Chinese Books

China has seen many social, political and economic changes over the centuries, yet surprisingly, has managed to preserve excellent examples of changing architectural home styles throughout these years, as Chinese Houses: The Architectural Heritage Of A Nation presents. Packed with color photos of both interior and exterior décor, Chinese Houses also presents an in-depth survey of the rituals, culture, ornamentation influences, and floor plans of homes across China, from urban to rural dwellings. If it's a strong in-depth history of Chinese home architecture which is desired, look no further than the gorgeous Chinese Houses: it's much more than the coffee table picturebook it appears a first glance.

I can't imagine there being a better book out there on Chinese houses as this book has history and expert photographs. What's more it also has well-drawn sections and plans. Most books on this subject will use old diagrams or ancient drawings that are a hassle to decipher. Here the diagrams are purpose-drawn, clean, and add a great deal to the understanding. About a third is dedicated to a general history of the form, construction methods, social life, and geographical variety; and about two-thirds to about 8 pages each on specific houses. Just enough info on each.

The one gripe I would have is that, in the part of the book where he gives a general introduction of the elements and history of Chinese houses, he uses photos from the twenty or so houses that he discusses individually. It would have given a bit more breadth (and reduced a bit of redundancy later on) if he had used that opportunity for photos of houses that were not given an individual focus.

The amount of detail and research that's in this book is astounding. This is not another coffee table picture book. Its filled with beautiful pictures, and an equal amount of readable, scholarly writing about a culture thats slowly getting lost to the west.

Get it!

This book exceeded my expectations. It has informative text and abundant photographs including many vintage images. For anyone interested in Chinese architecture, this is the book for you.

This is a "sleeper" of a Chinese cookbook!

It is well written; it reads as if a special friend is talking with you as you go, making these recipes easy to follow.

The list of ingredients for most recipes are available at most grocery stores; if you want to make egg rolls, just get the wrappers from an Asian grocery store.

I was sold on this book when I saw 3 different diagrams for folding egg rolls, and 17 different recipes for congee- a thick rice based soup, with different tidbits added for taste and contrast.

The Chinese techniques needed to make these taste authentic are different than Western cooking techniques, and are clearly explained. You don't even need a wok or new gadgets to cook these meals.

This is for kosher meals; you might never realize this were it not in the title, as there are plenty of recipes with chicken, beef, lamb and vegetarian recipes too.

If you want a great Chinese cookbook, and you enjoy pork and other non kosher fillings, just substitute these as your imagination allows.

An authentic touch is the use of the "real" Chinese names for the recipes, and the author even has them written in Chinese characters!

While I am fond of cookbooks with pictures, it is not a drawback to this book, as seeing the colorful combinations of vegetables, and tasting the mix of textures and spices are the delight of a Chinese meal. Just picture how your Chinese food has looked tasty at restaurants...no fancy food styling needed here!

This is one of the best written, and easiest to follow Chinese cook books out there!

This is an excellent book for would-be chinese cooks, even if they are not strictly kosher, or if they have other requirements (vegetarain, for instance) in that it gives more general principles and advice which are applicable to a broader picture, rather than just specific recipes to follow. And it's pleasant to read.

The stories and information about the repcies are all engaging. The recipes are wonderfully flavorful! My favorites are the Spring chicken packages and the Peking Duck. Would recommend this to the Kosher and non-Kosher.

I started leafing through this book at a friend's house and before I put it down had written down the ISBN number to get myself a copy. Not just a compendium of recipes, the book explains techniques and general background concepts in a way that those with little experience will appreciate, while presenting a large and interesting variety of dishes to please the more experienced Chinese food maven. Even vegetarians should be satisfied with the selection of vegetable and noodle based dishes provided here. Meeting the requirements of Kosher preparation has not limited the author at all in her culinary creativity.

This book is very comprehensive, clearly, well organized and explaind, easy to understand. The book is realy fabulous. I highly recommend it.

Best Book Written On This Subject!

I have read many books on numerology, but he describes in full detail the solar/lunar conversion that I have never heard about before that is very accurate. It is very insightful into other realms I didn't think possible to understand. He has done a great job explaining exactly how to interpret what these numbers mean also.

But I give it five stars anyway. Just when I thought that I'd learned all there was to learn about numerology, and just when I thought that I'd heard of every possible way to use numbers to diagram lives, along comes this book. It has many "innovative" methods to tell lots about different personality types using personal info such as date of birth, name, etc. It also gives compatability information along with number and personality signs. There are methods of numerology in this book that most practicing "numerologists" probably don't even know about--it's that diverse, interesting, and innovative. Though I'm interested in these things, I'm a die-hard skeptic. I was a non-believer until I did a few diagrams for myself, and then for people that I know. The nail was hit dead on the head each time. Move over, Western astrology, and make room for Chinese numerology!

Chinese Numerology: The Way to Prosperity & Fulfillment is Richard Webster's latest book, and it's a fascinating guide to the arcane world of numerology.

Webster explains how, nearly 4,000 years ago, Wu of Hsia discovered a special tortoise shell. The markings on the back of the shell formed a magic three-by-three square. Named the Lo Shu grid, the square was regarded as magic "because every horizontal, vertical, and diagonal row added up to fifteen," a number of great significance in ancient China.

Chinese numerology, as well as I Ching, feng shui, and other Chinese divination techniques, evolved from the Lo Shu grid.

Three systems of Chinese numerology are currently in use, and Webster presents complete directions on how to use each of them. He starts with the Western version of Chinese numerology, which is the easiest to learn. He explains how to calculate your life path number, and the significance of each number. For example, "people with a life path number of 6 are nurturing, caring, and responsible," while 22's "are able to achieve anything they set their minds on."

He then shows how to calculate individual strengths and weaknesses, using personal Lo Shu grids. He presents grids of celebrities as examples. Edgar Cayce, Beethoven, and Mozart all had grids indicating growth in knowledge and wisdom through great personal losses.

Webster explains that "we live our lives in nine-year cycles. Each year contains a different energy, and if we work with the energy, or tone, of the year we will progress smoothly and quickly. Conversely, if we fight the tone of the year, we will struggle all year long." He then presents a simple way to determine which year you are in and gives examples of what kinds of activities are good for each year of the cycle.

Traditional Chinese numerology uses the Lo Shu grid, but the numbers are determined using the lunar calendar rather than the Western solar calendar. Not to worry--Webster includes an extensive solar-lunar conversion chart in the appendix.

The Ki, or Nine House Divination, is more complex. It "starts with the same magic square, but the numbers change position every year creating nine different combinations." In addition, the numbers are associated with the basic elements of wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. Each number also has its own color.

Whether you are simply interested in learning what numerology is all about, or wish to use it for character analysis or planning your future, you'll find Chinese Numerology informative and helpful.

This book is totally awesome! I feel like I have a highly skilled Chinese art instructor right at the table with me. Ms Cameron learned from one of the best and now I am learning from one of the best. Like I said, totally awesome book!

This is a wonderful instructional book for anyone looking to begin the traditional art of Chinese painting. The author is a westerner who lived in China when she was young and was taught the techniques of painting by masters. Using her book is the next best thing to having an instructor by your side. Each technique is carefully explained and clearly illustrated in a way that makes learning fun and easy. Using this book should give you the skills and confidence desired on your way to learning the art of Chinese painting.

This book is excellent for beginers in chinese art and art in general. Taking you step by step from the beginning by illustrating the basic rules for strokes, techniques and compositions necessary for a well deveopled authentic piece of chinese art. Ms.Cameron shows you what to do and what not to do in a conversational manner that builds confidence. In a short period of practice i was very pleased with my progress. If i can do it any one can. Buy this book.

This book is excellent for beginers in chinese art and art in general. taking you from the beginning by illustrating the basic rules for strokes, techniques and compositions necessary for a well deveopled authentic piece of chinese art. Ms.Cameron shows you what to do and what not to do in a conversational manner that builds confidence. In a short period of practice i was very pleased with my progress. If i can do it any one can. Buy this book.

I worked at a very busy herb shop in the Bay Area for over 15 years and this book was a god send.So many people are interested in using Chinese medicines and have no idea where to start. This book is a golden doorway. It is also excellent for knowledgeable people and practioners as it is designed and laid out in a very user friendly way. I think it is the BEST book available for learning the whole story of which medicines to use and why.

Mr. Taylor starts his book with a balanced and reasonable assessment of Chinese medicine versus Western medicine. Western medicine has been extensively tested in laboratories using rats and other animals, and has been through human trials. Chinese herbal cures, on the other hand, have been described in literature for almost 3 millennia and certainly have been used by hundreds of times more human subjects than the products of our laboratories. A dedicated Darwinist such as myself is inclined to believe that successful remedies will persevere and grow more popular and those that don't work will die out.

Western medicine is characterized by families of drugs: serotonin uptake inhibitors, antibiotics, anti-acids, and the like. Mr. Taylor points out that herbal remedies more often go to the genesis of the problem within one's body chemistry rather than merely treating the symptoms. The taxonomy appears to be less rigorous because the drugs are more complex in their action. They may be grouped by ingredients or by the illnesses that they treat.

Mr. Taylor is acutely aware of the nature of the modern marketplace. Piracy is rampant in all spheres of Chinese business involving intellectual property. It is no different with patent medicines. If it is cheaper to create a knockoff that looks like the real thing, somebody will certainly do it. Mr. Taylor has good advice regarding which drugs are frequently counterfeited and the measures one should take to be sure one is getting the real thing.

The scope of Chinese medicine is impressive. Mr. Taylor describes around 200 formulations. That appears to stack up fairly well against the lists of Western ethical drugs that one finds at drugstore.com. It is interesting to note that acupuncture, another of Mr. Taylor's specialties, has moved from fringe to mainstream within the past couple of decades. We may not fully understand how it works, but it is certainly effective in many instances. The same is true of Chinese medicines.

This book is something of a historical document. It was researched over an almost 20 year period. I went to China for the first time in 1983 to visit an acpuncturist friend working in a hospital in Guangzhou. From that time, I returned to China many times, and I have seen the transformation of China from rice fields and fishing villages to the industrial powerhouse it is today. In my book, I was looking at and evaluating the quality of Chinese manufacturing long before it became an issue in the US. We see today that many products made in China are of substandard quality and manufactured with questionable integrity. I decided almost 20 years ago to seek out and find the best products in my area of expertise, Chinese Medicine. I found high quality factories and good manufacturing practices, but I also found low quality products and witnessed poor manufacturing standards. My book was an attempt to find good quality products for my patients and I succeeded. Today, we read about serious problems in pet food, baby's toys, and other products. This could have and should have been researched and dealt with more than 20 years ago. Lax standards among American companies which import these products has allowed this damage to occur. It could easily have been prevented. In my travels to China, I saw high-quality and low-quality products. It wasn't difficult for me to make this distinction. Because I was concerned, this book came into existence. In some places, I was the first white person to visit since the revolution in 1948. Our relationship in the US with China is very important and good Chinese companies are more than willing to be inspected and to share their knowledge. Anybody who knows anything about Chinese manufacturing knows that companies must be inspected, certified and recognized for their high quality. This is essential and this is the reason that I wrote my book. I hope that others will find value in it.

This book is a great introductory guide to Chinese Patent Medicines. It covers more than 200 patent formulas and provides detailed information on individual ingredients and actions, common usage and dosage information. The back of the book also lists patent formulas by western disease.

For example: you're treating someone with common cold. The book lists 10 patent formulas for common cold with descriptions/indications for each formula such as: Ge Gen Wan for wind-cold type common cold with stiff neck - or Yin Qiao for wind-heat type with sore throat and fever or the standard Gan Mao Ling.

This book is a great reference for beginners or for practitioners that just need to jog their memory. It is also a necessity if you prescribe Plum Flower teapills. For example if you want to prescribe Jin Gu Die Sheng Wan for traumatic injury - the Plum Flower name would be The Great Mender.

I highly recommend this book for TCM practitioners and students.

First of all, the missing star is because I havn't finished reading it yet and wish to be honest aas to my knowledge of the book. I started a pulse diagnosis course the same week I recieved the book. This gave me a huge and helpful leap into it. Hammer, as he does is his wonderful book "Dragon rises red bird flies", has captured a view of chinese medicine not found in other sources. He lies somewhere in the vast plain between the Maccoicia TCM taught in most schools today and the very spiritual and sometimes non-clinical thinking of Larre and De la Valle. This book is a happy middle. Very clinical and hands on yet so different from and far more complex and colorful than the usual training of pulse diagnosis taught in the schools. Highly recommended for the more in-depth curious and dedicated practitioner (whom I hope I am...).

This is another outstanding book by Dr. Leon Hammer. This book continues with many of the psycho-medical and five element themes Hammer used in his first book Dragon Rises - Red Bird Flies. This text is easy to read. The concepts are easy to follow. The writing is comprehensive and fairly ties many schools of thought and other predominant TCM texts together. This book is good for practitioners of all skill levels and schools of thought. This is a must read for any serious TCM practitioner!

I was looking for a book that can teach me the secrets of pulse diagnosis but the problem was the terminology. I went to seek help from aryvedic practioners but could not comprehend. "Chinese Pulse Diagnosis" is a readable and highly informative approach on the subject. Pulse diagnosis is a difficult art to master and more difficult is its teaching. Leon I. Hammer has used the latest method of teaching for this ancient art which I hope will give a new life to art. I understood many things of the art for the first time though I read them in many other books before.

Having taken the basic level of instruction in this type of pulse diagnosis, I have to say that even with support, the very comprehensive nature of this massive tome is challenging. On the other hand, what Dr. Hammer is intending to do is to clarify and perhaps enlarge a particular method of pulse diagnosis. It is a refreshing change from what to my thinking is an endless rehash of quotes from Classic volumes translated from Chinese, or rewrites of same. Li Shi Zhen's work notwithstanding, we need more people to bring this type of material forward if pulse diagnosis is to be promoted fully here in the west. Dr. Hammer has tried mightily to be specific and describe both the pulse qualities and their implications from both his and his teacher Dr. Shen's point of view. Anyone wishing to see a more complete (if frighteningly detailed) discussion of pulse diagnosis should at the very least read and give some serious thought to what's presented by Dr. Hammer here, even if they are skeptical about the approach. This book should taken seriously by all English speaking Chinese medicine practitioners, whether they ultimately agree with it or not. It has that much to say. I myself am still trying to get a handle on the initial material. The book has few competitors in english in terms of detail and possible clinical benefits for the reader. What I have already got from it has changed my practice.

Helps push aside the distractions provided by doddering old Chinese officialdom and trade wars waged by the G7, so the reader can grasp the fighting capacity of Chinese workers and peasants. Makes the case that big business and landowning forces were genuinely rousted by popular determination. So, all the faceless, nameless Chinese people who did this are the ones who qualitatively raised the stakes for the imperial war-mongers in their plans for World War III -- now they have to try to get back China, too! Useful and concrete on the bureaucratic stranglehold that the Chinese Communist Party maintained over the workers' movement from the very beginning. But the popular determination to repulse the invasion of Korea, and obtain land and freedom forced even Mao's hand. Also contains an article on challenges in developing China's backward economy that is very apropos today, given China's entry into the World Trade Organization and all the bunk that is being written about that.

This short work is an excellent introduction to huge developments in world history: the course of the anti-capitalist revolution that swept China after World War II and the controversial questions of leadership posed by the Maoist forces that headed the Chinese Communist Party at the time.

"The Chinese Revolution and Its Development" reprints a series of resolutions and articles adopted by revolutionary socialists in the United States during the 1950s and 1960s, analyzing and assessing the events in China at the time. The specific facts of the struggle for power in China in the late 1940s as part of the anti-colonial revolutions that swept much of the Third World after World War II; The U.S. war in Korea and the response of the Chinese worker and peasants; the twists and turns of the Maoist leadership once in power-- its all covered here. Of particular value are the detailed discussions of what it takes to overthrow capitalist rule and open the way to the possibility of developing a new, socialist society.

I'd strongly recommend following up this work with two longer titles on China published by Pathfinder Press: "Leon Trotsky on China" and "The Chinese Communist Party in Power" by veteran Chinese revolutionary P'eng Shu-tse.

China is under attack from both Imperial political parties ( Democrats/Republicans ) , union bureaucrats, and the "anti-globalization"/Dalai Lama combination. Why ?

China shook the world in 1949.The Chinese revolution tore one fourth of humanity out of the orbit of the British and Yanqui imperial domains.The workers took the factories, the peasants took the land, and China stood up in the worldýrising from its knees. But this revolution was betrayed from the beginning by its leadership.The documents in this collection, written during the events by leading militants of a revolutionary workers party here in the U.S., explain this mighty revolution and its deformation ýby the opposite of communism : Stalin-ism, represented both by Mao Tse-tung and the ancestors of the present ruling clique.Chinese workers are already beginning to resist the encroachments of Imperial capital, organized by the capitalist wannabes at the head if the Chinese "Communist" Party. As capitalism spirals into its New Depression, the Chinese workers will resist in their hundreds of millions ý billions ! ý and shake the world again, together with the workers and farmers of the world, including here in the U.S.

As hundreds of thousands of workers in Northeast China strike and demonstrate against the corruption and oppression of China's bureaucracy, the contradictory nature of the Chinese revolution appears before the world. On the one hand, a great advance against European, Japanese, and American colonialism, and China's own exploiters. On the other hand, dominated by middle class Stalinists opposed to the real victory of workers in society. This set of documents chiefly by leaders of the US Socialist Workers Party documents the social transformation in China and its contradictions. As Chinese workers, students, and farmers move forward to confront the bureaucracy, this analysis written by revolutionists who look to their struggle will become a useful tool for struggle.

I've been looking for this book for a long time. Great recipes. Can't wait to try it.

This hard to find book is the best Chinese cook book you will ever find.

I originally purchased this cookbook in 1976. We lived in an area devoid of Chinese Restaurants and several friends were craving Chinese food. The receipes were easy to follow and the food turned out great. Several friends purchased the book as the result of our dinners. The food took quite a bit of preparation time but the outcome was well worth it. I've lost my original copy and wish it was available now.

I wasn't expecting much when I borrowed this book from the library. But as soon as I tried one dish, Beef Tomato Curry, I knew I hit a jackpot. Just about every recipe works..and so delicious. The ingredients listed aren't hard to find..especially since I live in the San Francisco area. I ended up going to the copy place and copying the whole cookbook since this book is no longer in print. I did call up the publisher but they have no plans of reprinting. This is the book where I learned proper Chinese cooking techniques. Rhoda Yee explained everything step-by-step. Not only that, but the stories she told of her life and life in the village is so real and heartwarming. These are bonafide authentic Chinese cuisine. To this day, everybody asks me how I make my stir-fried broccoli. They said it's the best broccoli they ever tasted. My husband is so proud of my cooking and embarrassingly tell everyone about it. This little book ranks with my copies of Hazan's Essential of Italian Cooking, Kennedy's Essentials of Mexican cuisine, McDermott's Real Thai and Roden's New Book of middle Eastern Book. If a fire breaks out in my house, God forbid, these books are the ones I'm going to grab first.

I agree with the other two reviewers in every thing they said: this is an easy to use dictionary, and very entertaining, but the thing that sold me was that a) in addition to being organized in alphabetical pinyin order (though it still has a radical index of course) all the words have the pinyin pronunciation (though not the example sentences of course) and b--very important to me- there is also a table in the back to find the TRADITIONAL forms of characters that are still used in the ROC (Taiwan), Hong Kong and the US!!

Also included are charts comparing the various phonetic systems for transliterating Chinese (including the international phonetic alphabet). It has a Chronology of Chinese History, the periodic chart in Chinese, metric/imperial conversions, a pretty comprehensive list of Countries, Capitols and Currencies....even a list of the "12 Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches" and the "24 Solar Terms" (whatever they are!)

The dictionary is great if you speak Chinese but are a little rusty on writing the characters. The format is simple. The characters are organized by the Pinyin system. If you want to look up "friend" then you look for "Peng" and then there are four subgroups of "Peng" according to tone. After you are to the right tone you look up the second character "You". There it is. Pengyou

This dictionary ("A Chinese-English Dictionary"; [...]) was first published in 1978 in Beijing, and reprinted several times later on, both in PRC and elsewhere. The copy I own (ISBN 7100001307; but the cover looks exactly like the one shown at Amazon's listing for 7100005302) was printed in 1988, but the text is apparently identical to the original edition.

Despite its age, this is still likely one of the best big Chinese-English dictionaries in existence.

The size of the dictionary (976 p main body + 31 p preliminary matter), alows it to be quite complete. It includes some 6000-7000 characters, apparently covering practically every character that one is likely to encounter in modern printed matter from PRC. However it is not a "character dictionary" "zidian"), but a word dictionary ("cidian"): character articles are arranged in the Pinyin alphabetic order, and within each character article there are numerous articles for 2-, 3-, 4-character words and expressions that start with that character, all alphabetically ordered. For the users who don't speak the language, a radical-based character index is provided as well. There is no stroke-count based index, though.

The coolest feature of the book are numerous examples it gives. Two particularly interesting categories of examples may make one read the disctionary just for its entertainment value. First, pithy folksy sayings [...]: "Don't pull on your shoe in a melon patch; don't adjust your cap under a plum tree" -- don't do anything to arouse suspicions). Second, political phraseology from the eras of the Cultural Revolution and the Four Modernizations. [...] zou3gou3: running dog; lackey; flunkey; stooge; servile follower).

Dictionary articles are well provided with explanations and, when necessary, usage markers (labeling some words or meanings as measure words, archaic words, colloquialisms; regional expressions, scientific terms, etc.). However, as the dictionary as mainly intended for Chinese users, most of this explanatory matter is in Chinese as well.

English translations are good, and -- unlike certain other dictionaries -- rarely appear unidiomatic or stilted (as much as it is possible to achieve that when translating the subject matter...). Considering the conditions of the time, both the Chinese and Anglo members of the production team did an admirable job.

Written in simplified characters, the dictionary is not as convenient for reading texts written in traditional characters. There is an appendix with traditional characters alright; but, unfortunately, the way it is arranged, it is more suitable for looking up the traditional form based on the simplified character, rather than vice versa (which you'd probably want to do to read a book from Taiwan or Hong Kong).

As pretty much all standard Chinese dictionaries, it is focused on Putonghua (Standard Mandarin), so, not surprisingly, it
will not be of much help for reading something written e.g. in Cantonese.

Typographically, my edition (1988 printing -- which I bought a few years ago as the only Chinese dictionary that happened to be sold in my then-hometown in Canada) is in a rather poor shape, with printing not always easy to read, and binding not surviving heavy use too well. Hopefully, later reprints are better printed and more sturdily bound.

Overall, even though I don't know the language, and am not likely to ever learn much, the purchase was worth it for me. There are many smaller dictionaries on the market, specifically designed for a student or traveller, and they will serve their practical purposes better. But as a cultural artefact and a standard reference, this one was certainly worth it for me.

If you are only going to get one chinese dictionary, this should be it. The format is extremely convenient and the content superb given its size and price. Also, since it was written under the auspices of the Communist Chinese government, most of the example sentences are about american imperialists and so forth, which is very funny to read. It is hard for us, living in a democratic society, to really appreciate what it would be like under a totalitarian regime, and this gives us a taste of the blatant propaganda. So, not only is this dictionary useful, it is also entertaining!

The clinical handbook of internal medicine is a truly useful clinical reference. It contains a wealth of information and clinical tips relevant to the practice of Chinese medicine in the western world. The authors have considered differences in diet and other lifestyle factors between Western and Chinese patients in their analysis of disease presentations and their solutions. The herbal section is comprehensive and has insights into commonly seen clinical variations not considered in other works (to my knowledge). Its compact size makes it easy to carry around and its clear layout makes finding the relevant information easy. Some more information on acupuncture points and protocols would improve it, however, the authors comment that internal medicine is the province of herbal medicine is fair. I can't wait for the second volume (when is it due?).

This is a wonderful guide for students of Chinese Medicine who may need another perspective while learning this art! Very useful, eagerly awaiting the second volume to come.

The information in this book has improved my understanding of the problems patients present with and what I can do about them. It's easy to access and matches what I see in clinic. A great addition to my clinic library and thoroughly recommended.

The clinical handbook of internal medicine is a truly useful clinical reference. It contains a wealth of information and clinical tips relevant to the practice of Chinese medicine in the western world. The authors have considered differences in diet and other lifestyle factors between Western and Chinese patients in their analysis of disease presentations and their solutions. The herbal section is comprehensive and has insights into commonly seen clinical variations not considered in other works (to my knowledge). Its compact size makes it easy to carry around and its clear layout makes finding the relevant information easy. Some more information on acupuncture points and protocols would improve it, however, the authors comment that internal medicine is the province of herbal medicine is fair. I can't wait for the second volume (when is it due?).