Chinese Books

Cultures and customs are explored in Chinatown by William Low.

Young readers visit a city within a city, where streets of herbalists, tai chi masters, and outdoor fish market abound. This colorful section of New York City will prove fascinating to young eyes as they're introduced to people with a different heritage.

As always, knowledge and understanding promote friendship.

In this story, with beautiful jewel-toned illustrations reminiscent of Hopper's paintings, a young child, accompanied by his grandmother, shows the reader various aspects of his life in an urban Chinatown. The busy urban setting takes on the elements of smalltown life as the pair cross a street, watch tai chi practicioners, greet the street cobbler, and visit the produce market, the fish market, the herbalist, a kung fu class and other fascinating places. The story culminates at a parade celebrating Chinese New Year. The colorful pictures, rich with detail, and simple, informative text give lots of opportunities for discussion. My two-year-old son has loved this book from the first time we read it, and requests it over and over again.

This is an outstanding book on the social and historical development of the New York Chinese community at the turn of the century. Liu begins with and focuses on the 1909 murder of Elsie Sigel - a White woman - whose dead body was found in a trunk in the apartment of one of her lovers Leon Ling. Ling, a Chinese male, and the primary suspect in the case - who was never caught. The narrative - a discourse analysis is based on careful and extensive research is really a critical examination of the social workings of 1900s New York and the looks at the way a society runs itself. Lui uses an extensive range of primary sources - in both English and Chinese. Lui's study is an analyses of the numerous issues spun around the case rather than the facts of the case itself.

The Chinatown Trunk Mystery is an actual case study that worked as an "I told you so" about all the fears and concerns which have roots in the "Yellow Peril" narrative. In the early 1900s, and this is old news, race did matter. Elsie Sigel was not what people painted her out to be. Was she even really a missionary? Contradictory stories abounded about Chinese men. On the one hand, Chinese men were seen as asexual but on the other hand the public and media accused Leon Ling are seen as predatory.

The Chinatown Trunk Mystery is a departure from the "conventional wisdom" or "conventional narrative" of Asian America. Adding complexity to a story that is usually told in a textual format that looks like a textbook, Lui destabilizes the conventional format - in this book, all the folks that you thought were good were not actually good. She takes care to bring us into the story so we understand the process of inventing narratives about people, places, and things that were not even part of the actual event. Careful attention to her note shows that the murder mystery began outside of Chinatown proper (Lui 53). It was in the interest of particular people with agendas to maintain the narrative - even if most of the data on the case was never really substantiated and stories seemed to contradict each other. In short, nothing really substantial was resolved about the case. Much of the evidence was hearsay and inconclusive but the narrative spun around what little was there was spurious at best. As mentioned previously, Lui uses an extensive range of primary documents and representations. An analysis of the discourse reveals that is less about the facts of the case but rather how societies run and how people manage themselves.

In effect, the book is all about the "invention" of Leon Ling, Elsie Sigel and a bevy of characters surrounding the two. Lui is not only a credible historian but also a narrative craftsperson. Lui spins a yarn no less impressive than the actual events themselves. Her writing style accommodates the uninitiated and non-academic and engages both audiences which is appreciated for its clarity and simplicity.

Miguel Llora

Lui has written a wonderful book that uses a murder in New York to examine the complexity of race and gender in New York at the turn of the nineteenth century. Her research is first rate and the narrative she shapes is enthralling. One highlight of the book is the discussion of the ways that the Chinese community mobilized to defend itself from the attacks on Chinese, and Asians in general, that followed the discovery of the body. Her narrative is crisp and her analysis sharp.

This is an outstanding textbook on Chinese Americans - the most successful ethnic minority in the United States. From history, scholarly achievements to economic and political successes - the book offers a wealth of data and information about Chinese Americans. A must for every student and teacher in history, ethnic studies and political sciences.

Chinese America - Stereotype and Reality is a fascinating book about this often overlooked ethnic minority. From historical immigration records to the latest political and economic achievements, the book offers the most detailed information available about the Chinese in America until today.
The author shows that she has detailed knowledge about the Chinese in America. Hundreds of tables and graphs substantiate her theories and findings, and she is able to explain facts, figures or legislation in a captive language.
The book is also well structured, and a thorough index helps to find many past or present topics. The book is a treasure trove for all those interested in Chinese Americans - from historians and ethnologists to simply everyone interested in the Chinese and their society.
A thoroughly researched book with many facts and figures: Chinese America is a well-written and highly recommended book for everyone interested in this ethic minority.

This book combines the literary approach and the socio-political approach in such a delightful manner that it may be considered as both history of literature and literature on history. As a history, it is amazingly informative of the Chinese Americans' life in the past one and half centuries, their weal and woe, tears and laughters. As literature, it is surprisingly readable, and full of sensible judgments from literary perspectives.

The design of the jacket cover, however, somewhat falls short of doing full justice to the quality of the book. Especially, the Chinese graphs in the background might mislead potential readers to think that Chinese American literature is more Chinese than American, a misconception that the author himself endeavors to correct in the book.

Do you know what happened to the altar food left open in the Wild West by early Chinese immigrants? You can find the answer in Xiao-huang Yin's path-breaking book Chinese American Literature since the 1850s. The volume is a careful study on Chinese American cultural and historical experience seen through a fascinating reading and documentation of Chinese American writing over the past 150 years. I think Yin's book is a fine example of what the Chinese call "yasu gongshang," i.e., to be appreciated by both the academic and general audience, perhaps the highest standard for all writing.

Yin has offered to the field of Chinese and Asian American studies the first comprehensive overview of Chinese American literary experience from the beginning of Chinese settlement in North America down to the present time. I believe Yin's book has redefined and enriched our perception of Chinese American literature in two significant ways: first, his research has offered us a fuller and engaging look at the early Chinese immigrant writing of the 19th century, and more importantly, it embraces the entire world of Chinese American literature in both Chinese and English. Although it is the concensus of the field that bilingual and transnational approach is most desirable in Chinese American studies, truly bilingual and transnational research is still very hard to find. Yin demonstrates that bilingual and transnational approach is not only most fruitful but also a necessity in Chinese and Asian American studies. What is most impressive is the sense of balance Yin's commentary achieves in dealing with varied voices, often contending, in the worlds of Chinese America. The seven chapters of the book not only includes a historical in-depth view, but also incorporates distinctive perspectives such as immigrant, Eurasian, second-generation, American-born, native-Chinese/American, anti-/pro-assimilation, etc, which together constitutes a rich, diverse, and often contradictory, picture of Chinese American experience. Last but certainly not the least, trained as a cultural historian and Asian Americanist, Xiao-huang Yin combines the best of solid historical research method with an acute literary sensitivity that produces a powerful effect.

Even though this is an academic book based on solid research, it is surprisingly a very easy read. Here is the good news for the general reading public: there is no hard-to swallow academic jargon in Yin's book. Another aspect I find that it is such an entertaining read is that his notes are full of "gems." Not only will you find who ate the altar food, you can also find, for instance, who said "white man first, socialist second," who's the first Chinese graduate from an American college, how much money a Chinese-language writer in America makes, etc. Given the increasing importance of the Chinese American community in the making of a multicultural America, Yin's timely book is well-suited to benefit the general reading public in their understanding of major (cross-) cultural issues facing Chinese American communities not only historically but also in the ever-changing dynamics of the present.

I bought this for my wife. She did not read it but I have. The portraits are of people with different experiences. It's a good read.

These are the first-person stories of some fifteen ordinary families - some composed by the subjects and some generated as oral histories - together with oodles of family photos - some in Old World regalia, some in tee-shirts and cut-offs; a cowboy, a NASCAR driver, a decorated Veteran, a Louisiana sheriff, a ballerina, an artist in his studio, a multi-millionaire real estate magnate with her bare feet up on her desk. They, like you and I, are all immigrants or the descendents of immigrants. In this album, the immigrants are Chinese.

In the current malodorous sump of American politics, where Screaming Heads on TV have more influence than face-to-face time with neighbors or books, certain demagogues have done their utmost to foment fear of immigration and loathing of immigrant groups who bring different religious cultures. The Chinese were subject to just such virulent racism during the last decades of the 19th Century. A national law was passed, by the Congress of the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave, to exclude the Chinese from immigration. They were branded as unassimilable, in large part because of their religion, or lack of a proper religion from a WASP perspective. They were called morally degenerate, phsyically unappealing, unsanitary, and over-sexed. It was a felony in many states for a "white" person to marry one. Certain writers, including Madison Grant, warned that they would outbreed the "great race" of Northern Europeans, that they had aspirations in fact to do so and to dominate the world.

One chapter in this book, concerning several generations of the Wong Family in Albert Lea, Minnesota, has powerful personal meaning to me. I was born on a farm near Albert Lea. My father was an immigrant and my mother's family were "old world" in all but clothing. There was one Chinese restaurant in the whole county, owned by the one Chinese family in Albert Lea, the Wongs. My mother went to high school with a Wong girl. I'd like to brag that they were friends, but the Wongs of her generation don't remember having friends until they moved away to Chicago and New York. One of the Wong girls married a Haitian in New York, becoming Eleanor Wong Telemaque, a writer. Shawn Wong also became a writer and a race-car driver. Eleanor's daughter Adrienne became a ballerina and married Philip Nash, of Irish and Japanese descent. I'm afraid my mother and her siblings lost a huge opportunity; the Wongs were probably the most interesting neighbors they had in Albert Lea, Minnesota in the 1930s.

There is no other resource like this encyclopedic book. It is the foundational piece for identifying family crests and mottos on European and British Armorial Porcelain made in China in the 18th and 19th centuries. David Howard's life work is represented in this tome, essential to all who really love Armorial porcelain. There is a second volume that carries the rest of Howard's work, as well as several smaller books that he wrote.

For serious collectors of armorial porcelain this is the definitive work. Over 6000 coats of arms are illustrated and described in considerable detail. Howard is the generally recognized expert in the field.

The pictures are absolutely stunning. Excellent coverage of the various types of chinese kites, beautiful color rendering. I gave my brother, a real kite professional, my copy, then regretted it so much I went and got another. An incredible bargain.

This book is excellent! Great pictures, great explainations, and instructions. The art of the kites was fully explained and examples were given. Overall, it is wonderful for those interested in making kites.

I planed to buy a small Chinese bible that is easy to take. This one is perfect. I can put it in my handbag, and the letter is not very small. So it is comfortbale to read it.

This Bible, ISBN # 9813099917, is in "Mainland Style" script known as "Chinese Simplified Characters". It reads front to back, and left to right. This Bible is appropriate for someone in or from mainland China.

This is the "Union" version, which is the older more traditional translation. (The newer translation is TCV or Today's Chinese Version.)

This review is for westerners trying to make sense of the various "flavors" of the Chinese Bibles. I'm new at this myself, so I may be oversimplifying. For another good review, see the comments for ISBN 9812200665 (which is a different Bible).

First off, written Chinese is not divided into Cantonese versus Mandarin. Written Chinese characters mean the same thing in Cantonese and Mandarin. A Cantonese person and a Mandarin person could not understand each other by speaking, but they could write to each other and understand. The symbols mean the same thing in both languages.

Generally, people in and from Taiwan and Hong Kong use the "Traditional" Chinese characters. And people in and from mainland China use "Simplified" Chinese characters. Some time before the mid 1970's, the Communist Chinese undertook a project to simplify the written language to promote literacy and make it easier for people to read and write. However, those changes did not take effect anywhere outside of communist mainland China. Hence, people in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the ethnic Chinese in Indonesia kept their old-style writing.

Exceptions to this rule are:

1. Families who came here from mainland China *before* the simplified style was implemented, and kept the traditional style.

2. People from *southern* mainland China who can read both styles due to their commerce and interaction with Hong Kong.

Here in the United States, you'll encounter some people who read traditional characters, some who read simplified characters, and some who read both. My encounters run 60% traditional style, and 40% simplified style.

So if you wish to share the gospel with and give a Bible to someone who speaks Chinese, instead of asking if they speak Cantonese or Mandarin, ask if they are from Mainland (China) or Taiwan. Though most from the mainland don't say "mainland", they'll just say "China". And those from Taiwan will usually say just "Taiwan."

In addition to the above-mentioned other reviewer, you can also see a chart of various Chinese editions of the Bible at the Bible Society of Singapore. And if Amazon lets me post this URL, it is: www.bible.org.sg specifically at: www.bible.org.sg/bookshop/chibible.htm Shipping from Singapore may be prohibitively expensive, so for US buyers, Amazon has the best deal.

I've also found that, generally speaking, Amazon's prices for non-English Bibles are cheaper than American Bible Society, and the International Bible Society.

If you want inexpensive outreach Bibles by the case, ABS has the best prices on KJV, CEV and RVR; and IBS has the best prices on NIV, and New Testaments.

I read this years ago when i checked it out of the public library. It has been one of my favorite books and captures the heady period of pre-Maoist warlord ridden China before WWII. It reads like a spy "temple of doom" novel with Yarldey shamelessly being the main character but its a great read.

What's interesting is that cryptography played such an important role so far back before computers and data lines. Although not a very technical book for crypto-fans, it captures the spirit of the early codebreakers as misfits and outcast. Just like the Flying Tigers, Yardley gives a very unique look at the role that Americans played in China before the Pacific War. I highly recommend this book if it ever comes back into print.

Hired by Chiang Kai Shek to crack Japanese spy codes (this was after the KMT retreat into the hills), Yardley found himself in the beseiged city of Chungking where EVERYONE IS A SPY (Ted White makes an appearance as a green reporter to whom Yardley teaches poker.) Pre-dating Cold War factionalism, Yardley wrote with a candidness that seems eccentric today (this man had no "ISSUES"); but in his day, he was seen as dangerously indiscreet. His American Black Chamber (located in New York City!) was shut down after a successful run for budget reasons - unemployed and then ostracized when his book on cryptography was banned for revelations of American code cracking methods, Yardley found himself ~temping~ for the "Generalissimo" in the Chinese backwater. An incredibly talented cryptographer and unabashed ladies' man, Yardley provides a charming and lucid slice of that life to which this review cannot do justice. Note that this book is "Hard to Find" - find it! Find its precursor, "Ameri

This is one of the best texts written in English that I have seen on the subject of Chinese bodywork. In the first few chapters the basics of Chinese medicine and diagnosis are reviewed with an emphasis on diagnosis for treatment with Tuina, or Chinese medical massage. There is also a very interesting section on using herbs and linaments as massage mediums. The next chapters deal in depth with individual and compound hand maneuvers and even contains traditional Chinese style "chiropractic" maneuvers. The last section of the book gives an in-depth discussion of specific conditions from TCM internal medicine, gynecology, traumatology and other specialties.

A must read for all practitioners and students of Chinese medicine!!!

Henry McCann, L.Ac., Dipl. Ac.& C.H. (NCCAOM)

You kind of need to know something about TCM theory in order to use this book. I found this to be an awesome text. You can look up almost any condition and it will tell you the etiology, s/sx, massage protocol, and suggested herbal perscription. recommend it.