China Books

One of the oldest and greatest civilizations of the world - China. "China's Sacred Sites" is a comprehensive and complete listing of sacred areas to Buddhism, Confucianism, and other major Chinese religions, along with the sites' history and breathtaking full-color photography. Composed in a greatly accessible format, "China's Sacred Sites" is a must for fans of Chinese history, armchair travelers, and photography buffs alike, and would do well to find itself in any community library collection.

REVIEW SUBTITLE: Curses! Thanks to this book, a decidedly secular person is now hooked on yet another region's spiritual architecture!

The editorial reviews perfectly describe the contents and appeal of this well-written book with its abundance of stunning photographs. That CHINA'S SACRED SITES is also well-bound, printed on good stock and yet relatively affordable seems almost too good to be true. It is difficult to imagine that anyone will regret buying it, including those whose only interest is in viewing the breathtaking integration of man-made structures and nature at sites few will ever be fortunate enough to see in person.

For those unable to find a copy of this book to preview, its contents are as follow:
PART I: MOUNTAINSCAPE CULTURE AND ARCHITECTURE (49 pgs)
-The Silent Music of Architecture
-Mountainscape Culture and Fen Shui
-Geography and Building Layout
-Architectural Elements

PART II: SELECTED SITES (172 pgs.)
-Spacious Summits (32 pgs; 7 sites)
-Cliff Structures (32 pgs; 8 sites)
-Cave Sites (28 pgs; 8 sites)
-Mountainside Temples (40 pgs; 9 sites)
-Mountain Villages (20 pgs; 5 sites)
-Riverside and Lake Sites (20 pgs; 5 sites)

The APPENDIX includes 1) a map locating the sites, 2) a glossary, 3) a timeline of Chinese dynasties, 4) a selected bibliography, and 5) an index.

I must be honest. Normally a book of this nature would not interest me. However, China's Sacred Sites is unlike any book I have ever read before. I felt like I was actually in China exploring these sacred sites. The photography is phenomenal and breath taking. The explanation of fung shui was clear and concise. This book is simply beautiful.

In Chinese Archery, Stephen Selby draws upon his years of study and interest in Chinese language and culture, as well as an accomplished archer, to present a definitive history of traditional archery in China as related by historians, philosophers, poets, artists, novelists and strategists from 1500 B.C. down to the present day. Written around parallel text translations of classical Chinese sources (some famous, some obscure), the reader is provided vivid and detailed explanations of the techniques of bow-building, archery and crossbow technique over the centuries. Chinese Archery is unique, definitive, and a very impressive contribution to Chinese history, and the sport of archery.

I have not only read through most of this book, but also met the author. He is someone who is quite the expert at practicing the archery in which this book discusses. I have found this book to be extremely thorough in both the history of archery in Asia, as well as the forms and exercises associated with it's practice. The level of research makes this a scholarly work but presented in a readable fashion full of pictures and diagrams where appropriate, translations of period references on almost every other page, and instruction on how to shoot a bow in the Chinese style as can only be told by someone with personal experience in addition to the translations of instruction from various texts.

A nice feature of this book is how archery in China is put into perspective across the large span of history and geography it covers. It is not an isolationist view of a single culture but rather it takes into account the styles of archery as well as the attitudes about it from the various cultures that were both influential to and influenced by China.

Overall I would say it is an intense, well rounded book and I highly recommend it.

"Chinese Archery" by Stephen Selby is a book that iseasy to use. The author introduces the subject of each chapter, thenfollows with the original Chinese sources and his straightforward translations. He then discusses the texts and the ideas they present. Selby is careful to include references to variant interpretations, where the texts may be ambiguous or where there may be scholarly debate. Unless it is vitally important to reading a given section, most of this discussion is kept to footnotes. The book covers three thousand years of archery in China and discusses bows, arrows, crossbows, archers' rings, targets, and shooting technique. Selby includes some clear and relevant colour photographs at the beginning of the book and supplements them with black and white photographs in the body of the work. He also uses old woodblock prints, computer-generated drawings and diagrams to illustrate the translations. "Chinese Archery" is a good resource for the scholar and an interesting book for the nonspecialist. An extensive bibliography and the careful discussions of the translations are a positive advantage. Having the Chinese texts present makes this book more valuable than a translation only because the reader can check the original. With the discovery of new material, "Chinese Archery" will become a reference for identification and comparison. The bow-maker and the archer will benefit from the descriptions and instructions in this book. Readers, who are interested primarily in other forms of traditional and modern archery, will at last have an insight into what really was going on in Chinese archery over the last three thousand years. The general reader will see through the window of a particular activity the many ways in which a culture can approach dealing with its problems, including education and social relations.

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

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

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

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

It would make a perfect Christmas present.

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

This is a very informative book with a wide range of information involving Traditional Chinese Medicine. Dr Gao, although I have never met him, obviously works tirelessly on the behalf of those in need of healing all over the world. I say that, because though Dr Gao is in the UK and I am in the US, he is sending me and my partner his all natural Chinese herbal anti-viral pills (known to reverse the effects of HIV disease) all at his own expense.... Two boxes of 25 bottles each every month... Because he knows, or at least trusts when we say, that we cannot afford treatment otherwise. Insurance only backs up the fat cats in big pharma.

Though the true cause of AIDS has yet to be found and it is highly doubtful that "HIV" is the cause (see: http://www.helpforhiv.com), there IS something going on with a large number of persons autoimmune systems. For those of us who have done our research and realize that modern medicine, for the most part, offers harmful toxic pharmaceuticals that can be worse than the "disease" itself to treat illness, Dr Gao is a God-send. His pills have zero negative side-effects.

We stopped taking all pharmaceutical drugs nearly a year ago, but like many we have been in the system for a long time (since '93 myself) and are still bothered by the "numbers game" of blood tests. And the "voodoo" affect can be very powerful. Especially when you have doctors warning you of impending death if you do not follow their advice and take their drugs.

Being that I am not a medical doctor, nor am I a virologist, biologist or any kind of scientist (with the exception of being a metaphysical scientist) nor do I have the time to learn enough technical information to actually KNOW the truth about this, I take precautions. It's really hard to know who to trust these days.

Dr Gao and Chinese Medicine, along with other healing modalities like Reiki, have been our answer and this has led us to discover a whole new wonderful world of natural medicine including herbology and proper nutrition, sunshine, fresh air, exercise and rest and meditation.

There ARE cures out there, but the modern medical cabal calling themselves the AMA, backed by the FDA and pharmaceutical companies do NOT want you to know about them... they would stand to lose millions as natural remedies... those medicines created by our Mother Earth and through the Spirit.... cannot be patented by man an made into cash cows. Remedies are available to everyone but you must be willing to look and do some research because GREED runs rampant in every area of life. Even in some of the so-called natural healing areas.

There is a place for modern medicine, especially in emergencies, but prevention and the natural ways of Mother Nature are far more effective in the long run.

Check out Dr Gao's book and if you have been diagnosed HIV positive or with AIDS are and unwilling (or unable) to take the pharmaceuticals offered today, visit http://www.hivsupport.co.uk/new_treatment.html for more information and please pay them if you can so that they be able to continue their work of improving this life saving and all natural herbal remedy.

Check my profile and visit my website for more info.

Since 3000 b.C., Chinese medicine has been taken into account all the mental, spiritual and physical aspects of patients in order to treat the root causes of their illness and not the symptoms. This book shows how Chinese medicine tries to establish harmony between body, mind and spirit, balancing the Ying and the Yang, and regulating Qi (the vital energy that flows through our body).

This encyclopedia of Chinese medicine is a practical guide that helps to understand the four main branches of Chinese medicine:
- Herbal medicine.
- Nutrition cures.
- Acupuncture.
- Acupressure.

This practical guide is fully illustrated with full color pictures and quick reference tables. The book is useful for all family members: children, pregnant women, and seniors. The text emphasizes on preventive medicine, which is one of the fundamental aspects of Chinese medicine.

Since 3000 b.C., Chinese medicine has been taken into account all the mental, spiritual and physical aspects of patients in order to treat the root causes of their illness and not the symptoms. This book shows how Chinese medicine tries to establish harmony between body, mind and spirit, balancing the Ying and the Yang, and regulating Qi (the vital energy that flows through our body).

This encyclopedia of Chinese medicine is a practical guide that helps to understand the four main branches of Chinese medicine:
- Herbal medicine.
- Nutrition cures.
- Acupuncture.
- Acupressure.

This practical guide is fully illustrated with full color pictures and quick reference tables. The book is useful for all family members: children, pregnant women, and seniors. The text emphasizes on preventive medicine, which is one of the fundamental aspects of Chinese medicine. The book is edited by Dr. Duo Gao, one of the foremost international authorities on the art and science of Chinese medicine.

The encyclopedia of Chinese medicine covers the following topics:
- An introduction to the history an philosophy of Chinese medicine.
- Root Causes of medical disorders and health problems, and they are treated.
- Herbal therapies.
- Qi Gong.
- A full chapter on Acupuncture.
- A full chapter on Acupressure.
- A list of contact and resources on this field.

Just about every recipe I've tried in here has turned out delicious! Highly recommended!

This book is the best chinese cookery book on the market. It is not only beautifully illustrated, but the recipes are really authentic

This book will be passed down through the years in my family . It is a one of a kind gem . Good work Mr. Mark

The tradition of Chinese imperial cities is one of the longest and best-documented traditions of preindustrial urbanism. Steinhardt identifies the principles that structured traditional Chinese city planning, construction, and use. The book is well written with many good plans and illustrations. A major contribution to urban history.

A classic book -- the paperback version is less intimidating (much lighter in weight and also cheaper in price) than the hardback, so this is a must-have for those interested in Chinese historical studies.

Chinese Imperial City Planning is an excellent historical account of the spatial development of China's ancient cities. Extremely well researched, Steinhardt does a nice job of chronicling the impacts each empire had on urban form in China.

As a scholar interested in Japanese and other East Asian cities, the author's chapter discussing China's historical legacy to urban form in Ancient Japan, was especially interesting. This chapter clearly illustrates how necessary the study of Chinese cities is to the understanding of other Asian cities. It also demonstrates the care Steinhardt took in her research.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in the historical origins of urban planning and spatial form in China and Japan.

The Chinese Negotiator is the culmination of high quality experience as a China/Japan Negotiation trainer, coach, consultant and professor since 1978.I am Bob March, the senior author of "The Chinese Negotiator" (TCN). TCN represents both my China-specific professional experience (1990 to the present), as well as my professional training and coaching experience from 1978 in Japan (as an international business negotiation professor at Aoyama Gakuin University, and as the international business seminar leader at Japan Management Association, training both Japanese and Western managers, 1985 - 1992) as well as China negotiation counsel to Western companies, 1990 to present; online teaching, MBA Program, University of New England. 2000 - 2003, Professional Negotiation Training - China and Japan; MBA Program, Nanjing University, 2006 - 2008). I calculate I have trained six hundred Chinese, Japanese, and Western managers to be more professional international negotiators, and have been involved in many of the twenty odd negotiation cases included in TCN. As many Chinese managers in my training courses have said, once they become involved, "there is no other way to learn professional negotiation". You will never be a professional negotiator if you have not had a mentor who gives you clear, honest feedback, and effective coaching guidance. TCN reflects this long experience as a trainer, coach and consultant. You will get most out of TCN if you follow my instructions about how to prepare for negotiation with the Chinese (also works for the Japanese and other East Asian teams)and allow yourself or your corporate team to let themslves be trained, by following the instructions, especially chapters 10,11,12,13. The "best students", smart managers who are able to apply the steps of preparation and strategy in successive negotations, make the best negotiators. If you are not "trainable", cannot follow instructions, you must get someone else to lead your team. Not everyone makes a satisfactory team leader, and all success starts with who is your team leader. A team of hotshot specialists who can also follow instructions is what the team leader needs.
See also my "The Japanese Negotiator", in paperback. I presently live and work in Hangzhou City, China.

With a small library of negotiation books, there are certain features that for me make a book both an enjoyable and a worthwhile read. Dr Bob March's book The Chinese Negotiator was both enjoyable and highly worthwhile, and is now on the prescribed reading list for Asian consultants of The Negotiation Experts'.

So what makes a negotiation book a worthwhile purchase?
1. Stories, lots of real life interesting business negotiation stories. The more the better. Better yet if the stories are followed with some analysis and advice to maximise learnings. Stories are the hooks upon which we can hang our lessons, so that remembering becomes easy, and reading enjoyable.
2. Processes and frameworks to follow - there are regrettably too many disjointed lists of advice from most other books.
3. Researched understanding of the subject matter, and mature advice that can be trusted.
4. A step above the 'me too' books out there - e.g. loved the Team Negotiation Preparation coverage.
5. Strategems that can be used in your very next deal to either save you from losses, or create value.

Enjoyable bedtime reading for sure.

Very helpful, especially the listing of the 36 Stratagems; I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to do business in China.

This is an articulate and visually stunning book on Chinese Opera. Better pictorial research on the costumes, make-up and architype body poses is not available in English speaking countries. This is a must have research book for those in film and theatre.

If you're looking for a gorgeous book on the fascinating world of chinese opera, this is it. Has quite a good text featuring stories of the more popular operas. Furthermore, discusses regional variations, history and development and modern developments in the art.

This is an extraordinary book filled with pictures and information about every facet of Chinese Opera. It not only describes the operas and the regions from whence they originated, but also provides details such as the musical instruments used, and descriptions of the various the role types. Everything is illustrated, with color pictures on almost every page. The book certainly exceeded my expectations.

Just a quick note to add to the other reviews. This can be read in one sitting. It's a good coffee table book, nice printing and good art, but if you want a serious book of Chinese wisdom, pick another. This would be a very nice gift to someone with a surface interest in the subject.

This is by no means a scholarly book with pages or single-spaced, tiny printed proverbs. It's a fun little book with cute illustrations that makes it child and adult friendly.

This is a great collection of proverbs. The accompanying art is both clever and charming.

The proverbs are so well translated that no additional explanations regarding the proverbs are provided or needed -- they would only serve to clutter up the page. Most importantly the translations preserve the original "flavor" of each proverb.

Each proverb is written in both English and in traditional Chinese characters.

I own a few books of Chinese Proverbs. This is by far the prettiest and most charming.

Sangren's Marxian approach to social analysis is crucial to understanding the phenomenon of culture. This theory is more insightful than other theories because it views culture as an endlessly reproducing machine-like whole that produces individual selves, communities, and society in its process. In turn, people themselves are human agents with power who unconsciously reproduce the machine at all these levels by simply living out their lives. Alienation is an element in this process, and although Sangren focuses mainly on how alienation works regarding Chinese religion, religious gods are only one form of all the alienating idioms people express depending on their situations and interests. When analyzing social reality, alienation becomes a constant while its idioms and the peoples and cultures reflecting them often conflict with each other and change through history, and many times the changes themselves serve only to reproduce the original system as history repeats itself. In addition, Sangren offers a critique of Foucault's concept of power, emphasizing that power is not a "subject" itself with its own agency and intentions and should not be treated like one. Finally, it remains an open question as to whether or not the author should be applying Freudian psychoanalytic concepts to Chinese minds in his last chapter, especially since the Chinese people don't agree with it. Overall, the book makes one wonder if the human mind will ever mutate out of the circular logics that form the basis of the reasoning that social orders are built upon.

Are you interested in Anthropological theory but tired of one's that that ignore the power of people as human agents to reproduce their own cultures? Sangren's focus on alienation shows how people themselves play an integral part in this process. Did you ever think that your belief in a god might actually be contributing to the survival of your own culture? Or, if you're being exploited, did you ever wonder how your own actions could be contributing to your own exploitation and reproducing your own circumstances? Although answers to these questions are not provided directly, they can be derived from Sangren's extremely thought-provoking model that is not only relevant to Chinese society, but with some tweaking, can be applied anywhere! Employing concepts like alienation, misrepresentation, and mystification, this model comes from a Marxian dialectical approach that proves to be so much more enlightening than postmodern theories about culture.
Critics might argue that the theory doesn't account for change, but how can any approach account for change before understanding, totally, the nature of the culture that changes in the first place? Social realities in any culture might not be pretty, but anthropologists have to first face the facts before they can understand change. For example, reality may include seemingly inescapable relationships of exploitation(like in his analysis of Chinese women's circumstances), but if analysts ignore how people, as productive agents, might be reproducing their own exploitation even through resistant behaviors, they will never be able to account for how true creative change happens.
Although Sangren's model doesn't yet account for change, his special attention to how people are also true agents of power can certainly inspire change!

Chinese Sociologics: An Anthropological Account Of The Role Of Alienation In Social Reproduction presents an original, thought-provoking, articulate analysis of Chinese culture and society along with a compelling, scholarly critique of contemporary social theory. Steven Sangren (Professor of Anthropology at Cornell University) insightful explores the various dimensions of both social and individual life in China, including the effect of gender and desire. After an informative introduction, individual chapters address Why "Culture": Why "Production?"; History and the Rhetoric of Legitimacy: The Mazu Cult of Taiwan; Dialectics of Alienation: Individuals and the Collectivities in Chinese Religion; Power and Transcendence in the Mazu Pilgrimages of Taiwan; "Power" Against Ideology: A Critique of Foucaultian Usage; Women's Production: Gender and Exploitation in Patrilinear Mode; Fathers and Sons in a Patrilinear mode of Desire: Preliminary Analysis of the Story of Nezha from Fengshen Yanyi; Afterword: "Excess"; Change and the Limits of Analysis. Enhanced with a Character List, References, and an Index, Chinese Sociologics is a meticulous and very highly recommended work for students of contemporary Chinese culture, multicultural sociology, and social rituals.