Asia Books

Nuanced and wide-ranging, there is no better introduction to the texture of late Imperial Chinese culture and society than this volume.

This book gives a detailed picture of Qing Dynasty which ruled China from 1644-1912. It also tells the creation of the mighty empire and how it end feudalism in China. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Chinese history.

This book is a model for what a cultural survey should be. It begins with an excellent brief survey of Chinese history of the fifteenth through nineteenth centuries, then surveys many things I wanted to know about an alien culture. I was most intrigued by the chapter on "Language and Symbolic Reference" (read after my brief traveller's survival course in Manderin). Dr. Smith explored not only the differences between the language and those of the West, but their implications for the Chinese style of thought: e.g., the spoken vocabulary is rich in homonyms and puns, leading to a style of reasoning by analogy and verbal similarity that comes far less naturally to speakers of the Romance languages.

Smith also covers, for instance, social class, economics, religion and philosophy, art, literature, popular culture...an endless parade of the things mere histories rarely mention.
This is certainly the most interesting book I've read in a decade. I highly recommend it.

This book is full of contents while it is easily understandable and fun. After reading this book, you'll have images of China in the futures in your mind that help you plan your busines strategies pretty well. Therefore, those who want to set up a firm in China are highly suggested to read it.

I have lost count of how many books and articles I have read on the past, present and future of China. Without doubt, this is the most readable, the most concise and the most word-economical of any.

The authors claim no special knowledge of China but apply general scenario techniques to the situation and come up with sensible and understandable alternative futures.

As a side benefit, the book contains a lot of socio-economic data.

My only complaint..I find the conclusions slightly pessimistic but can't fault the logic of reaching them

China is the world's third largest economy and America's biggest trading partner in Asia. The path China takes over the coming decades will have a profound impact on business and the economy all around the world. The authors of this book are neither futurists nor experts on China, but practitioners of the art of scenario planning.

In this book, Ogilvy and Schwartz draw on a range of studies conducted for companies anxious to understand the future consequences of the decisions they're making today with respect to China. They present three versions of what China's future might look like and what that will mean for the governments and companies that will be doing business with or in China. Their scenarios are in an absorbing narrative form, like histories written twenty years from now. They explain the predetermined elements, assumptions, and variables that underlie each scenario. They also draw implications and make suggestions about how companies can use each scenario to plan business strategy.

The insights into China's future provided in this book will help global business managers, strategists, diplomats and government policy makers prepare for what many predict will be the Asian Century.

James A. Ogilvy and Peter Schwartz (1946- ) are partners in Global Business Network, a consulting and research firm. They are responsible for the widespread use of scenario planning in business, a process-blending research, trend analysis and well-tutored imagination-that they pioneered in the early 1990s and which Schwartz made popular through his book The Art of the Long View. Joe Flower is a professional writer in San Francisco.

See also my review of THE NEW SILK ROAD: Secrets of Doing Business in China Today by John B. Stuttard.

Author Gu is a brave fellow. He offers straightfoward info and analysis on what is really inside Chinese business and political world. He is highly critical of the Communist ills that continue to cause hellish problems for China and foreign operations inside. Other than this abusive bureaucratic power, Chinese people are very diligent and creative. But the key is to get rid of the overextended bureaucratic power, as so claims by Gu.

This book is a must read -- it is a rare book that reveals the inner workings of the Chinese bureaucratic system. This new edition is very nice, which is sharply revised and expanded. (Five stars for his new edition)

This book is for all readers. Not to mention other things, it contains several dozen case studies on global multinationals doing business in China, like Wal-Mart, P&G, Intel, HSBC, Bank of America, Ford, Siemens, BP, Unilever, Sony, GE, GM, Morgan Stanley, and Microsoft. (Amazingly, this revised and updated volume gives most current info on China -- even events happened in May 2006 are contained here.)

It also gives huge info on emerging Chinese multinationals. All the leading Chinese companies such as Haier, Huawei, TCL, Lenovo, China Telecom, Baosteel, China Oil, Sinopec, CNOOC, and Ping An are studied here. Furthermore, comparisons are made between the Chinese companies and their international counterparts. These discussions are straightforward, covering both strengths and weaknesses.

Its scope is rather wide: the author aims to identify key factors behind global development: causes, effects, and consequences. He offers vast info and analysis on a changing global production, investment and trade map, which involves all nations, rich or poor. Interesting comparative studies involve US, Canada, Europe, India, Japan and China. Above all, he pinpoints opportunities and challenges under globalization.

Also it is highly critical of the abusive Chinese bureaucratic power. Gu claims that China's fundamental weakness is with this overextended, self-appointed bureaucratic power. Vast info and facts are presented to support his statement.

He is a high-profile newspaper commentator/consultant that adds much color to his discussions. The book's key strengths come from the fact that the author has vast first-hand experiences, so that he gives countless insider's stories. Its style and presentation is very reader friendly and straightforward, but its analysis is overpowering.

Author George Zhibin Gu is a high-profile Chinese journalist whose powerful newspaper pieces are widely read. This book is a must read. The reason for my recommendation is simple: This book summarises the key lessons from a fast-changing China under globalization and capitalism.

These lessons are powerful. First, an open society is a must in order to gain true development. Second, having foreign involvement is a key driving force for China's quick development in this era. Third, a truly meaningful development must depend on individual private initiatives other than government bureaucracy.

This book gives rather straightforward analysis on what is behind China's new development. It gives tremendous information on foreign multinationals and investors doing biz inside. Furthermore, it gives huge info on how this foreign involvement affects China's society, government and economy. In particular, it is extremely open about the ills of the Chinese bureaucracy. To overcome bureaucratic barriers, it emphasizes the need for greater private initiative as well as openness, among other things.

Also, the book talks about the ever-increasing influences of China's surge on global development. It gives very insightful analysis on a changing global production, investment, and trade map, as well as manufacturing and job transfers, among other issues.

The book also offers much practical advice on doing biz in China. Numerous case studies are presented, including both successes and failures.

This book, though short, provides a remarkably detailed survey of the Chinese dragon as represented in the art of his native land. Beginning with an overview of early dragon representations and possible sources of inspiration, Mr. Bates' book goes to considerable effort to describe the many variant images and beliefs that may be found regarding dragons throughout China. I have a hard time finding the kind of information brought together here - dragons in architecture, dragons as represented on dragon robes, the beings and images popularly represented as sons of the dragon - anywhere other than highly specialized scholarly tomes. Finding as much as Mr. Bates has put forth in Chinese Dragons in such an accessible volume is a remarkably pleasant surprise. The twenty-four colour plates are just about worth the price of admission all by themselves. The author clearly knows and loves his subject.

For many centuries that the dragon has been the symbol of China, and has been considered as immortal and omnipresent ever since ancient times. It has belonged to the people, and it has also been the symbol of monarchy and supreme power. The dragon was a mythical beast. It was a concept. But most Chinese people, indeed most Asian people, were convinced that it existed. There are many occasions when there were claims that it had been seen, even as recently as 1920. No other creature in the world could have produced such a far-reaching influence on the mind of man.

Unlike the European dragon, it was considered a beneficent beast, until the Buddhists introduced the concept of evil dragons. Yet the basic belief was always that it had noble spiritual qualities that were unconquerable.

This book has been written by an author who has lived for many years in China researching into its history. It is in an easy-to-read style and is dedicated to the dragon and its many offshoots and variations. The pictures are delightful. It gives details of what a dragon was, where it was used, and what it was called. The reader will become more acquainted with the dragon, and will gain a greater understanding of this magnificent beast. It will interest and please the serious student and the enthusiastic Chinaphile alike.

It would make a perfect Christmas present.

This is a fascinating book, and I concur with the other reviewers. It is erudite, authoratative, and written in an easy-to-read style. The pictures are a delight.
It would make a perfect gift for anyone who has been to China or wants to go there,

I've enjoyed all of Jennifer's books, but I think this one is the strongest yet. A funny, engaging look at one girl's unexpected (and at first unwelcome) overseas journey--with humor that deepens, rather than trivializes, the book's more serious moments.

I can't begin to express the enjoyment I and my daughter had of this book. We still refer back to it seven months after we read it. This book shows the value of giving your children a true WORLD of experiences. It was very hard to put down and we faced a range of laughter, suspense, sadness, reflection and happiness. My daughter and I read the book one month before a three week family trip to Brazil (including the Amazon Jungle and indigenous/African cultural sites). It was a perfect read from the child travelers point of view and even more perfect was the importance of being open to learning about other people's cultures and experiences. No travel guidebook could have been as exciting and fun as this book for my child. If you can't fly to some distant place, pick up this book with your child and have an adventure. I recommend it for children 8 years and older.

"Close Encounters of a Third World Kind" lives up to its title. Twelve year old Annie is off on the adventure of her life, as she treks to Nepal with her family (Mom, Doctor Dad, and little sister) to provide health care in a rural village. This is definitely an out of the mainstream book with its exotic and unusual setting. Author Jennifer J. Stewart's trademark humor is always there, as well as a certain ick factor in common medical complaints, but this is much more than a lighthearted tale. The friendship Annie develops with a younger Nepal girl is genuine. Highly recommended.

This book is a knock up the side of the head! Now I understand the disconnect between what I was brought up to believe about the United States and the non-western world, and what is happening now e.g. US policy is really that of Britain before 1942!
Must read for all us old hippies!

Edward W. Said convincingly argued in his 1979 masterpiece, Orientalism that the West (mainly America) traditionally had a rather monolithic view of the East. This perception, according to Said, was based more on fantasy than in fact - and that the West saw the East in terms of the `other.' MIT Literary Professor Christina Klein re-visits Said's conclusions in Cold War Orientalism: Asia in the Middlebrow Imagination, 1945-1961. In this work, she successfully argues that "while many American representations fit comfortably with Said's model of Orientalism, many post-war representations of noncommunist Asia do not, although they do not contradict it entirely"
(p.11).

Essentially, Klein illustrates that various cultural mediums in post-WWII America actively engage Asian topics to bridge the cultural divide between East and West. In her powerful and well written work, Klein masterfully explains "the relationship between the expansion of U.S. power into Asia between 1945 and 1961 and the simultaneous proliferation of popular American representations of Asia" (p. 5).

There are numerous examples cited in this work that provide evidence to support her main claim that America and the Orient (the East) "could learn to understand each other" (p. 200.). For instance, she brilliantly illustrates that America reached out to post-WWII Asia through films such as The King and I and The Bridges of Toko-Ri; and through magazines such as the Readers Digest and Saturday Review. These cultural mediums, asserted Klein, educated America about Asian topics - and advanced the American Cold War interest of "economic globalization" (p. 268).

Although Klein wisely stops her study in 1961, her conclusion draws parallels between recent U.S.-Asia relations and those of post-WWII such as the revival of the King and I in 1996 and a 1991 speech by Dole Foods CEO who "praised Asian Americans as a National Resource" (p. 269).

A cursory query of reviews for Klein's work resulted in an abundance of praise and admiration for her scholarship. Klein, noted one reviewer, "is not content to simplify the complexity of the time period in order to schematize things too neatly. Rather, she seeks to dig into the richness of America's expectations for Asia, including the countervailing currents within that relationship" (review by Jespersen T. Christopher). The blend and overall comparisons between cultural mediums provides the reader with a rich and compelling story.

The passages, scholarship, anecdotes, and readability of this work are impressive. But the real value of this work is that it advances a new understanding of the East and West during the Cold War - where the former educates the latter in a mutually beneficial platform. In this reviewer's opinion, there are no obvious weaknesses to this work, nor are there any harsh criticisms from other reviewers about Klein's overall thesis. This is an important work for students of the Cold War and expands nicely on Said's research on Orientalism.

Christina Klein contends that the paradigm of the Truman Doctrine can not offer a complete understanding of Cold War American culture or policy. She juxtaposes its policy of global communist containment with a 1957 speech by American diplomat Francis Wilcox that harped the need to educate Americans about the world beyond the national boundaries. This contrasts what the author terms the "global imaginary of containment" with the "global imaginary of integration." Both of these are educational projects. The first teaches the global politic as a heroic crusade against communism, the latter teaches it as a sentimental connection with the cultures of non-Americans. While acknowledging the abundance of quality scholarship that investigates the former project, Klein positions Cold War Orientalism as an investigation of the policy of Cold War internationalism and its related trope of "sentimental education." In doing so, she aims to dichotomize the discourse of history by proving that integration of the capitalist world went hand-in-hand with Soviet containment.

Klein begins by documenting the Federal policy initiatives that promoted cold war internationalism in the American populace, like the United States Information Agency's people-to-people program. These initiatives rose in the wake of McCarthyism because the Truman Doctrine had a basic rhetorical disadvantage when promoted to the American public. As shown in her analysis of National Security Council directives, a foreign policy of communist containment has the public relations problem of being defined by that which it opposes. The integration of "free" people and commodities becomes the necessary positive to imbue the ideology of containment with original purpose.

The author then considers how "middlebrow intellectuals"-the author's term for the editors of mass periodicals like Reader's Digest, claimed Cold War internationalism as a public pedagogy and instructed readers about the American commitment to cultural difference. The text importantly contends that "middlebrow"-an adjective and Klein's subtitular term-has roots in cultural populism of the 1920s. It functionally describes a process of repackaging diverse culture for mass consumption. This "offered [upwardly mobile immigrant] consumers the cultural capital that would make them feel more secure in their new class identity (Klein 64)." It also appropriates the cultural inadequacy that permeated the Untied State's post-WWI uneasiness with the global mantle. It translates this inadequacy into a call for individuals to claim the authority of widely informed knowledge. Finally, Klein contends that the "middlebrow imagination" conflated education with enjoyment and moral purpose, ironically couching human difference in the trappings of soothing universalism. To show the connection between Cold War Internationalism as public policy and middlebrow cultural project, the author compares novelized travel accounts (like James Michiner's The Voice of Asia) to policy documents like NSC-48. Both envision an Asian communism that is rabidly expansionist and interstitial states that teeter on the verge of being "lost" or safely preserved in the bloc of the free world through cultural understanding (Klein 126).

While Klein's scholarship is original, taking policies that have been discretely engaged by multiple works and disciplines (like, for example, the propaganda policy considerations of Jacques Ellul), her lexicon of sentimental internationalism also offers a fresh critique of liberalism. It remains an unfinished project to extend this exciting paradigm into wider considerations of American conflict and axes of difference.

Although many historical accounts of the cold war largely address the standoff in terms of the interrelationship between its most easily recognizable major players--the U.S., the People's Republic of China (PRC), and the U.S.S.R.--Steve Tsang's The Cold War's Odd Couple provides a fascinating alternate perspective. Tsang's book examines the manner in which the Kuomintang-controlled Republic of China (ROC), from its exiled position on the island of Taiwan, played a fundamentally important role in influencing the international balance of power during the cold war's critical early years. This book examines the complex web of interrelationships that developed between the ROC, the PRC, the UK, and the U.S. during the early cold war period, and also explains the significant impact that the Korean War, and the two Taiwan Strait crises of the 1950s, had upon these relationships. The book demonstrates that, even though the UK severed all of its formal diplomatic relations with the ROC in early 1950 in favor of official recognition of the PRC government, the ROC and the UK were nonetheless able to cultivate a mutually beneficial, informal relationship that had a significant impact upon cold war politics and that, by 1958, had evolved into an unintended partnership between the two governments. Because Tsang's book examines the South Asian cold war theater from a multinational perspective, it lends itself to a diverse array of readers. Students, researchers, and historians working in a number of fields, including cold war, Korean War, Taiwanese, Chinese, U.S., UK, and Hong Kong history, as well as post-colonial disciplines, will find that The Cold War's Odd Couple provides an enlightening new look at the cold war, its relationship to South Asian politics, and the twentieth-century origins of the contemporary, tenuous Taiwan-China relationship.

I bought this book because of its intriguing title. I was not disappointed. I did not realize Britain was the only country that maintained a consulate in Taiwan and kept a naval liaison officer there after it recognized China in 1950. Nor did I know Britain was the first country to attempt a `positive engagement' policy towards China in the 1950s, and failed miserably. Equally interesting is the revelation of the importance of the Suez Crisis in affecting Britain's position and policies in East Asia. The special relationship between Britain and the US was changed by the Suez fiasco and this was reflected in how Britain handled its relations with the US and Taiwan over the two Taiwan Strait Crises of the 1950s. There are so many interesting and important new findings in this highly readable book that I recommend it strongly.

This is an excellent book on the Cold War that is written in nice prose and argued cogently. I had not realized Britain and Taiwan played such important roles in the Cold War in Asia. Even less did I know Taiwan (which is what the Republic of China is) was not just a pawn but a key player itself, not least in the two Taiwan Strait Crises of the 1950s. As a bonus this book provides the best and most convincing explanation for Maoist China to start these crises. There is much in this book that is new and insightful. A highly recommended book not only for the specialists but for general readers as it is an easy read.

I wrote this book! It is my best work to date. It gives the reader the best information available. It includes a glossary, index, great illustrations, marks sections, listings, values etc. A must for dealers, collectors, appraisers and anyone interested in Oriental Decorative Arts.

Covers all of the ceramics and textiles I needed to research -- plus has great info. on woodblock prints, metal, markings, makers, restoration, museums, etc. A great value guide for anyone who collects Orientalia.

An excellent quick reference for the beginning collector as well as the advanced. How else can all the related lexicography be retained without an easily portable volume such as this? Just remember that the values given can vary significantly in reality due to quite subtle variables.

I am not a chef. In fact, Campbell's Soup is a staple in my diet. But I tried the Coconut Chicken Soup and the Crab Claw recipes and was successful! It was simple and didn't take long to make. I recommed you buy the cookbook. If I can cook these Asian dishes, anyone can!

I am no cook. in fact, campbell's soup is a staple in my diet. but i somehow managed to successfully make the coconut chicken soup recipe and it tasted delicious. the directions were easy and it didn't take more than twenty minutes. buy the book. it is worth it.

I've always been intimidated by ethnic food before but this book has made me more confident in the kitchen. Chef Wong explains ingredients, techniques and even gives suggestions for what to look for at the grocery store. Thanks! And great recipes!

This is a basic introduction to the thought of Confucius. It provides the historical background to the emergence of his thought, and also outlines the historical role Confucius' teaching has had in the educational and political system of China. The first value of Confucius' is ' learning' and the educated Man is the ideal product and bureaucrat- administrator in the Chinese ruling system. Education and learning are for not for isolated ivory tower reality, but must be directed to social action. The Confucian teaching is generally regarded as secular and does not invoke ordinarily the supernatural. The focus is on human relationships and considerable emphasis is given to ritual ( li). The Confucian ideal is for the person to show ' jen' which is a kind of respect and understanding of the other. The understanding ( shu) means something like putting oneself in the other's shoes and not doing to them what one would not want done to oneself. The emphasis on ' right action'in relation to others has special weight in family relations. The relation between parents and children, and between members of the family and older brother are given special emphasis. People are expected to show respect for their parents and provide for them in life, and also show respect for them when they are not in this world. The Confucian ideal became the norm for Chinese society for tens of generations and through the greatest share of Chinese history. When the Communists came to power in China they blamed the Confucian ideal for not having adjusted and trained China to be a part of the modern world. Yet in many ways Dawson makes clear the Confucian way of seeing the world remains strong in Chinese society. The strength of the Chinese family connection is evidenced throughout the large Diaspora of the Chinese.
This is an excellent , clearly written introduction for someone like myself who knows very little about Chinese thought. The parallel to certain elements in Jewish thought ( The emphasis on learning, and on being a ' mensch' ( jen) are two apparent elements here is striking. But of course in Judaism the emphasis is on human relation to a personal God, and walking in the ways that God prescribes.
In any case I highly recommend this small work.

I agree with the previous reviewer; it's a clear and concise introduction for someone who wants to get acquainted with some of the basic Confucian tenets. Too bad its o.p.

Excellant study of Confucius's teachings organized by topic.
Here are the chapters: 1. Confucius, 2. Learning and teaching, 3. Ritual and music, 4. Humaneness and other virtues, 5. Gentlemen and knights, 6. Government and people, 7. A Confucian China.