Chinese Books

You won't fully appreciate this book until you access full product offered by ActiveChinese. Very effective online tools and make my learning Chinese a fun activities.

My Chinese level is beginner so I found that this book helped a lot - clear, straightforward, and lots of exercise materials to practice.

I also checked out their website, as there is an 8USD-off coupon (promo code) inside the book. After I signed up on their site, I didn't really need the book anymore as they have videos and mp3s that i put on my ipod. I also tried a tutor session and it was a lot of fun.

Whenever I have a few minutes to spare I either use my ipod or I'm on their website. Very convenient to learn a language this way.

Oh yeah, and the Flash animation (lessons) is GREAT. [..]

Greg O'Leary has assembled as fine a collection of essays on the current direction of labour markets and industrial relations in China as has been written. The scholarship is cutting edge. O'Leary himself contributes a masterly introduction.

Greg O'Leary has assembled an excellent array of contributions for those interested in contemporary Chinese economy and labor relations. The book combines first-rate academic research and analysis, and covers a broad range of issues with a consistently high quality. The editor provides insightful commentaries in his own chapters, which rank among the best scholarship on China that this reviewer has read.

I read this book because the author is a friend of my mother-in-law's, and now I wish she were a friend of mine! This treasure gives a glimpse of a way of life now gone forever, of a unique upbringing combining two radically different cultures. Amy Tan wrote about her mother's experiences; Mrs. Church could very well have been her mother. Her descriptions of the food and their methods of preparation alone are worth the price of the book. I felt like I was sitting across the table from the author as she recounted tales of growing up in pre-WWII China, and I wanted the stories to continue. Heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time, this book is a testament to human adaptability. I was sorry to see the book end, which it does a little too abruptly for my taste. But this is just a small complaint in an otherwise very worthwhile book. I don't have a lot of time to devote to reading, and this one deserves a place on my keeper list. Search it out; you won't be disappointed.

I read this book because the author is a friend of my mother-in-law's, and now I wish she were a friend of mine! This treasure gives a glimpse of a way of life now gone forever, of a unique upbringing combining two radically different cultures. Amy Tan wrote about her mother's experiences; Mrs. Church could very well have been her mother. Her descriptions of the food and their methods of preparation alone are worth the price of the book. I felt like I was sitting across the table from the author as she recounted tales of growing up in pre-WWII China, and I wanted the stories to continue. Heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time, this book is a testament to human adaptability. I was sorry to see the book end, which it does a little too abruptly for my taste. But this is just a small complaint in an otherwise very worthwhile book. I don't have a lot of time to devote to reading, and this one deserves a place on my keeper list. Search it out; you won't be disappointed.

The guys in the book are really funny and I learned about China and pandas. Jia-Li is very cool!

The guys in the book are really funny and I learned about China and pandas. Jia-Li is very cool!

After having borrowed this book from the library, I just have to have it! Ning Yeh's paintings are beautiful! He captures not only the harmony, but the beauty with his inks ... the detail is fine and the reading material in this book gives you an insight of the artist at his best. Truly a book to have if you are interested in the style of Chinese Brush Art ... even if you don't want to paint/study his works, just to breeze through it is wonderful.

I own several of Ning Yeh's books on Chinese painting. This book is one of my favorites. The full color paintings are exquisite, expecially the renditions of horses, morning glories, lotus, bamboo, and peonies. Accompanying each painting is information on the specific kind of Chinese brush, paper, and paint color combinations the artist used. What makes the book especially delightful are the anecdotes on each page about Chinese culture, philosophy, aesthetics and the artist's experiences growing up in China. This is a wonderful book both for those who are interested in learning how to do Chinese brush painting as well as those who merely wish to appreciate Chinese painting.

Reading this work is like reading good poetry--vivid, precise, with an economy of words and a wealth of images that bring the reader into a living conversation with the author. The book is about relationships which is are essence of healing--between patient and practitioner, between individual and symptoms, between the sacred and the mundane, and between the spirit and the body. In an era of new age "presto-change-o" approaches to holistic healing, it is refreshing to encounter a writer with such depth of knowledge and soulful expression. I recommend it to my patients often.

Dianne Connelly has written a book that is informative, enlightening, and soothing to the soul. Through the seamless, almost poetic flow of her words, she conveys a profound and tender respect for the reader that in itself is a healing meditation. Acupuncture is Connelly's particular discipline, but anyone interested in bio-psycho-spiritual healing will draw great comfort from this work. She calls us back again and again to the fact that it is relationship that eases all of our ailments, and it is connection--person to person, ego to Self, psyche to body--that creates wholeness. I re-read All Sickness is Homesickness whenever I need a gentle reminder of the sacredness of my own healing vocation, and I recommend it frequently to my patients.

This collection of poems piques the reader's senses and maintains interest throughout. The narrative with compelling characterizations keeps the reader moving along and even identifying with the mysterious Chinese aunt and her family in the United States. It is one of those rare books of poetry which you want to read to the very end without putting it down, and yet to enjoy stopping and mulling over individual poems. The encounters between Buddhist, Christian, and Confucian elements lend universal significance. This is the best poetry on today's literary scene.

This book is the winner of the May Swenson Poetry Award for 2000. While not a narrative poem, the story of the author's aunt that married a "Chinaman" and left her family only to return when she was dying, is as close as one can get. The poems tell of the author's need for connections and a sense of family and humanity that are inspiring and eternal. The bridge over all that divides us is, after all, built on hope and caring and sharing. A Marvelous collection.

Written and illustrated by Gregory Crawford, Animals In The Stars: Chinese Astrology For Children is a fun and exciting picture book that teaches young readers about the Chinese astrological system, which views people born in a given year as having certain character traits. The informative text is superbly enhanced with finely crafted, full-color illustrations, and the mythological anecdotes and legends concerning animal figures are as entertaining as they are informative. Animals In The Stars is a delightful compilation that is a strongly recommended introductory overview for children to the basic principles Chinese astrology.

Animals in the Stars is a richly illustrated book about Chinese astrology for ages 8 and up. The first part of the book discusses the origin of the Twelve Earthly Branches, which today we call the Chinese Zodiac. The ancient people of Zhonngguo, also known as the Middle Kingdom (China), observed the cycles of the seasons, the pairing of the animals, the sun and moon--and learned to live in harmony with nature and it's opposites of yin and yang energy. This way of living was so important that many gave it a name: Taoism.

The wise priests could tell when rains would come and predict how plentiful the harvest would be. The people of the Middle Kingdom didn't have a way to mark time, but the priests realized that as they looked back upon their lives, certain years had specific hallmarks: some years were years of action and success like a monkey, and other years were times of careful thought and planning like a snake. After talking together and closely observing the animals around them, the wise people could tell that the years seemed to be influenced by one of 12 different animals. So they concluded that time was governed by 12 animals which correlated with specific influences--and each animal ruled one year. They also noticed that all the people they observed seemed to be ruled by a certain animal, as well.

The book then goes into the delightful story of the Jade Emperor, and how it was decided that the Rat would be first in the cycle, followed by Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Boar.

Next is a Chinese Zodiac chart that has every year from 1924 to 2043 and it's corresponding animal, which makes it easy to locate your animal year. Two pages are devoted for every animal in the Zodiac. The first page features a short explanation of the characteristics of the animal, and then has a short section on the qualities of a person born in that year, what kind of trouble a person may have, and who makes the best friends. For example, a person born in the year of the rat is hard working, intelligent, and a charmer--among other qualities. Rats can have trouble if she lets her suspicious nature take control and works too much, and her best companions are Ox, Dragon, and Monkey. The second page tells a corresponding story from Chinese folklore that features the animal. For example, the story about the Rat is called Rat's Big Day At The Market.

Color illustrations grace each page of the book. The author, Gregory Crawford, is also the illustrator of the book. The pictures in Animals in the Stars were done in mixed media: pen and ink, watercolor, gouache, acrylics, and colored pencils. It is 31 pages long, and while it's a children's book, I think even adults would enjoy it! It was interesting to learn about Chinese culture, read a traditional story about each of the animals, find out how the Rat ended up being chosen as the first animal of the Chinese Zodiac, and to understand the personality qualities for the 12 animals.

I tested the story on my son who's 5, but he wouldn't sit still long enough for me to get through the first section; also, it would make for a very long bedtime story! Perhaps a parent could read about one animal a night for those with longer attention spans. It's written in a very understandable way, but older children may have trouble with the Chinese proper names. However, there is a good amount of text which should help older children flex their reading muscles.

This is a great book for both children and adults who would like to learn about Chinese astrology and culture.

This is an outstanding work for anyone interested in the Warring States period at any level. Beginners will find the translation straight-forward, readable, even engaging from time to time. For those a little more advanced, the Preface and Introduction will prove to be extremely helpful (as the library reviews indicate). For advanced students, the translators have included the literary Chinese based on the critical edition--in traditional characters, in an easily readable script. One can only wish that we could have scholarly works like this (i.e., accessible even by beginners) for other Warring States texts, particularly the Zhang Guo Ce, XunZi, MoZi, etc.

Lu is of the most intelligent guys I've ever known. It's a surprise that I found this book. If I had more money, I would buy more this kind of book.

Lu Bu Wei rocks

I found some new information in this book... In situation when the topic like this (arms trade) is not so popular and very hard to find an information about arms transfers at the beginning of this century, this book looks very useful and informative... While there are some mistakes anyway book looks very fine and mistakes not so important... I'd like to recommend for those peoples who interested in military and politic history...

Very interesting and useful for researchers and historians... I found some new information in this book... In situation when the topic like this (arms trade) is not so popular and very hard to find an information about arms transfers at the beginning of this century, this book looks very useful and informative... While there are some mistakes anyway book looks very fine and mistakes not so important... I'd like to recommend for those peoples who interested in military and politic history...