His visits become lethally frequent as he struggles to provide for his wife and three sons at the height of the Cultural Revolution. Shattered to discover that his favorite son was actually born of a liaison between his wife and a neighbor, he suffers his greatest indignity, while his wife is publicly scorned as a prostitute. Although the poverty and betrayals of Mao's regime have drained him, Xu Sanguan ultimately finds strength in the blood ties of his family. With rare emotional intensity, grippingly raw descriptions of place and time, and clear-eyed compassion, Yu Hua gives us a stunning tapestry of human life in the grave particulars of one man's days.

    In this new edition Joseph S. M. Lau and Howard Goldblatt have selected fresh works from familiar authors and have augmented the collection with poetry, stories from the colonial period in Taiwan, literature by Tibetan authors, samplings from the People's Republic of China during the Cultural Revolution, stories by post-Mao authors Wang Anyi and Gao Xingjian, literature with a homosexual theme, and examples from the modern "cruel youth" movement. Lau and Goldblatt have also updated their notes and their biographies of featured writers and poets. Now fully up to date, this critical resource more than ever provides readers with a thorough introduction to Chinese society and culture.

    As head of a small Buddhist temple in Taiwan, her generous followers number over four million.Her work and influence through the Tzu Chi Foundation provides disaster relief throughout the world - from sending truckloads of food, blankets, and housing directly to people in need - to building hospitals, colleges, research centers, and developing educational, social, and cultural programs.Master Cheng Yen was recently awarded the Eisenhower Medallion for hercontributions to world peace.

    They were, after all, born as conjoined twins. But a horrific revelation drives a wedge between the siblings, plunging Chandan into a cycle of guilt and blame from which he cannot escape. One of Mahesh Dattani's most popular works, Tara was also one of the first Indian plays in English to highlight the dangers of gender discrimination, and the insidious ways in which it operates in our society.

    This new anthology begins with the internationally acclaimed "The Butcher's Wife," a novella that evoked shock and outrage in Taiwan when it first appeared in 1983. The shorter stories that follow range from Li Ang's first story, "Flower Season" (1968), through "A Love Letter Never Sent" (1986), and include stories that are erotic, thought provoking, and cautionary.

    By comparing state structures and political processes, the author evaluates and redefines democracy, citizenship, sovereignty and the nation state, arguing for more decentralized government.