Cheng Books

Inspiration can sometimes be difficult to find. If it is, look in quiet places. The brave are not always found in the spotlight, nor are they typical. They're the ones that see the cup as half full.

It is all, perhaps "one art" - mastering loss, mastering grief, self-mastery. Cheng has a familiarity with loss. She is blind and physically disabled, the obstacles she's had to endure enormous. Through years of physical pain during her childhood, she never lost her zest for life. The largest threat to her happiness was a system that wanted to separate a child from her mother. Juliet Cheng lost custody twice in America because she disagreed with the doctor's recommended treatments. "This would have ended my young life," Shirley says(52 Cheng). "They took me out of her loving arms and trapped me inside their gloomy hospital rooms in order to force the unwanted, harmful treatments on me" (52 Cheng).

Shirley Cheng cone again gives rise to and quickens reader's thoughts. Waking Spirit, Prose & Poems the Spirit Sings' combines her story with empowering poetry. This book matters because it reminds us to pay attention to the simple gifts of life. All we need is a little inspiration from the brave who've endured extraordinary hurdles, and then whisper the secret to how they did it. That is what readers will find in this book. Warm, luminous, and an easy pleasure.

Shirley received Honorable Mention in the poetry category of the New York Festival Competition. She has also been a finalist in the national Indie Excellence 2007 Book Awards.

If you enjoy reading the thoughts of someone who has confronted her own mortality, pain, and flawed body at a young age to emerge as a spiritual champion who "sees" the beauty around her, you'll love this book. One of Shirley Cheng's inspirations is that there are always those who have more problems than she does. If you draw from that lesson, you'll be counting your blessings all day long . . . and seeing the spiritual beauty of life, as well.

In the essays in Waking Spirit, Ms. Cheng recounts her spiritual journey in a way that would move a boulder to dance.

Her happiness is so pervasive that you may at first not be able to tune into it. Through a combination of essays, aphorisms, poems and haikus, you'll find yourself moving up in spiritual blessedness from this uplifting volume.

Here's one of my favorite inspirational aphorisms:

"Don't live each day as though it is your last; live each day as though it is your first."

Here's one of the haikus I found lightened my mood:

"Upon white bellies
Into waters penguins slide
Dressed in tuxedos"

Some of the proceeds from the book go to Christian Blind Mission International and Be the Star You Are!

So do yourself and those charities a favor by buying and being buoyed by this delightful book.

Shirley will grab your heart with the first pages of this wonderful book and keep you involved with the way she has with words. She is one of those angels that tip toes up behind you and just says "hello." You will not be sorry you picked up this book, you will be purchasing it for gifts for your friends and family. Inspiration is what makes the world go round and she has plenty to share with everyone. Thank you Shirley for sharing your gifts with all of us.

WAKING SPIRIT is a winner of the prestigious AVATAR AWARD for EXCELLENCE IN SPIRITUAL LITERATURE! As a member of the award committee I had the pleasure of reviewing Shirley's book. Shirley is a shining star in a world in need of light. Her writing is straight forward,inspirational and uplifting. To read Shirley's writing is to dance with life. For her, there is truly no mountain high enough. Rejoice in her poetry, essays and insights for her writing is a gift from whatever you call the Universal Spirit of Love.

Waking Spirit: Prose & Poems the Spirit Sings is an emotional journey into the heart of a young woman who has faced seemingly insurmountable obstacles, yet has risen far above them in courage and perseverance. A combination of thoughtful, emotional prose, sweet poetry and spirited haiku, this book can't help but make the reader feel powerful.

Waking Spirit begins with a foreword by Cynthia Brian, a New York Times bestselling author who met Shirley during a radio interview. It then takes you through a delightful concoction of stories and poetry, interspersed with "A Moment with Shirley"--an inspirational message for the reader.

I was drawn to the stories most of all, to that rare insight into the mind of an author who "dances" with joy in her heart. The stories of her relationship with her mother are compelling, although I know that they suffered many tragedies together and were separated for lengths of time by government policy. But they have conquered all! And that is what this book is really about. Conquering disease and not allowing it to hold you back. Overcoming obstacles of every shape and form so that one can reach his or her dreams.

Certainly each of us could learn from Shirley Cheng, a young woman who is blind and suffers from severe juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. She may be confined to a wheelchair in body, but her spirit soars far above, free and unhindered by negativity or pain. I have had the honor of calling her a friend for a number of years, and although we have never met in person, she has truly touched my life by her old-soul wisdom, which is far beyond her years. Shirley Cheng has delivered another work that is sure to inspire all ages, nationalities, whether abled, disabled or ultra-abled. I recommend Waking Spirit for anyone who needs a boost of encouragement or hope.

~ Cheryl Kaye Tardif is a freelance journalist, book reviewer and the author of three mystery novels set in Canada--Divine Intervention, The River and the bestselling novel Whale Song.

I am an artist, multiculturalist and a child of immigrants. As an artist, I was greatly impressed by the author's ability to articulate much of the feel of the painting process itself. Learning more about Master Zhu, his work and life, especially through such skilled storytelling was a special treat. As a multiculturalist, I was happy to swim in the waters of Chinese culture and history---learning new things along the way. Finally, as an artist child of immigrants, Tony's parents reminded me of my own parents in some ways, and Tony, in some ways of me. So much so, that in the scene where Master Zhu and Tony say goodbye, Master Zhu, the mentor, presenting Tony, a student artist, with his parting gifts, I cried. Every good novelist is part psychologist, having to delve into the complexities of the human soul. In this, DEEP INTO THE MOUNTAINS has succeeded. The writing, story and historical data are all quality---and Master Zhu's art, transcendent.

I will hold on to to this book because it reminds me of my blossoming as an artist (writer). The book traces the path of Tony's discovery of himself and his art. Mr. Zhu was a mentor, someone who helped Tony pull the artist out of his troubled soul. I got to see Tony's struggle as he faced the person he was becoming and remembered my own fight with my art and how good (or not good) I really was. I kept on reading because I, like Tony, yearn to perfect my strokes, and leave an impression that speaks of my dedication and passion. I enjoyed the book -- I read it in a few hours the day I got it, because I was at odds with myself and needed the perspective that the book gave to me.

I have been waiting for another publication by Mr. Cheng since I read his first book, Sons of Heaven. His style of writing is so wonderful and captivating. The reader feels as if they truly get to know the characters upon completing his books!!

This particular novel was such a fast read-- I could NOT put it down. Despite having nothing in common with Tony, I felt as if I could relate to him on some level. I think that this novel is appropriate for all age groups from teen to adult, and should be included as part of a school curriculum.

The story takes him from his unfulfilled, and troubled, life in the Bronx, to a completely enriched coming of age in China. It was an enjoyable and profound journey for Tony, as well as for me!

I can't wait for another masterpiece by Terrence Cheng-- he has quickly become one of my favorite authors.

An amazingly well written book that depicts a young chinese teen's struggle to find his identity in America and express himself as an artist.

Early in the book we feel Tony's pain as he is rejected and abused by the social elite in his school. Graffiti art is Tony's sole outlet and the author does a masterful job of portraying the history, techniques and scope of the grafiti art world.
Tony struggles with his desire to be a good son and this rebellious art form that he has grown to love. Plus graffiti may be the only path this young man has to gaining peer acceptance and friends.

After an explosion of frustration, the type of frustration we can all identify with from our own teenage years, Tony is sent to work for his Uncle in China.

Through a well crafted storyline, Tony meets the master painter Zhu Qizhan and learns about his culture's hsitory and art. Zhu Qizahn's character is so deftly written and intimately detailed that it is at times hard to remember this is a fictionalized account of this important artist.

The author succeeds in weaving together a story of the growth of a young boy's mind, body, spirit and art, with the history and works of a master painter and the last 100 years of chinese history. He then presents it to us like a 4 course gourmet meal that you wish would never end.

I highly recommend this book.

I was instantly drawn in by Tony's story and his struggles with his parents and other classic teen issues. The fact that he is into graffiti (he lives in the Bronx) is very cool, and graffiti culture is brought to life in the early section. The writing throughout is vivid and tight and I could genuinely feel Tony's world, and his pain. The plot moves quickly, but never feels too thin, so it's almost like a page-turner, but not in a cheap or bad way.

When Tony goes to Shanghai the cast of characters continue to be strong and believable and Tony's intensifying problems become even more engaging. Shanghai is also graphically depicted, makes you feel like you're there. And when Zhu Qizhan enters the picture, his character and his words are filled with imagination and a pure artistic spirit. Master Zhu's life story as a slice of Chinese history is extremely moving, and inspiring. I also learned a lot about Chinese art and painting, which is described in an engaging and informative way, and never feels stiff or boring. I think this book would be great for junior high kids because it it relatable on all levels: characters, plot, and style. But it's a good solid book for any reader because it is done so well on so many levels.

Este livro é muito importante para aqueles que estão se aventurando pelo universo da tipografia.

For either those that have been loving typography for many years, or those that just recently have fallen infatuated. This exhaustive documentation of type-crafting minutiae is a MUST-have for reference and obsessive appreciation of classic forms and details.

Karen's careful eye will help you dissect all the classics... Perhaps even discover missed aspects of a much-visited serif, perhaps finally understanding the commonality of a specific "m" proportion, perhaps understand the evolution of "g"...

Many hours of delight await for you within its pages. Get it.
You posted this review 5 days ago.

Anyone who is serious about Design and Typography will appreciate this book. It is a perfect compliment to Bringhurst's "Elements of Typographic Style." What Bringhurst does for typographic composition Cheng does for letter-form design. More imagery than text, she presents a deep exploration and comparison of typographic forms from the major historic periods. Whether you are interested in composing your own typeface or simply seeking deeper understanding of typography, this is an outstanding reference. This one should be on every designer's bookshelf. - db

Absolutely a must have for aspiring and junior typeface or logo designers. However, the book is not an easy read; it should be read cover to cover with patience before being used as a workbook reference. Its text requires a sound prior knowledge of typography and related technologies. And it must be read in tandem with close observation of the numerous illustrations and diagrams to be fully understood and appreciated. The information shared by the author is not available elsewhere unless one attends graduate school in type design or apprentices to a type designer. I had completed my first roman & small cap font before I acquired this book and hadn't started my companion italic yet. And though the author doesn't cover italic type design her thoroughness in her analytical and comparative approach is such that I have the book open like a workbook for every italic character and am redrawing some of my romans. I've been teaching graphic design for 30 years and though so much has changed the fundamental and essential have not though they have evolved. This book will become a classic for serious professionals because of the level of insight that it gives into the essentials of type design.

Most typography books I've seen are showcases of designers and their client projects. These books may have their place for readers who are seeking inspiration and brief but helpful tips for project management. However, none of these books discuss the actual nuts and bolts of creating fonts. Cheng's book fills this gap by focusing only on typographic design, and does so in such a highly informative way that anyone who designs fonts cannot afford to be without it. Not only are all the individual aspects of type examined, but different fonts are compared and contrasted to reveal their sometimes very subtle differences. Cheng showcases many examples of her own students' work as well so the reader can see creative applications of typographical principles. A brief but highly valuable section on punctuation is also included. The only caveat I have to offer potential readers is that this book does not cover cursive fonts, which makes sense and isn't worth deducting a star for. In all, this book is the one you need if you want to make your own fonts. Amazon currently only has it available through third party sellers so get it while you still can!

For an academic book, "China's Leaders" is very readable; this non-academic enjoyed it on a long plane ride and left the jet feeling like some long-standing questions about China had been answered. It's one of those super-well-organized books so it's easy to skip around and find the stuff you dig: broad-based surveys, focused case studies, whatever.

AND at this point the book is recent enough to be relevant but old enough for Cheng Li to have made some predictions (note: very guarded academic predictions, of course) that have actually been borne out in the several years since publication. That, and his tone and scope, give the whole book a cagey credibility that's refreshing, especially with so many other authors running around making! crazy! predictions! about the next superpower.

Cheng Li does an outstanding job of uncovering the relationships that propel many of China's leaders. Excellent piece of scholarship and the best book I have run across dealing with elite Chinese politics. This is a must read for any person interested in China.

I just finished reading this book, and it is truly a first rate piece of China scholarship. It is a must read book for anyone trying to understand the leadership transition currently underway in Beijing. The book is very well written, and very readable. It also is clearly based upon first rate research and analysis. The entire new generation of leadership is discussed, plus more in depth discussions of Hu Jintao, Zeng Qinghong, and Wen Jiabao. Any journalist wanting to understand Chinese politics needs to read this book.

Taking the old "kremlinology" approach to figuring out Chinese politics, this book organizes each leader's factional affiliation by education, geographic location (the "Shanghai clique", etc.) and others. This approach has always been usable only as a general guide to leadership behavior, but it's all we've got. This book does it as well as any other, but a reader should know that it's not written in a narrative style, but rather in a reference format. Highly useful.

Cheng Li has written a first-rate book on the next generation of Chinese leaders: what backgrounds they are likely to have, where they went to school, what types of qualifications they are likely to have, etc. etc. While much of the first half of the book is a rather dry academic look at educational backgrounds and statistical analysis thereof, the real meat of the book is the chapter on the key roles of mishu or secretary (chief-of-staff is a better translation) and taizi or cadre kids. It is here that Li is able to really shed some light on the nature of the Chinese style of leadership grooming and promition. Drawing on CHinese language sources increasingly available from publishing houses such as mirrorbooks.com in Hong Kong, Li does a superb job of looking closesly at the careers of Zeng Qinghong and Wen Jiabao, two leaders likely to advance at the next Party Congress in 2002. Extensive use of data tables on so-called 4th generation leaders makes the book very data rich...a must read for those wanting to analyze China's leadership in the run up to the major changes likely at the next Party Congres....

I would agree that this text has a better chance of being meaningful after a few years of sitting. And for anyone (like me) who gets pretty twisted up studying Dogen's assertive essays, I would definitely recommend this as an antidote to Dogen's assertions that turn and twist in on themselves. My teacher called this Grandmother Zen, but, you know in a good way. It's gentle, but comes from considerable depth. I lived with this book by sticking with one page/week for over a year. That seemed to be a very good way to let it sink in. As I said my very favorite Zen text, excellent translation.

A delightful poetic and prose expression of the Soto Zen approach to practice referred to as 'silent illumination.' This is the first significant English version of some of the writings of Zen Master Hongzhi, a Chinese precursor by several generations to the important thirteenth-century Japanese Soto Zen master Dogen. Hongzhi formulated in an organized manner the central principles and poetic expression of the Soto school, which Dogen was later to inherit, deepen, and expand in Japan. This selection and translation of Hongzhi's writings by Taigen Dan Leighton, himself a monk in the Soto tradition, is a wonderful addition to the growing stock of literature in English on the Soto Zen tradition. The well-developed introduction and very useful textual annotations on unfamiliar Chinese cultural allusions in the text make this work an excellent and accessible gateway into the literature and practice of silent illumination Zen.

Journey with translator Taigen Daniel Leighton (with the assistance of Yi Wu), as he explores a collection of thoughts from the mind of a brilliant 12th century philosopher, Zen Master Hongzhi. Clearly this is a labor of love, from many perspectives. I wouldn't necessarily recommend this book as a first foray into eastern philosophy, but it is wonderful to see how rich the lives of humans can be, even when they lived 800 years ago. And how rich your own life could be.

I read this shortly after it first came out. It seemed OK and I put it aside. Several years ago --and after more sitting practice and retreats-- I reread it and now I think it is a treasure. In the translated passages/poems, Hongzhi is speaking consistently from a deeply enlightened experience.

Someone new to Zen may find this collection of talks from a twelfth century Chinese master fuzzy and not very helpful. But for someone with experience sitting, it is profound. Dogen also gave Hongzhi "five stars" in Shobogenzo.

Hongzhi's words have become my favorite sitting companion.

This is one of the best books I've ever read -- on Zen, Buddhism or Spirituality in general. Hongzhi was obviously as clear as they get, and his subtle and powerful language and insight is an inspiration to any practicioner, from any tradition. This book is a must read for anyone who seeks a deeper understanding of Reality.

Dream-House will invite parents and kids to share the story of the Dream House, a house made of dreams and love. Large print makes it easy for kids to follow along in a warm story of how a house watches its occupants grow up and grow older with family and friends within its walls.

Artist, architect, and filmmaker Fu-Ding Cheng wrote and illustrated Dream-House, based on his award-winning film, Spirit of the Dream-House. A part of Hampton Roads' Young Spirit Books series for children, Dream-House, the story of a "house that loved, lost, and loved again," will charm children of all ages.

The story begins with a house made of dreams, which became a home when the right family moved in. It loves giving shelter and protecting the family from the weather, even when Billy, the youngest member, accidently hits a baseball through the picture window. Billy makes it up to the house later, however, when it's threatened by a wildfire and he saves it from the flames with a water hose.

Eventually Billy grew up, married, and raised a new family in the house. But things change as time passes. Billy's children grew up and left, and he put the old house up for sale. Over the years, it fell into disrepair. At first the house was frightened at its destruction, "then a wonderful thing happened. The rain washed my sorrows away, the sun warmed up my heart, and the wind blew my imagination free."

Then the house remembered that it was made of dreams, and that if it could "just let of my old walls," it could find a new family to love and become a home once again. Which is exactly what it did.

The left-hand pages include three to four lines of text, embellished with a small illustration. Detailed, full-size drawings in color grace the right-hand pages.

Dream-House is "an enchanting, timeless story about rebirth and the mysterious power of love . . . that will both delight and enlighten readers of all ages." Purchase a copy for every child you know, including the one within you.

Well, we all have to live somewhere, but after reading Cheng's book you'll never again think of a house as a mere structure. From his lovingly cosmic perspective, the house exists outside of time and space. Although it is something larger than we realize, it embraces all the small circumstances of our lives; on the level of our hearts and our dreams, it finds us as much as we find it. By implication, this vision can be applied to all the allegedly mundane structures in which we live. If you want to raise your child (or yourself) in an atmosphere of expanding heart and mind, Cheng's lovely story and ravishing pictures are a good place to start.

One of the most intelligent and interesting children's books I have ever read. The story is inspiring and the detailed illustrations are works of art. This is a book that will warm the heart and also give food for thought. I expect it to become a classic, and I hope there's a sequel!

I cannot imagine a more beautiful pictorial on a home. Every child up to 100 years old should have a chance to experience the soul of a home with this book!

For those who are about to visit New Zealand & love waterfalls, this is the book for them. It gives good descriptions of the Waterfalls & their locations with details of how to reach them. A must have book for Waterfall-holics.

I am part-way through the production of a Hi Def Video on "Waterfalls, Brooks, Creek & Streams" that has taken me all over the US and Canada and another shoot comes up which required me to travel to Australia last month. What an opportunity! Just hop over to New Zealand and shoot some more waterfalls for my video! But how do I find them? I Googled "New Zealand Waterfalls" and up pops Johnny Cheng's beautiful book. It arrived in time for me to take on my flight. I would only have a few days to shoot in New Zealand, so needed to choose the waterfalls carefully. With all the great photos and detailed maps and directions in the book, I found it easy to make my choices. I selected my base near Fiordland on the South Island and during the limited time I was there, got terrific footage of some beautiful waterfalls. The directions, maps and distance measurments in the book were spot-on, so I didn't waste any time "searching". The shots I got of these New Zealand waterfalls are stunning in High Definition. My thanks to Johnny Cheng and his book "New Zealand Waterfalls" for helping to make my DVD even more beautiful!

I found the book "A Guide To New Zealand Waterfalls" to be one of the best waterfall books I have seen. The book is packed with color photos and maps. The layout of the book is very user friendly and well thought out. The writing is very clear and concise.

This is a must have for all waterfall lovers and anyone living in or visiting New Zealand.

Scott A. Ensminger, founder of the Western New York Waterfall Survey.

This is a very well produced, very well rounded guidebook. I was a bit disappointed at the lack of coverage of the South Island (considering how many waterfalls there are on the South Island), but given that the author lives in California, and conducted this research over a few trips to the other side of the planet, this is a commendable book. I own many books on the subject of Waterfalls and this is simply one of the best ever printed.

Nature enthusiast Johnny Cheng presents A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls, an absolutely stunning trail guide written especially for nature hikers desiring to see the pristine beauty of New Zealand's glorious waterfalls firsthand. Packed with gorgeous full-color photographs, maps, extensive text directions, an at-a-glance rating system for the different hikes categorizing them according to scenic value, hiking difficulty, and driving difficulty. A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls is very tightly focused on its subject matter and does not have any information about hotels, restaurants, and the like; little more than a brief glossary, a one-page summary of English in New Zealand, and an index round out its coverage of waterfall hikes. A truly stunning guide, unmatched in its coverage of waterfalls and filled with breathtaking photographs for the armchair traveler.

"Dazzling" is just the word to describe this collection, with each poem an intense & passionate work of lapidary perfection. While utilizing traditional Japanese poetic symbols drawn from Nature, this is far from being just blandly pretty "Nature poetry" -- it explores the landscape of the heart. And it does so with gorgeous precision, constantly evoking subtleties of color & emotion. An extraordinary woman's soul is laid bare in these pages ... and she celebrates her body & the joys of the flesh with equal honesty.

First published in 1901, this is sensual & stirring work that's timeless -- certainly far more real & lasting than the superficial treatment of sexuality in too much of today's popular culture. For those who seek lush beauty & love's anguish in all of its Romantic splendor, this is where you'll find it. Most highly recommended!

Goldstein & Shinoda's translation of selections from Midaregami, Tangled Hair by Yosano Akiko is unsurpassed for its simple elegance that perfectly matches the sensual spareness of the original. Yosano Akiko ranks not only as one of the world's great women poets, but great poets, period. Her imagination challenged the limits of her culture and dared to speak of the fullness of womanhood while simultaneously overcome old conventions and breathing new life into the genre of tanka poetry.

This tradition continues today, and readers who liked this book should seek out M. Kei's Fire Pearls and Leza Lowitz's A Long Rainy Season: Haiku and Tanka (Contemporary Japanese Women's Poetry, Vol 1).

"To punish-- Men for their endless sins,-- God gave me-- This fair skin,-- This long black hair!"

Imagine writing that in turn of the century Japan, at a time when women were considered to be barely human and feminism was unheard of! Yosano Akiko's beautiful poems broke with tradition and spoke of love, the emancipation of woman, and the pleasures of the flesh. Attacking conventional morals, she glorified the female body and defended sexuality, but there is more to her poems even, than that. The title, Midare Gami means "tangled hair" and is a typically oblique Japanese expression that, despite its indirectness, is utterly fraught with nuance and meaning. Tangled hair refers not to hair that is messy or untidy, but to hair tousled by love making and is a constant theme in her poems. Yosano Akiko brought new meanings to the term, and used it to connote female emancipation and sexual freedom.

Although Yosano Akiko is important in Japanese literary circles because she wrote about things that no one had ever dared to write about before, her poems are more than just historical curiosities. They are hauntingly beautiful, and her choices of images are incredibly vivid.

She says so much in so few words, that one can spend days thinking about a simple three or four line poem no matter how many times one reads her work, one can always find new things that one had not seen before. It is fascinating to read the thoughts of a woman who truly lived her life for love and art, and who was constantly struggling to come to grips with the conflict between one's ideas about the way that life ought to be and the way it really is. Her poems about being betrayed by men who go off to have affairs, or the sad verses about women waiting for men to come home, or the lamentations on the emphemerality of beauty and youth are unforgettable. As Pico Iyer discusses in his book The Lady and the Monk some of her best poems have to do with the conflict that the monk faces when he is torn between his love for a woman and his quest to escape from the longings and desires of the material world.

Yosano Akiko's poems are very difficult to understand, as the many of the cultural references and symbols she uses are not familiar to westerners, but fortunately there is an excellent appendix which provides explanations for all the poems.

Tangled Hair: Selected Tanka From Midaregami is a selection of Akiko Yosano's rather impressive Japanese poetry, which was originally published in 1901, and is here superbly translated by the combined efforts of Sanford Goldstein (Professor Emeritus, Purdue University and Keiwa College, Japan) and Seishi Shinoda (Niigata University, Japan) into English for a new generation of readers. The "tanka" is the most popular form of Japanese poetry, representing 1,200 years of literary history and tradition. These translations are sensitive to context and subtle word meaning, are presented with extensive notes concerning the poems themselves, and include facets relating to the author's life. 95: Through these pines/The breeze equally/On her cheeks and mine,/Yet how like strangers/Our thoughts.

The tanka collected in this volume are simple and elegant. I would say perfect, but I suppose that's a dangerous word. Heck, I like danger; they're perfect. Not one extra word or unessesary image in the whole book. Now, in my fast food culture "without excess" is a rare,beautiful,almost inconcievable thing. I suppose that's one reason I cherish this particular book. Using quiet traditional images from nature; moonlight,cherry blossoms, morning dew, the high cries of the cranes the author cuts deep into the collective human experience. It quiets my soul. I'm amazed. In the words of Josef Albers "Less" in this case certainly "is more".

Every author can learn presentation from this book, this is a workbook worthy of being used in a school atmosphere. Very well organized good to excellent information. A thorough foundation from which to grow, and perfect for Tai Chi Practitioners.

This is a great book for anyone who is new to the practice of qigong. Yu Cheng Huang has developed a great system of teaching qigong in this book. I've seen many books on the subject and none of them takes you by the hand and easily leads you through the different exercises as this book does. The book is designed to teach you a lesson each week. In addition to the physical exercise each lesson comes with a discussion on either the theory/history of qigong, a lesson on the use of food and herbs or a lesson on TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) making it a very balanced approach to the subject.

The illustrations are a bit crude but they convey the appropreate meaning for each lesson. This is easily overlooked because of its workbook format. I would say that you would not find a better book on the subject that will teach both the practice and theory of qigong in such a simple and easy manner as this book does.

"Change the Picture" is the first in the series of Qigong workbooks presented by Master Yu-Cheng Huang. This book gives a step by step system of building a Qigong practice. The book is comprised of levels I and II with each volume containing twelve weekly lessons which are the basic foundations of Xuan Ming Dao Qigong. Each lesson builds on the previous week's lesson and contains a section on theory, method, and practice. Levels I and II teach one how to cleanse,gather, and activate the energy (QI) and how to tonify the body.

Thumbs up for Master Huang's "Xuan Ming Dao" Qigong workbook series. Unlike most Qigong books that just teach a basic Qigong or other books that teach advanced methods (which can only be useful to students with higher skills), Master Huang's system is written for the beginner and will have you gradually build your practice step by step. Advanced students will benefit from the added information on subjects such as TCM, Qigong theory, and the "extra thoughts" presented with each lesson. Moreover, all the workbooks are written in a straightforward and easy to understand manner. Master Huang stresses that if one should wish to learn Qigong one should find a good teacher. I would suggest that if you cannot find a good teacher these workbooks are the next best thing to learn from.

"Think the Good Thing" is the second book in the series.

If you are a Taoist Qigong fan, then this is the book for you. No mumbo-jumbo. A practical "how-to" step-by-step Chi Kung for beginners and mature students. Dont have to know obscure Chinese cultural meanings; just start the work and keep at it. The real pity is that I had to acquire this book used as it is out of print. It's ironic that there is so many useless and shallow books on Qigong out there that never, ever go "out of print" and yet the really good ones do. The sooner this series by Yu Cheng Huang is reprinted and made available, the better !!

This dictionary is extremely useful because it makes use of many real-life examples. It is the only dictionary that I know that uses in its examples (1) Simplified Mandarin, (2) Pinyin, and (3) English all at once. With other dictionaries, you have to spend time looking up characters offered in the definition. Not the case here. Must bear in mind that this is a dictionary for the Mainland. Having said that, there are some great "colloquial" entries, and these entries are really fun for getting to learn the Chinese that is really spoken on the Mainland. Really recommend this dictionary.

This the the best Mandarin dictionary for learners, BY FAR.

When you really start to get into the groove of learning Mandarin, you will suddenly discover that most other dictionaries totally suck: not telling you the counters for nouns, not telling you which verbs are splittable, not giving any examples at all, etc etc.

This one is great.. as an added bonus, it's been written by commies, and has some hilarious example sentences in it. ie: "They are always flaunting the flag of liberty" and "Those who oppress the people will eventually be overthrown"

It's a desk reference, not a pocket dictionary. I still haven't found a truely great pocket dictionary.

Although this dictionary has a limited number of words, nearly 35.000 words you can amass an amazing knowledge of chinese with help of thousands of examples. A good buying.

What makes this dictionary a very useful tool is its use of examples. Many, many examples provide many hints. Has become my favorite learning tool to date.