothing out there presents such a fascinating glimpse into the lives of ordinary people who are out of view in all the talk about the economic power.

As a Chinese communist party member, I'm supposed to tell a lie as usual, but I have to admit that I really love this book. However, sad stories are always hard to go over again and again, which will make me emotionally unacceptable. If I were a girl, Jingsheng, I would like to be your lover, but never your wife.

Wei Jingsheng is well known as China's leading dissident, but this book also establishes him as one of China's leading intellectuals. He has the courage to see and to say what others in China cannot. His letter to Deng Xiaoping about Tibet is an extraordinarily powerful piece of writing. It is worth buying the book for this alone.

"Don't give the Chinese communists too much pressure, otherwise they cannot afford to provide food for the people." That is a pretext used by many countries or people to delay the democratization of China. Wei's counter-argument was: It is the people who provide food for the communists. Why did you reverse the order? Wei's political analysis is better than a lot of people with Ph.D. degrees. He is willing to tell the obvious even in face of personal danger. From now on, people who talk about contemporary Chinese politics should start from Wei's ideas. If they do not, they should at least explain why they are avoiding them.

The lack of heroes these days has become a truism. Our political leaders are beset by satyriasis and mendacity. Our sports icons gobble steroids, routinely violate the terms of their parole, and sometimes even behead their wives.

That makes it surprising to encounter a genuine hero, which the author of The Courage To Stand Alone certainly is. It is doubly strange that he should emerge from China, the land of groupthink and hyperconformity. Who would have thought that a child of the Cultural Revolution would become a major force for decency and dignity even as those qualities were being rendered quaint and passe by the rush for market share in the New Global Economy?

When Wei Jingsheng was first put into prison and began writing the letters that make up the bulk of To Stand Alone, Mandela had been in prison for 17 years, Solzhenitsyn had just published Gulag in English, and the concept of dissent was unknown in China. When Wei was released in 1997 and flew to the US after having served 18 years in China's gulag (known there as laogai), Mandela was president of South Africa, Solzhenitsyn had returned to a free Russia, and Deng had transformed China from a socialist police state to a plutocratic police state. With all the stuff in our hardware stores and clothing shops bearing the Made in China tag, you might even think China had been transformed into a free society. You would be mistaken to think that, however. Wei was imprisoned for exercising one of the simplest and most basic rights, that of free speech. He published a magazine. In it, he urged the Chinese Communist Party to honor all the grand promises it made in the constitutions it churned out from time to time, promises like "The People have the right to speak out freely, air views fully, hold great debates, and write dazibao (large character posters posted on walls in public places for all to read)".

Wei had begun his career as a dissident by putting up one such dazibao: his essay "Democracy: The Fifth Modernization". This document (included in To Stand Alone) is a piece of impassioned logic which a Jefferson or Hancock would be proud to sign. He wrote it and posted it the same night on Beijing's Democracy Wall. Unlike the others who posted writings there, Wei left his name and number. That wasn't safe, but Wei believed the Chinese were getting a worldwide reputation for spinelessness, thanks to people like Deng and Lin Biao who, during the reign of Mao Zedong, had taken the craft of brown-nosing and sycophancy to new depths.

In 1979 Deng was just beginning his reign, and many thought he was a new kind of leader, which he was, in some ways. In other ways he was the oldest kind of leader there is: a tyrant. In his magazine, Wei identified him as dictator-in-the-making a full 10 years before Deng ordered the murder of hundreds of students in Tiananmen Square. That prediction put Wei in prison, the special Chinese kind of prison where you are expected to confess your "errors" and "crimes".

There was a certain amount of international pressure on China, so Wei probably could have gotten out early for confessing his "crimes". But he had that thing about backbone, about standing upright for what you believe in. He was, it must be noted, a little stubborn. Actually, more than a little stubborn. Actually, you know nothing about stubborn until you read this book. Picture David Niven going into the oven in Bridge On The River Kwai for insisting on being treated like an officer according to the Geneva Convention. Now picture him doing that every day for 18 years, and you have some idea of what Wei went through. Not an oven, but a box without windows, very little food, very little heat in a region bordering Tibet, no medical care, sleep made impossible, beatings, solitary confinement for months on end...All these measures notwithstanding, Wei would not confess to a crime he had not committed. He wouldn't even get impolite. In his letters from prison, he demands the basic rights he's been stripped of in a tone less harsh than I use on my neighbor's barking dog. Reading these letters one occasionally gets the feeling he's been detained through some silly bureaucratic mix-up. Of course, he wasn't. He was thrown into the largest system of concentration camps that yet exists on the planet, just like millions of his compatriots. He's out now, but the others are still there, doing slave labor, starving, being executed by the score, involuntarily donating their organs to international markets...

When the Chinese Communist Party falls, as all brutal, sadistic regimes inevitably do, this book of letters and one landmark essay will be remembered as one of the chief causes of its demise.

Wei, if you read this, I would urge you to post Democracy: The Fifth Modernization on this site. It's common for authors to put excerpts of their books here, and that essay would be a perfect sample. I doubt the Party will be able to have it removed.

This book has affected my way of thinking and living more than any other book I have ever read. While I feel a few things in this book are outdated and can not be realistically applied to todays world the majority of what is written has made me a more accepting person and by changing my expectations I have found that I lead a more fullfilled life.

The Dao is perhaps on of the best philosophical books that I have ever read and it is something that everyone should read at least once.

Contains extensive introductory information, including discussion of recent archeoligical discoveries, and interesting endnotes (although I prefer footnotes - less fumbling with pages).

However, I found this translation to be a bit difficult. One of the reviewers on the back of the book refers to it as "poetic" - well, maybe; mostly I found it a bit of a struggle to make sense of it, and had to read through it with several parallel translations to figure out what Roberts was translating. However, in that situation, read with several parallel translations, this translation provides an worthwhile "spin". I find Mair's translation much cleaner, simpler, and more comprehensible. The two together are nice.

Moss Roberts' fine translation of TAO TE CHING is one of several recent translations based upon the Ma-wang-tui texts of Lao-tzu's reflective book of wisdom. Those texts were discovered in 1973, preserved in the tomb of an official's son. That tomb has been dated to 168 B.C. (p. 4). Professor Roberts' translation also draws from the Guodian LAOZI, discovered in 1993 in a royal tutor's tomb. As such, Roberts' translation could be considered the most definitive translation of the TAO TE CHING presently available.

Roberts is a Professor of Chinese at New York University, and the goal of his work is to assist his reader in understanding Lao-tzu's difficult poem. His book includes a twenty-three page Introduction that offers the historical background of the TAO TE CHING. He then annotates his literal translation of the two-part, eighty-one stanza poem with his insightful commentary. His translation is just as scholarly as Robert Henricks' translation, more literal than Stephen Harrison's poetic rendering of Lao-tzu's TAO, and more challenging than Red Pine's excellent translation.

G. Merritt

This book is the Generals best by far because it chronicles pretty much everything about the man himself. His story is proof of what happens if you persist. If you want to get the whole snapshot of my hero, Gen Bob Scott- then this is the book you need to read!! Trust me.

Robert Lee Scott is one of the heros of our century who faded from our collective memory long ago. His 1943 best-seller, God is my Co-pilot, made him famous during WWII, and The Day I Owned the Sky brings the reader up-to-date (Well, up to 1988, anyway) on the further adventures of this magnificent Flying Tiger. This book will take the reader from his humble beginnings in Georgia, to his wartime exploits, and into his fun-filled retirement. If you love books like Yeager and Press On! you'll love this one, too!

This is another great book by Gen. Scott. I feel that I am right in the cockpit with him. The last time I looked, there was a limited number of autographed editions available in the Air Force Museum gift shop at Robins AFB. Ga. Contact the gift shop for availability.

I have a autographed copy of this book and it's one of my most treasured books. It is a wonderful follow up to "God is My Co-Pilot". I have read it at least 10 times in the year that I have had it. It is a very compelling book... I just don't know how to desribe it. Every library that I know of has it, as well as God is My Co-Pilot. It's really not all that hard to find. If you are even the slightest remoteness interested in what it was like in China between 1942 and 1945 this is a exellent book. I don't know how to put it into words... I just love his books. I'm sorry to say that I've never been able to read any of the others (Flying Tiger: Chennault of China, Boring a Hole through the Sky, God is Still My Co-Pilot, just to name a few). He's now over 90 I know that he flew a F-15 Eagle at age 89. Your really not supposed to.. but somehow he convinced them he could. Most everyone I've told says that there must be another seat for the navigator that somebody else went sat in. But, I garrenty you that there is only ONE seat in a F-15 Eagle. In short he is a incredible man, and has a incredible life. And I quote:

"Claire Lee Chennault was a indivialist, and some of that indiviualty must have rubbed off on me because I to have been a indiviaulast.. a mavrick general, in my carrer. But first I had to meet him, and that took some doing. I had to lie cheat and surely steal. There is a saying "never steal anything small" well what I stole was a B-17E FLying Fortress. Right or wrong, under the surrcumstances I did it. It is a long story and I have to Start at the beginning."