Best of
China

2013

How Asia Works: Success and Failure in the World's Most Dynamic Region


Joe Studwell - 2013
    Japan was going to dominate, then China. Countries were called “tigers” or “mini-dragons,” and were seen as not just development prodigies, but as a unified bloc, culturally and economically similar, and inexorably on the rise.Joe Studwell has spent two decades as a reporter in the region, and The Financial Times said he “should be named chief myth-buster for Asian business.” In How Asia Works, Studwell distills his extensive research into the economies of nine countries—Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, and China—into an accessible, readable narrative that debunks Western misconceptions, shows what really happened in Asia and why, and for once makes clear why some countries have boomed while others have languished.Studwell’s in-depth analysis focuses on three main areas: land policy, manufacturing, and finance. Land reform has been essential to the success of Asian economies, giving a kick start to development by utilizing a large workforce and providing capital for growth. With manufacturing, industrial development alone is not sufficient, Studwell argues. Instead, countries need “export discipline,” a government that forces companies to compete on the global scale. And in finance, effective regulation is essential for fostering, and sustaining growth. To explore all of these subjects, Studwell journeys far and wide, drawing on fascinating examples from a Philippine sugar baron’s stifling of reform to the explosive growth at a Korean steel mill.Thoroughly researched and impressive in scope, How Asia Works is essential reading for anyone interested in the development of these dynamic countries, a region that will shape the future of the world.

Lee Kuan Yew: The Grand Master's Insights on China, the United States, and the World


Graham Allison - 2013
    Lee, the founding father of modern Singapore and its prime minister from 1959 to 1990, has honed his wisdom during more than fifty years on the world stage. Almost single-handedly responsible for transforming Singapore into a Western-style economic success, he offers a unique perspective on the geopolitics of East and West. American presidents from Richard Nixon to Barack Obama have welcomed him to the White House; British prime ministers from Margaret Thatcher to Tony Blair have recognized his wisdom; and business leaders from Rupert Murdoch to Rex Tillerson, CEO of Exxon Mobil, have praised his accomplishments. This book gathers key insights from interviews, speeches, and Lee's voluminous published writings and presents them in an engaging question and answer format.Lee offers his assessment of China's future, asserting, among other things, that "China will want to share this century as co-equals with the U.S." He affirms the United States' position as the world's sole superpower but expresses dismay at the vagaries of its political system. He offers strategic advice for dealing with China and goes on to discuss India's future, Islamic terrorism, economic growth, geopolitics and globalization, and democracy. Lee does not pull his punches, offering his unvarnished opinions on multiculturalism, the welfare state, education, and the free market. This little book belongs on the reading list of every world leader--including the one who takes the oath of office on January 20, 2013.

The Scavenger's Daughters


Kay Bratt - 2013
    Together they build a fulfilling life around the most menial of jobs—Benfu’s work collecting trash. As he sorts through the discards of others, he regularly discovers abandoned children. With unwavering determination, he and Calli spend decades creating a family of hand-picked daughters that help heal the sorrow and brighten their modest home. But all is not perfect and when crisis threatens to separate their family, Benfu—or possibly his band of headstrong daughters—must find a way to overcome the biggest hardship yet. Inspired by a true story, and set against the backdrop of a country in transition, The Scavenger’s Daughters is a sweeping present day saga of triumph in the face of hardship, and the unbreakable bonds of family against all odds.

Strange Stones: Dispatches from East and West


Peter Hessler - 2013
    The three books he's published in that time brilliantly explore the wonders, oddities, and paradoxes of life in modern China. In the pages of The New Yorker, he has persistently probed and illuminated worlds both foreign and familiar, ranging from China, where he served as the magazine's correspondent from 2000 to 2007, to southwestern Colorado, where he lived for four years.Strange Stones is a far-ranging, thought-provoking collection of Hessler's best reportage over the past decade. During this time, Hessler lived in Asia and the United States, writing as both native and knowledgeable outsider in these two very different regions. This unusual perspective distinguishes Strange Stones, which showcases Hessler's unmatched range as a storyteller. "Wild Flavor" invites readers along on a taste test between two rat restaurants in South China. One story profiles Yao Ming, basketball star and China's most beloved export, another David Spindler, an obsessive and passionate historian of the Great Wall. In "Dr. Don," Hessler writes movingly about a small-town pharmacist and his relationship with the people he serves. While Hessler's subjects and locations vary, subtle but deeply important thematic links bind these pieces-the strength of local traditions, the surprising overlap between apparently opposing cultures, the powerful lessons drawn from individuals who straddle different worlds.Full of unforgettable figures and an unrelenting spirit of adventure, Strange Stones is a dazzling display of the powerful storytelling, shrewd cultural insight, and warm sense of humor that are the trademarks of Peter Hessler's work.

Wealth and Power: China's Long March to the Twenty-first Century


Orville Schell - 2013
    By examining what they thought and what they did through lively and absorbing portraits, Schell and Delury chart how China made its tortured transformation from a weak, humiliated country under foreign assault to its astonishing rise in the early 21st century. In so doing, they provide us with a deeper and richer understanding of China's present success story.

Forgotten Ally: China's World War II, 1937-1945


Rana Mitter - 2013
    The war began in China, two years before Hitler invaded Poland, and China eventually became the fourth great ally, partner to the United States, the Soviet Union, and Great Britain. Yet its drama of invasion, resistance, slaughter, and political intrigue remains little known in the West.Rana Mitter focuses his gripping narrative on three towering leaders: Chiang Kai-shek, the politically gifted but tragically flawed head of China’s Nationalist government; Mao Zedong, the Communists’ fiery ideological stalwart, seen here at the beginning of his epochal career; and the lesser-known Wang Jingwei, who collaborated with the Japanese to form a puppet state in occupied China. Drawing on Chinese archives that have only been unsealed in the past ten years, he brings to vivid new life such characters as Chiang’s American chief of staff, the unforgettable “Vinegar Joe” Stilwell, and such horrific events as the Rape of Nanking and the bombing of China’s wartime capital, Chongqing. Throughout, Forgotten Ally shows how the Chinese people played an essential role in the wider war effort, at great political and personal sacrifice.Forgotten Ally rewrites the entire history of World War II. Yet it also offers surprising insights into contemporary China. No twentieth-century event was as crucial in shaping China’s worldview, and no one can understand China, and its relationship with America today, without this definitive work.

Three Souls


Janie Chang - 2013
    But only in death could I confirm this ... So begins the haunting and captivating tale, set in 1935 China, of the ghost of a young woman named Leiyin, who watches her own funeral from above and wonders why she is being denied entry to the afterlife. Beside her are three souls—stern and scholarly yang; impulsive, romantic yin; and wise, shining hun—who will guide her toward understanding. She must, they tell her, make amends.As Leiyin delves back in time with the three souls to review her life, she sees the spoiled and privileged teenager she once was, a girl who is concerned with her own desires while China is fractured by civil war and social upheaval. At a party, she meets Hanchin, a captivating left-wing poet and translator, and instantly falls in love with him.When Leiyin defies her father to pursue Hanchin, she learns the harsh truth—that she is powerless over her fate. Her punishment for disobedience leads to exile, an unwanted marriage, a pregnancy, and, ultimately, her death. And when she discovers what she must do to be released from limbo into the afterlife, Leiyin realizes that the time for making amends is shorter than she thought.Suffused with history and literature, Three Souls is an epic tale of revenge and betrayal, forbidden love, and the price we are willing to pay for freedom.

The Barefoot Lawyer: A Blind Man's Fight for Justice and Freedom in China


Chen Guangcheng - 2013
    Days later, he turned up at the American embassy in Beijing, and only a furious round of high-level negotiations made it possible for him to leave China and begin a new life in the United States.Chen Guangcheng is a unique figure on the world stage, but his story is even more remarkable than anyone knew. The son of a poor farmer in rural China, blinded by illness when he was an infant, Chen was fortunate to survive a difficult childhood. But despite his disability, he was determined to educate himself and fight for the rights of his country's poor, especially a legion of women who had endured forced sterilizations and abortions under the hated "one child" policy. Repeatedly harassed, beaten, and imprisoned by Chinese authorities, Chen was ultimately placed under house arrest. After nearly two years of increasing danger, he evaded his captors and fled to freedom.Both a riveting memoir and a revealing portrait of modern China, The Barefoot Lawyer tells the story of a man who has never accepted limits and always believed in the power of the human spirit to overcome any obstacle.

The Secret Garden (Mandarin Companion Graded Readers: Level 1, Simplified Chinese Edition)


Renjun Yang - 2013
    Each book uses characters, words, and grammar that a learner is most likely to know at each level based on in-depth analysis of textbooks, education programs, and natural Chinese language. Every story is written in a style that is easy for a learner to understand and enjoyable to read.Level 1 is intended for Chinese learners who have obtained a middle-elementary level of Chinese. Most students will be able to approach this book after one to two years of traditional formal study. The Secret Garden is written in simplified Chinese using approximately 300 unique characters, contains approximately 400 elementary words, and is 9,800 characters in length. Plot SummaryLi Ye grew up never knowing the love and affection of her parents. After an epidemic leaves her an orphan, Li Ye is sent off to live with her reclusive Uncle in his sprawling estate in Nanjing. She learns of a secret garden where no one has set foot in ten years. Li Ye finds the garden and slowly discovers the secrets of the manor. With the help of new friends, she brings the garden back to life, a decision that forever changes several lives.Visit www.MandarinCompanion.com for the latest updates on new titles.

Red Kite, Blue Kite


Ji-li Jiang - 2013
    Baba loves telling Tai Shan stories while the kites--one red, and one blue--rise, dip, and soar together. Then, a bad time comes. People wearing red armbands shut down the schools, smash store signs, and search houses. Baba is sent away, and Tai Shan goes to live with Granny Wang. Though father and son are far apart, they have a secret way of staying close. Every day they greet each other by flying their kites-one red, and one blue-until Baba can be free again, like the kites. Inspired by the dark time of the Cultural Revolution in China, this is a soaring tale of hope that will resonate with anyone who has ever had to love from a distance.

The Foundations of Eastern Civilization


Craig G. Benjamin - 2013
    Professor Craig G. Benjamin of Grand Valley State University introduces you to the many people, achievements, and ideas that came out of Eastern civilization and played a role in creating the modern world.more info: http://www.thegreatcourses.com/tgc/co...

Our Story: A Memoir of Love and Life in China


Rao Pingru - 2013
    One glimpse of her through a window as she put on lipstick was enough to capture Rao's heart, the moment that sparked a union that would last almost sixty years. Our Story is that epic romance told through his paintings and accompanying text. We see Pingru and Meitang through the decades, in both poverty and good fortune--looking for work, opening a restaurant, moving cities, mending shoes, raising their children, and being separated for seventeen years by the government when Pingru is sent to a labor camp. As they age, China undergoes extraordinary growth, political turmoil, and cultural change. When Meitang passes away in 2008, Pingru memorializes his wife and their relationship the only way he knows how: through painting. In an outpouring of love and grief, he puts it all on paper. It's a tale at once tragic and inspiring, of enduring love and simple values, an old-fashioned story that unfolds in a nation rapidly becoming modern. Spanning 1923 to 2008, Our Story is a truly singular graphic memoir.

Avoiding the Fall: China's Economic Restructuring


Michael Pettis - 2013
    Mounting debt and rising internal distortions mean that rebalancing is inevitable. Beijing has no choice but to take significant steps to restructure its economy. The only question is how to proceed.Michael Pettis debunks the lingering bullish expectations for China's economic rise and details Beijing's options. The urgent task of shifting toward greater domestic consumption will come with political costs, but Beijing must increase household income and reduce its reliance on investment to avoid a fall.

Chinese Comfort Women: Testimonies from Imperial Japan's Sex Slaves


Peipei Qiu - 2013
    Japanese imperial forces claimed they recruited women to join these stations in order to prevent the mass rape of localwomen and the spread of venereal disease among soldiers. In reality, these women were kidnapped and coerced into sexual slavery. Comfort stations institutionalized rape, and these comfort women were subjected to atrocities that have only recently become the subject of international debate.Chinese Comfort Women: Testimonies from Imperial Japan's Sex Slaves features the personal narratives of twelve women forced into sexual slavery when the Japanese military occupied their hometowns. Beginning with their prewar lives and continuing through their enslavement to their postwar strugglesfor justice, these interviews reveal that the prolonged suffering of the comfort station survivors was not contained to wartime atrocities but was rather a lifelong condition resulting from various social, political, and cultural factors. In addition, their stories bring to light several previouslyhidden aspects of the comfort women system: the ransoms the occupation army forced the victims' families to pay, the various types of improvised comfort stations set up by small military units throughout the battle zones and occupied regions, and the sheer scope of the military sexual slavery-muchlarger than previously assumed. The personal narratives of these survivors combined with the testimonies of witnesses, investigative reports, and local histories also reveal a correlation between the proliferation of the comfort stations and the progression of Japan's military offensive.The first English-language account of its kind, Chinese Comfort Women exposes the full extent of the injustices suffered by these women and the conditions that caused them.

Puer Tea: Ancient Caravans and Urban Chic


Jinghong Zhang - 2013
    In the 1990s, as the tea's noble lineage and unique process of aging and fermentation were rediscovered, it achieved cult status both in China and internationally. The tea became a favorite among urban connoisseurs who analyzed it in language comparable to that used in wine appreciation and paid skyrocketing prices. In 2007, however, local events and the international economic crisis caused the Puer market to collapse.Puer Tea traces the rise, climax, and crash of this phenomenon. With ethnographic attention to the spaces in which Puer tea is harvested, processed, traded, and consumed, anthropologist Jinghong Zhang constructs a vivid account of the transformation of a cottage handicraft into a major industry--with predictable risks and unexpected consequences.Watch the associated videos at https: //archive.org/details/PUERTEADVD1.

The Four Chinese Classics: Tao Te Ching, Analects, Chuang Tzu, Mencius


David Hinton - 2013
    Hinton's award-winning experience translating a wide range of ancient Chinese poets makes these books sing in English as never before. But these new versions are not only inviting and immensely readable, they also apply much-needed consistency to key philosophical terms in these texts, lending structural links and philosophical rigor heretofore unavailable in English. Breathing new life into these originary classics, Hinton's new translations will stand as the definitive texts for our era.Perhaps the most broadly influential spiritual text in human history, Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching is the source of Taoist philosophy, which eventually developed into Ch'an (Zen) Buddhism. Equally influential in the social sphere, Confucious' Analects is the source of social wisdom in China. The Chuang Tzu is the wild and wacky prose complement to the Tao Te Ching. And with its philosophical story-telling, the Menicius adds depth and complexity to Confucius' vision.

Wild Swans


Alexandra Wood - 2013
    Through the eyes of one fiercely courageous family, this title takes us on a journey from the early days of Communist hope and struggle, through the chaos and confusion of Mao's Cultural Revolution to the birth of a superpower, China.

The Birth of Chinese Feminism: Essential Texts in Transnational Theory


He Zhen - 2013
    1884-1920?) was a theorist who figured centrally in the birth of Chinese feminism. Unlike her contemporaries, she was concerned less with China's fate as a nation and more with the relationship among patriarchy, imperialism, capitalism, and gender subjugation as global historical problems. This volume, the first translation and study of He-Yin's work in English, critically reconstructs early twentieth-century Chinese feminist thought in a transnational context by juxtaposing He-Yin Zhen's writing against works by two better-known male interlocutors of her time.The editors begin with a detailed analysis of He-Yin Zhen's life and thought. They then present annotated translations of six of her major essays, as well as two foundational tracts by her male contemporaries, Jin Tianhe (1874-1947) and Liang Qichao (1873--1929), to which He-Yin's work responds and with which it engages. Jin, a poet and educator, and Liang, a philosopher and journalist, understood feminism as a paternalistic cause that liberals like themselves should defend. He-Yin presents an alternative conception that draws upon anarchism and other radical trends. Ahead of her time, He-Yin Zhen complicates conventional accounts of feminism and China's history, offering original perspectives on sex, gender, labor, and power that remain relevant today.

Anxious Wealth: Money and Morality Among China's New Rich


John Osburg - 2013
    Over the course of more than three years, anthropologist John Osburg accompanied, and in some instances assisted, wealthy Chinese businessmen as they courted clients, partners, and government officials.Drawing on his immersive experiences, Osburg invites readers to join him as he journeys through the new, highly gendered entertainment sites for Chinese businessmen, including karaoke clubs, saunas, and massage parlors—places specifically designed to cater to the desires and enjoyment of elite men. Within these spaces, a masculinization of business is taking place. Osburg details the complex code of behavior that governs businessmen as they go about banqueting, drinking, gambling, bribing, exchanging gifts, and obtaining sexual services.These intricate social networks play a key role in generating business, performing social status, and reconfiguring gender roles. But many entrepreneurs feel trapped by their obligations and moral compromises in this evolving environment. Ultimately, Osburg examines their deep ambivalence about China's future and their own complicity in the major issues of post-Mao Chinese society—corruption, inequality, materialism, and loss of trust.

The Sixty Year Dream (Mandarin Companion Graded Readers: Level 1, Simplified Chinese Edition) (Mandarin_chinese Edition)


Washington Irving - 2013
    Each book uses characters, words, and grammar that a learner is most likely to know at each level based on in-depth analysis of textbooks, education programs, and natural Chinese language. Every story is written in a style that is easy for a learner to understand and enjoyable to read. Level 1 is intended for Chinese learners who have obtained a middle-elementary level of Chinese. Most students will be able to approach this book after one to two years of traditional formal study. This story is written using approximately 300 characters and contains approximately 400 elementary words. Based on "Rip Van Winkle" by Washington Irving Zhou Xuefa is well loved by everyone in his town, but always given a hard time by his nagging wife. With his faithful dog Blackie, Zhou Xuefa spends his time playing with kids, helping neighbors, and discussing politics in the teahouse. One day after a bad scolding from his wife, he goes for a walk into the mountains and meets a mysterious old man who appears to be from an ancient time. The man invites Zhou Xuefa into his mountain home for a meal, and after drinking some wine, Zhou Xuefa falls into a deep sleep. He awakes to a time very different than what he once knew. Visit our website for updates on the newest titles www.MandarinCompanion.com

Death and the Detective


Jess FaradayCarol Leininger - 2013
    Enjoy new tales of revenge, dead pigs, dead lovers (straight and gay), suicide, lots of arson, fortuitous accidents, setups and even a touch of romance. These tangled webs of crime spring from the fertile imaginations of an array of talented mystery writers who take you on a wild ride from Massachusetts to Chicago to Los Angeles and San Francisco, with heart-pounding stops along the way. Featured authors include:• Leonhard August• Sarah M. Chen• H. Tucker Cobey• Jess Faraday• Mark Hague• Robert D. Hughes• Gay Toltl Kinman• Carol Leininger• Michael Mallory• Lee Mullins• Devin Wood

The Four Books


Yan Lianke - 2013
    A renowned author in China, and among its most censored, Yan’s mythical, sometimes surreal tale cuts to the bone in its portrayal of the struggle between authoritarian power and man’s will to prevail against the darkest odds through camaraderie, love, and faith.In the ninety-ninth district of a sprawling reeducation compound, freethinking artists and academics are detained to strengthen their loyalty to Communist ideologies. Here, the Musician and her lover, the Scholar—along with the Author and the Theologian—are forced to carry out grueling physical work and are encouraged to inform on each other for dissident behavior. The prize: winning the chance at freedom. They're overseen by preadolescent supervisor, the Child, who delights in reward systems and excessive punishments. When agricultural and industrial production quotas are raised to an unattainable level, the ninety-ninth district dissolves into lawlessness. And then, as inclement weather and famine set in, they are abandoned by the regime and left alone to survive.

Pàng, the Wandering Shàolín Monk Vol. 2: Winter Worm, Summer Grass


Ben Costa - 2013
    recent "dalliance" in town - Shì Lóng Pàng, the poorly Buddhist warrior monk, continues the search for his brothers, armed with a greater resolve than ever before. But as he tries to find his way in an unforgiving landscape during a tumultuous period in Chinese history, he'll have to further wrestle with what it means to be a monk outside the temple, and what it takes to survive in a world full of ferocious predators, drunken masters, and startling discoveries.

The Chinese Art Book


Colin Mackenzie - 2013
    300 works represent every form of Chinese visual art, including painting, calligraphy, sculpture, ceramics, figurines, jade, bronze, gold and silver, photography, video, installation, and performance art.Full of surprises for readers of all levels, The Chinese Art Book breaks new ground by pairing works that speak to one another in unexpected ways, enlightening historical, stylistic and cultural connections. Concise descriptive essays place each work in context, while cross-references lead the reader on a fascinating journey through Chinese art history.The Chinese Art Book features an introductory essay by Colin Mackenzie, Senior Curator of Chinese Art at the Nelson-Akins Museum of Art, along with an accessible summary of Chinese political and cultural history, a comprehensive glossary defining technical terms, and an illustrated timeline.

The Seventh Day


Yu Hua - 2013
      Yang Fei was born on a moving train. Lost by his mother, adopted by a young switchman, raised with simplicity and love, he is utterly unprepared for the tempestuous changes that await him and his country. As a young man, he searches for a place to belong in a nation that is ceaselessly reinventing itself, but he remains on the edges of society. At age forty-one, he meets an accidental and unceremonious death. Lacking the money for a burial plot, he must roam the afterworld aimlessly, without rest. Over the course of seven days, he encounters the souls of the people he’s lost.   As Yang Fei retraces the path of his life, we meet an extraordinary cast of characters: his adoptive father, his beautiful ex-wife, his neighbors who perished in the demolition of their homes. Traveling on, he sees that the afterworld encompasses all the casualties of today’s China—the organ sellers, the young suicides, the innocent convicts—as well as the hope for a better life to come. Yang Fei’s passage maps the contours of this vast nation—its absurdities, its sorrows, and its soul. Vivid, urgent, and panoramic, The Seventh Day affirms Yu Hua’s place as the standard-bearer of modern Chinese fiction.

From Frontier Policy to Foreign Policy: The Question of India and the Transformation of Geopolitics in Qing China


Matthew Mosca - 2013
    In the same period, a single "foreign" policy emerged as an alternative to the many localized "frontier" policies hitherto pursued on the coast, in Xinjiang, and in Tibet. By unraveling Chinese, Manchu, and British sources to reveal the information networks used by the Qing empire to gather intelligence about its emerging rival, British India, this book explores China's altered understanding of its place in a global context. Far from being hobbled by a Sinocentric worldview, Qing China's officials and scholars paid close attention to foreign affairs. To meet the growing British threat, they adapted institutional practices and geopolitical assumptions to coordinate a response across their maritime and inland borderlands. In time, the new and more active response to Western imperialism built on this foundation reshaped not only China's diplomacy but also the internal relationship between Beijing and its frontiers.

Beijing (Lonely Planet Guide)


Daniel McCrohan - 2013
    Explore a stretch of the Great Wall, immerse yourself in the history of the Forbidden City, or watch the flag-raising ceremony at Tiananmen Square; all with your trusted travel companion. Get to the heart of Beijing and begin your journey now!Inside Lonely Planet Beijing Travel Guide:Full-colour maps and images throughoutHighlights and itineraries show you the simplest way to tailor your trip to your own personal needs and interestsInsider tips save you time and money and help you get around like a local, avoiding crowds and trouble spotsEssential info at your fingertips - including hours of operation, phone numbers, websites, transit tips, and pricesHonest reviews for all budgets - including eating, sleeping, sight-seeing, going out, shopping, and hidden gems that most guidebooks missCultural insights give you a richer and more rewarding travel experience - including customs, history, art, literature, cinema, opera, music, architecture, and politicsFree, convenient pull-out Beijing map (included in print version), plus over 33 colour neighbourhood mapsUseful features - including Month-by-Month (annual festival calendar); With Kids, and Day TripsCoverage of Forbidden City, Drum Tower, Dongcheng, Sanlitun, Chaoyang, Xicheng, Haidian, Dashilar, Beihai Park, Wudaokou, Xidan, Fengtai, and moreThe Perfect Choice: Lonely Planet Beijing, our most comprehensive guide to Beijing, is perfect for those planning to both explore the top sights and take the road less travelled.Looking for just the highlights of Beijing? Check out Lonely Planet's Pocket Beijing, a handy-sized guide focused on the can't-miss sights for a quick trip.Looking for more extensive coverage? Check out Lonely Planet's China guide for a comprehensive look at all the country has to offer, or Lonely Planet's Discover China, a photo-rich guide to the country's most popular attractions.Authors: Written and researched by Lonely Planet, Daniel McCrohan, and David Eimer.About Lonely Planet: Started in 1973, Lonely Planet has become the world's leading travel guide publisher with guidebooks to every destination on the planet, as well as an award-winning website, a suite of mobile and digital travel products, and a dedicated traveller community. Lonely Planet's mission is to enable curious travellers to experience the world and to truly get to the heart of the places they find themselves in.TripAdvisor Travelers' Choice Awards 2012 and 2013 winner in Favorite Travel Guide category'Lonely Planet guides are, quite simply, like no other.' - New York Times'Lonely Planet. It's on everyone's bookshelves; it's in every traveller's hands. It's on mobile phones. It's on the Internet. It's everywhere, and it's telling entire generations of people how to travel the world.' - Fairfax Media (Australia)

Debating China: The U.S.-China Relationship in Ten Conversations


Nina Hachigian - 2013
    Theirs is therefore the most closely watched relationship in international politics, and it is not an exaggeration to say that global stability hinges on it. The multitude of issues that America and China must handle together makes it exceedingly delicate - and even more knotty than the earlier US-Soviet relationship because of the complexity of the economic ties connecting China and America. In Debating CHina, Nina Hachigian, an emerging star in the field of US-China policy, pairs leading scholars from both the US and China in dialogues about the most crucial elements of the relationship: trade and investment; economic development; monetary policy; climate change and clean energy; political systems, values, and rights; the emerging military rivalry; regional security in south and northeast Asia, Tibet and Taiwan; and the media, including the Internet. She precedes the issue-focused chapters with a broad overview of the relationship for general educated readers. The dialogues between American and Chinese scholars are intended to give readers a balanced view of the topic at hand, and the two perspectives on offer for each issue area-some contrasting, some complimentary-are perfect for students trying to obtain a better understanding of US policy towards China. Logically structured and comprehensive in coverage, Debating China will be an essential primer on the most important international relationship of the twenty first century.

Lius of Shanghai


Sherman Cochran - 2013
    Yet a remarkable cache of letters from one of China's most prominent and influential families, the Lius of Shanghai, sheds new light on this tumultuous era. Sherman Cochran and Andrew Hsieh take us inside the Lius' world to explore how the family laid the foundation for a business dynasty before the war and then confronted the challenges of war, civil unrest, and social upheaval.Cochran and Hsieh gained access to a rare collection containing a lifetime of letters exchanged by the patriarch, Liu Hongsheng, his wife, Ye Suzhen, and their twelve children. Their correspondence offers a fascinating look at how a powerful family navigated the treacherous politics of the period. They discuss sensitive issues--should the family collaborate with the Japanese occupiers? should it flee after the communist takeover?--as well as intimate domestic matters like marital infidelity. They also describe the agonies of wartime separation, protracted battles for control of the family firm, and the parents' struggle to maintain authority in the face of swiftly changing values.Through it all, the distinctive voices of the Lius shine through. Cochran and Hsieh's engaging prose reveals how each member of the family felt the ties that bound them together. More than simply a portrait of a memorable family, The Lius of Shanghai tells the saga of modern China from the inside out.

The Biography of Sakyamuni Buddha


Hsing Yun - 2013
    

Excess Baggage


Karen Ma - 2013
    They reunite as adults in Tokyo in the early 1990s and their family history soon catches up with them. Zhang Peiyin, the "forgotten" sister left behind in China, is hell-bent on making up for lost time after growing up with little more than political slogans and has abandoned her children to join her family in Japan, imagining riches, fame, and comfort. Instead she receives a wary welcome from her estranged parents and insecure, competitive younger sister, Vivian, who not-so-secretly wants to drive her back to China. As the sisters circle warily, navigating their mother's death and other setbacks, their distrust grows, fueled by family lies and secrets. Ultimately each must confront a fundamental question: what's the meaning of home when your roots aren't secure?

Unearthing the "Changes": Recently Discovered Manuscripts of the "Yi Jing" ( "I Ching") and Related Texts


Edward L. Shaughnessy - 2013
    The earliest?the Shanghai Museum Zhou Yi?dates to about 300 B.C.E. and shows evidence of the textOCOs original circulation. The Gui cang, or Returning to Be Treasured, reflects another ancient Chinese divination tradition based on hexagrams similar to those of the Yi jing. In 1993, two manuscripts found in a third-century B.C.E. tomb at Wangjiatai contained almost exact parallels to the Gui cangOCOs early quotations, supplying new information on the performance of early Chinese divination. Finally, the Fuyang Zhou Yi was excavated from the tomb of Xia Hou Zao, lord of Ruyin, who died in 165 B.C.E. Each line of this classic is followed by one or more generic prognostications similar to phrases found in the Yi jing, indicating exciting new ways in which the text was produced and used in the interpretation of divinations. This book details the discovery and significance of the Shanghai Museum Zhou Yi, the Wangjiatai Gui cang, and the Fuyang Zhou Yi, including full translations of the texts and additional evidence that constructs a new narrative of the Yi jingOCOs writing and transmission in the first millennium B.C.E."

Ink Art: Past as Present in Contemporary China


Maxwell K. Hearn - 2013
    The 80 works, by 40 contemporary artists, featured in InkArt  range from variations on the written word to radical abstractions to contemporary landscapes, and represent media as diverse as photography, video, ceramic, wood, bronze, and stainless steel—as well as traditional ink (which might be on cardboard, polyester, or the human body). They include such iconic pieces as Book from the Sky by Xu Bing and Han Jar Overpainted with Coca ColaLogo by Ai Weiwei, “pseudo-characters” by Gu Wenda, handscrolls by Liu Dan, and videos and animation by Qiu Anxiong and Chen Shaoxiong. The illuminating texts give a history of contemporary Chinese ink painting and how it is perceived in the West. A discussion of the works themselves show how they respond to, subvert, or reinterpret the traditional idioms to define a modern artistic identity that remains both Chinese and global.

China Goes Global: The Partial Power


David Shambaugh - 2013
    Indeed, China has famously become the "workshop of the world." Yet, while China watchers have shed much light on the country's internal dynamics--China's politics, its vast social changes, and its economic development--few have focused on how this increasingly powerful nation has become more active and assertive throughout the world. In China Goes Global, eminent China scholar David Shambaugh delivers the book tmany have been waiting for--a sweeping account of China's growing prominence on the international stage. Thirty years ago, China's role in global affairs beyond its immediate East Asian periphery was decidedly minor and it had little geostrategic power. As Shambaugh charts, though, China's expanding economic power has allowed it to extend its reach virtually everywhere--from mineral mines in Africa, to currency markets in the West, to oilfields in the Middle East, to agribusiness in Latin America, to the factories of East Asia. Shambaugh offers an enlightening look into the manifestations of China's global presence: its extensive commercial footprint, its growing military power, its increasing cultural influence or "soft power," its diplomatic activity, and its new prominence in global governance institutions. But Shambaugh is no alarmist. In this balanced and well-researched volume, he argues that China's global presence is more broad than deep and that China still lacks the influence befitting a major world power--what he terms a "partial power." He draws on his decades of China-watching and his deep knowledge of the subject, and exploits a wide variety of previously untapped sources, to shed valuable light on China's current and future roles in world affairs. - Description from Amazon.com

Mythbusting the Cult of Confucius: What the Chinese Really Are, How to Understand Them and Why We Need to


Wayne Deeker - 2013
    This book is the first to part those myths and demystify the realities of Chinese ways. Western people need to know because Chinese traits and values, combined with China's modern power, now literally affect all. This book examines the ancient origins of Chinese thinking in Confucianism and consequences for the modern world: it is especially relevant to business and government relations with China, also to educational and immigration issues. Yet it contains far more than warnings alone. Above all, it shows ways western people might learn from Chinese people, and to compassionately help them break free of their past.

Dynamics among Nations: The Evolution of Legitimacy and Development in Modern States


Hilton L. Root - 2013
    In this book, Hilton Root argues that international relations, like other complex ecosystems, exists in a constantly shifting landscape, in which hierarchical structures are giving way to systems of networked interdependence, changing every facet of global interaction. Accordingly, policymakers will need a new way to understand the process of change. Root suggests that the science of complex systems offers an analytical framework to explain the unforeseen development failures, governance trends, and alliance shifts in today's global political economy.Root examines both the networked systems that make up modern states and the larger, interdependent landscapes they share. Using systems analysis--in which institutional change and economic development are understood as self-organizing complexities--he offers an alternative view of institutional resilience and persistence. From this perspective, Root considers the divergence of East and West; the emergence of the European state, its contrast with the rise of China, and the network properties of their respective innovation systems; the trajectory of democracy in developing regions; and the systemic impact of China on the liberal world order. Complexity science, Root argues, will not explain historical change processes with algorithmic precision, but it may offer explanations that match the messy richness of those processes.

Anatomy of Chinese: Rhythm, Metaphor, Politics


Perry Link - 2013
    Yet when the Red Guards in Tiananmen Square chanted "We want to see Chairman Mao," they unknowingly used a classical rhythm that dates back to the Han period and is the very embodiment of the four olds. An Anatomy of Chinese reveals how rhythms, conceptual metaphors, and political language convey time-honored meanings of which Chinese speakers themselves may not be consciously aware, and contributes to the ongoing debate over whether language shapes thought, or vice versa.Perry Link's inquiry into the workings of Chinese reveals convergences and divergences with English, most strikingly in the area of conceptual metaphor. Different spatial metaphors for consciousness, for instance, mean that English speakers wake up while speakers of Chinese wake across. Other underlying metaphors in the two languages are similar, lending support to theories that locate the origins of language in the brain. The distinction between daily-life language and official language has been unusually significant in contemporary China, and Link explores how ordinary citizens learn to play language games, artfully wielding officialese to advance their interests or defend themselves from others.Particularly provocative is Link's consideration of how Indo-European languages, with their preference for abstract nouns, generate philosophical puzzles that Chinese, with its preference for verbs, avoids. The mind-body problem that has plagued Western culture may be fundamentally less problematic for speakers of Chinese.

Contemporary China: Society and Social Change


Tamara Jacka - 2013
    Contemporary China provides a fascinating portrayal of society and social change in the contemporary People's Republic of China. This book introduces readers to key sociological perspectives, themes and debates about Chinese society. It explores topics such as family life, citizenship, gender, ethnicity, labour, religion, education, class and rural/urban inequalities. It considers China's imperial past, the social and institutional legacies of the Maoist era, and the momentous forces shaping it in the present. It also emphasises diversity and multiplicity, encouraging readers to consider new perspectives and rethink Western stereotypes about China and its people. Real-life case studies illustrate the key features of social relations and change in China. Definitions of key terms, discussion questions and lists of further reading help consolidate learning. Including full-colour maps and photographs, this book offers remarkable insight into Chinese society and social change.

Military Strategy Classics of Ancient China - English & Chinese: The Art of War, Methods of War, 36 Stratagems & Selected Teachings


Shawn Conners - 2013
    Each text in Chen Song’s groundbreaking translation is presented in modern English, followed by Chinese characters. These texts provide background for a wide range of disciplines, including: history, linguistics, wuxia, martial arts, business and legal doctrine.Contents include:The Six Secret Teachings – Jiang ZiyaThe Art of War – Sun TzuMethods of War – Sima RangjuThe Book of Wuzi – Wu QiThe Book of Wei Liaozi – Wei LiaoThe Three Strategies of Huang ShigongThe Thirty Six StratagemsQuestions and Replies: Tang Taizong and Li Jing

Red Star Over China - The Rise Of The Red Army


Edgar Snow - 2013
    Contains a number of excellent historical photographs. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Hesperides Press are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork. Contents Include : In Search of Red China The Road To The Red Capital In "Defended Peace" Genesis of A Communist The Long March Red Star In The North West En Route To The Front With The Red Army With The Red Army War And Peace Back To Pao An White World Again

Urban China


Xuefei Ren - 2013
    The unprecedented urban growth in China presents a crucial development for studies on globalization and urban transformation. This concise and engaging book examines the past trajectories, present conditions, and future prospects of Chinese urbanization, by investigating five key themes - governance, migration, landscape, inequality, and cultural economy. Based on a comprehensive evaluation of the literature and original research materials, Ren offers a critical account of the Chinese urban condition after the first decade of the twenty-first century. She argues that the urban-rural dichotomy that was artificially constructed under socialism is no longer a meaningful lens for analyses and that Chinese cities have become strategic sites for reassembling citizenship rights for both urban residents and rural migrants. The book is essential reading for students and scholars of urban and development studies with a focus on China, and all interested in understanding the relationship between state, capitalism, and urbanization in the global context.

Yellow River Odyssey


Bill Porter - 2013
    The trip takes the master translator into what was once the cradle of Chinese civilization and to the hometowns and graves of key historical figures such as Confucius, Mencius, Lao-tzu, and Chuang-tzu. Porter's depth of knowledge of Chinese history and culture is unparalleled. Yellow River Odyssey, already a bestseller in China, reveals a complex, fascinating, contradictory country. Porter masterfully digs beneath China's present-day materialism and the deep wounds of the Cultural Revolution to get at the roots of Chinese culture. And he does so with an ever-present wit and a keen eye for the telling detail. The book also includes more than fifty black-and-white photographs taken by Porter during his travels.Bill Porter is an award-winning author and translator also known by his pen name, Red Pine. He is considered one of the foremost translators of Chinese texts, especially Buddhist and Taoist poetry and sutras. His translation work includes major Buddhist texts such as The Platform Sutra, The Diamond Sutra, and The Heart Sutra as well as the best-selling poetry collections Taoteching and Collected Songs of Cold Mountain. He is also the author of Zen Baggage and Road to Heaven: Encounters with Chinese Hermits. Porter lives in Port Townsend, Washington.

Eurasian: Mixed Identities in the United States, China, and Hong Kong, 1842-1943


Emma Jinhua Teng - 2013
    Yet the stories of these families remain largely unknown. How did interracial families negotiate their identities within these societies when mixed-race marriage was taboo and Eurasian often a derisive term?In Eurasian, Emma Jinhua Teng compares Chinese-Western mixed-race families in the United States, China, and Hong Kong, examining both the range of ideas that shaped the formation of Eurasian identities in these diverse contexts and the claims set forth by individual Eurasians concerning their own identities. Teng argues that Eurasians were not universally marginalized during this era, as is often asserted. Rather, Eurasians often found themselves facing contradictions between exclusionary and inclusive ideologies of race and nationality, and between overt racism and more subtle forms of prejudice that were counterbalanced by partial acceptance and privilege.By tracing the stories of mixed and transnational families during an earlier era of globalization, Eurasian also demonstrates to students, faculty, scholars, and researchers how changes in interracial ideology have allowed the descendants of some of these families to reclaim their dual heritage with pride.

Gordon Li Li: Words for Everyday - 2nd Edition


Michele Wong McSween - 2013
    Gordon lives in Brooklyn, New York and speaks English. Li Li is from Beijing, China and speaks Mandarin. When Li Li visits Gordon for the first time, the cousins must learn to communicate using simple everyday words. Kids read along with Gordon and Li Li, learning basic words and their correct pronunciation. Each page spotlights a single word in English and pinyin along with the Chinese character and the phonetic pronunciation to speak the word in Mandarin.The durable board book features fun, colorful original illustrations. Words for Everyday is the perfect first-step in getting kids excited to open the door to learning a second language – and future language success.

From the Dragon's Mouth: 10 True Stories that Unveil the Real China


Ana Fuentes - 2013
    She spent nearly 4 years living and working in China and discovered a world few have written about . . . until now. FROM THE DRAGON’S MOUTH: Ten True Stories that Unveil the Real China  is an exquisitely intimate look into the China of the 21st century as seen through the eyes of its people. This is the first time that a book combines the voices of everyday Chinese people from so many different layers of society: a dissident tortured by the police; a young millionaire devoted to nationalism; a peasant-turnedprostitute to pay for the best education for her son; a woman who married her gay friend to escape from social pressure, just like an estimated 16 million other women; a venerable Kung-Fu master unable to train outdoors because of the hazardous pollution; the daughter of two Communist Party officials getting rich coaching Chinese entrepreneurs in the ways of Capitalism; among others.ANA FUENTES is a journalist whose reports have been broadcast on three continents by Radio Netherland, Prisa Radio, CNN en español and others. Ana holds a degree in Journalism from the Complutense University in Madrid and the Sorbonne University in Paris, and a Master’s in Journalism from El País and the University Autonoma in Madrid.

Life Under Mao Zedong's Rule


Da-Peng Zhang - 2013
    Now a new kind of state had emerged— a People’s Republic. People wondered with varying emotions what new changes this would bring to their daily lives and to their country.Zhang Da-Peng’s novelistic memoir of his first four decades, Life under Mao Zedong’s Rule, is a striking and chillingly unforgettable response to this question, for three of these decades encompassed the entire Maoist period, that is, from 1949 to 1977, when Deng Xiaoping assumed the helm of the Chinese state. Zhang Da-Peng was an eight-year-old boy of a middle class family living in Shanghai on that day in 1949. As the years passed, he, along with millions of his compatriots, was swept up in Mao’s epic experiment to revolutionize all of Chinese life. And like countless others, Da-Peng personally became the target of the “class struggle,” as the Communist Party undertook a never-ending cycle of absurdly destructive political campaigns and purges of the so-called enemies of Socialism that culminated in the Cultural Revolution and the terrifying near-complete breakdown of Chinese society and institutions. Written many years later in Hong Kong, Life under Mao Zedong’s Rule is both Zhang Da-Peng’s dramatic and deeply humanistic personal memoir and his impassioned call to his fellow Chinese not to bury the memories of those terrible years in newfound prosperity but to reform the continuing abuses of the political system, lest tyranny recurs in China. For the general reader this is an intensely moving portrait of the struggle to survive the massive and ultimately disastrous national transformation under Mao Zedong’s rule.

Tao - A New Way of Thinking: A Translation of the Tao Tê Ching with an Introduction and Commentaries


Chung-yuan Chang - 2013
    Traditionally attributed to Taoist philosopher Lao Tzu, the Tao Tê Ching remains relevant worldwide today, more than two thousand years after it was written. This translation of the Taoist text, with Chang's accompanying commentaries, illuminates the real meaning of the Tao Tê Ching and makes this Chinese classic both accessible and relevant to modern ways of thinking, without any reduction of the complex thought within its pages. Chang Chung-yuan is unique in his approach and his introduction and commentaries place the Taoist text in the context of Western metaphysics, making reference to Heidegger, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Jung, Plato, Kant and Nietzsche, as well as capturing the context within which Taoism came to the West. Tao: A New Way of Thinking will be fascinating to anyone with an interest in Taoism and will be particularly appealing to those interested in comparative philosophy.

Early Medieval China: A Sourcebook


Wendy Swartz - 2013
    A tumultuous and formative era, these centuries saw the longest stretch of political fragmentation in China's imperial history, resulting in new ethnic configurations, the rise of powerful clans, and a pervasive divide between north and south.Deploying thematic categories, the editors sketch the period in a novel way for students and, by featuring many texts translated into English for the first time, recast the era for specialists. Thematic topics include regional definitions and tensions, governing mechanisms and social reality, ideas of self and other, relations with the unseen world, everyday life, and cultural concepts. Within each section, the editors and translators introduce the selected texts and provide critical commentary on their historical significance, along with suggestions for further reading and research.

In the Shadow of the Rising Dragon: Stories of Repression in the New China


Xu Youyuis - 2013
    After the dark days of the Cultural Revolution, it has emerged as one of the twenty-first century's most powerful economies, with millions of citizens now entering the middle class. Yet, despite these rapid changes, China's human rights record remains abysmal, and a heavy shroud of secrecy protects the one-party system from accountability. In In the Shadow of the Rising Dragon, Chinese citizens from all walks of life share their stories of brutality and oppression. While inconceivable in the West, public beatings, grueling official questioning, unexplained detentions, and house arrest have become common-place occurrences, requiring only a minor infraction to set into motion. Those that dare to push the boundaries of the totalitarian regime, including one essayist's visit to the human rights activist Chen Guangcheng, are sentenced to life-long imprisonment, subjected to physical and psychological torture, and, frighteningly, made to "disappear." What emerges is a pattern of harassment directed, not at opposition figures, but ordinary citizens who live in crippling uncertainty of their future. Edited by two Chinese scholars, both of whom have experienced surveillance, control, abduction, and detention, this is a probing and revealing look at life under the police state of the world's most populous country.

Old Chinese: A New Reconstruction


William H. Baxter - 2013
    Old Chinese is the language of the earliest Chinese classical texts (1st millennium BCE) and the ancestor of later varieties of Chinese, including all modern Chinese dialects. William Baxter and Laurent Sagart's new reconstruction of Old Chinese moves beyond earlier reconstructions by taking into account important new evidence that has recently become available: better documentation of Chinese dialects that preserve archaic features, such as the Min and Waxiang dialects; better documentation of languages with very early loanwords from Chinese, such as the Hmong-Mien, Tai-Kadai and Vietnamese languages; and a flood of Chinese manuscripts from the first millennium BCE, excavated or discovered in the last several decades. Baxter and Sagart also incorporate recent advances in our understanding of the derivational processes that connect different words that have the same root. They expand our knowledge of Chinese etymology and identify, for the first time, phonological markers of pre-Han dialects, such as the development of *r to -j in a group of east coast dialects, but to -n elsewhere.The most up-to-date reconstruction available, Old Chinese: A New Reconstruction brings the methodology of Old Chinese reconstruction closer to that of comparative reconstructions that have been used successfully in other language families. It is critical reading for anyone seeking an advanced understanding of Old Chinese.

From the Tea Village


Rebecca D. Henderson - 2013
    While other students decide to stay home after sixth grade, Ye Sun sticks with it and moves to middle school in the market town. Her friendships broaden, but she also faces more difficult subjects, an abusive teacher, and taunts over her faltering Mandarin. Just as she thinks the situation is at its worst, a harrowing accident turns her family — and her life — upside-down.

The Chinese Spymaster


Hock G. Tjoa - 2013
    Then they find five other dealers trying to do the same. The buyer is the same in every case--the Pashtuns. Is this a "Pashtun Spring"? A realignment of geopolitical power in Central Asia? A resurgence of Islamist terrorism? In order to anticipate and confront these threats, Spymaster Wang must negotiate through bureaucratic rivalries, as well as personal ambitions, at home and abroad. He reaches for ancient insight into strategies and unorthodox alliances. But the struggle he must undertake cannot cease, and the outcome always remains in doubt. The Spymaster must also confront a vendetta within the Party as well as the determination of his Old Friends and their wives to make him a "match." COMMENTS FROM EARLY READERS: “… the rare feat of a convincing description of hand to hand combat together with a very skillful development of plot and background.” A. G. Chaudri. “This is fascinating, a true Smiley for current times and troubles, with the added, exotic allure to Western readers of the mystique that is China. It has all the hallmarks of a literary thriller.” Kay Christine Fenton. “A complex story … so vivid, lifelike and realistic.” Charles Knightley, Author.

I Can Almost See the Clouds of Dust


Yu Xiang - 2013
    If identification is indeed a shadow act of figuration, Yu Xiang does not care for any post-age or post-modern label. Her response toward specific social or political realities in China during these recent years differ from her predecessors' during their respective epochs, in the sense that she does not necessarily depict them from an oblique stance. She does not merely dwell in ambiguities, contradictions and ambivalence. Nor does she present her work as a purely journalistic understanding of the downtrodden: impoverished villagers, traumatized mothers who lost children during the collapse of "tofu-skin" schools during the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Instead, she depicts characters with a comparative eye—not just as a witness—but also from the starting point of having "felt a feeling," an epiphany.Unafraid of going near politically radioactive realities and histories, Yu Xiang is least interested in scoring ideological points, or telling "her" side of a narrative, be it as an artist or a social critic.At first read, each of Yu Xiang's poems comes across as an intimate address with a personal touch. Through poetry, she seeks a specific reader and listener, while being a reader and listener herself. She is interested in peeling silence with verses.Fiona Sze-Lorrain writes and translates in French, English, and Chinese. Her recent translation work includes Wind Says (Zephyr Press)—collected poems of Bai Hua."Yu Xiang’s poems are the poetic equivalent of shoegazer rock. She takes the mundane—a whiff of cigarette smoke, a falling leaf, a housefly—and stares at it so intently that it splits open to reveal something unexpected." — Naomi Long Eagleson, wordswithoutborders.org

Restless China


Perry Link - 2013
    China's stratospheric growth has made it the second largest economy in the world-and one of the most unequal. Marxist ideology and socialist ideals have almost completely collapsed, replaced by a combination of materialism and assertive nationalism. The vast migration of labor from countryside to city has continued apace. The pressures of a hypercompetitive market economy are ripping apart the traditional family and threatening the environment. Corruption has reached new heights. The political system is even more rigid, but perhaps more brittle, than a decade ago. There is enormous popular pride in the ascension of China to the rank of global superpower and general satisfaction in the material benefits that the poor as well as the rich have been gaining from an expanding economy. But there is also great restlessness, anger about structural injustice and political corruption, and a search for new forms of spirituality and ethics to replace a collapsing moral order. The question "What does it mean, in the new day, to be Chinese?" lurks just beneath the surface. This unique interdisciplinary book frames this central issue through an innovative set of case studies on such cutting-edge topics as reality dating shows, countercultural invented language, star bloggers, faith healers, and subversive jokes. Contributions by: Jeremy Brown, X. L. Ding, Hsiung Ping-chen, William Jankowiak, Shuyu Kong, Perry Link, Richard P. Madsen, David Moser, Paul G. Pickowicz, Su Xiaokang, Xiao Qiang, Yunxiang Yan, and Yang Lijun.

Preparing for the Possibility of a North Korean Collapse


Bruce W. Bennett - 2013
    The Republic of Korea and the United States can help mitigate the consequences, seeking unification by being prepared to deliver humanitarian aid in the North, stop conflict, demilitarize the North Korean military over time, secure and eliminate North Korean weapons of mass destruction, and manage Chinese intervention.

China Threat?: The Challenges, Myths and Realities of China's Rise


Lionel Vairon - 2013
    While critics raise a certain number of fundamental questions that bear asking about this nascent superpower, the answers put forth are usually based on ideological or economic considerations. Lionel Vairon systematically challenges these views in this updated edition of China Threat?With an incisive review of China’s economic strategy, deployment of resources, national defense, political reform, ethnicity and religion, terrorism, and developments in human rights, Vairon amply demonstrates that China poses no threat to the world. On the contrary, China Threat? shows that China’s peaceful rise should be a matter of positive news across the globe.

Schumpeterian Analysis of Economic Catch-Up: Knowledge, Path-Creation, and the Middle-Income Trap


Keun Lee - 2013
    In this book, Keun Lee explores the reasons why examples of successful catching-up are limited and in particular, why the Asian economies, including China, have managed to move, or are moving, beyond middle-income status but economic growth has stalled in some Latin American countries. This is one of the first studies to demonstrate using patent analysis that the secret lies in innovative systems at the firm, sector and country levels which promote investment in what the author calls 'short-cycle' technologies and thereby create a new path different from that of forerunning countries. With its comprehensive policy framework for development as well as useful quantitative methods, this is essential reading for academic researchers and practitioners.

Chinese in Steps


George X. Zhang - 2013
    While aiming to deliver an effective result and an enriching Chinese language learning experience, it has also taken into consideration the needs of those who seek externally validated qualifications. Chinese in Steps differs from many other textbooks in its approach to language teaching, and in its conscious effort to make use of adult learners' own experiences in learning Chinese. Its approach is based upon how English-speaking adults learn Chinese and aims to deliver language instruction through a method that integrates a communicative teaching approach, contrastive analyses and cultural awareness.

Expat in China: The Chengdu Blues


Greg Rhodes - 2013
    stumbled into newly-emerging China. Greg Rhodes and Heidi Rogers brought a bag of M&M's and a thirst for adventure, but no foreign travel experience, little common sense and even less money. Feeling isolated and deprived, suffering from homesickness and food poisoning, they discussed cutting short their year of teaching English at a university. Despite being completely unprepared for the challenges the Middle Kingdom presented to expats at the time, they persevered and became intimate witnesses to Chengdu's version of the historic events that overwhelmed Tiananmen Square and swept the country in 1989. Join Greg and Heidi as they slowly gain their footing while China seems to lose its own.

The Art of Influence: Asian Propaganda


Mary Ginsberg - 2013
    However, propaganda is not just a sinister manipulation, as connoted in the West since the early twentieth century. In revolutionary and wartime societies, propaganda is considered a vital part of education and political participation. Propaganda encourages or condemns; reinforces existing attitudes and behaviour; and promotes social membership within nation, class or work unit. Drawing on the British Museum s wide-ranging collection, this book provides a fascinating contextual survey of political art across Asia, covering the period from about 1900 to 1976. The author explores themes such as propaganda in daily life; heroes and villains; the use of the past; symbolism; dissent; women and children; and revolutionary inspirations. Over 100 works of art from China, Japan, Vietnam, Korea, India and other countries are featured. Here are posters, prints, cartoons, calligraphy, ceramics, papercuts, textiles, panels and badges powerful images designed to move hearts and minds. This title is only available through Hotei Publishing in the United States of America, Canada and the Philippines."

Meltdown in Tibet: China's Reckless Destruction of Ecosystems from the Highlands of Tibet to the Deltas of Asia


Michael Buckley - 2013
    Now they are facing ecocide. The Himalayan snowcaps are in meltdown mode, due to climate change—accelerated by a rain of black soot from massive burning of coal and other fuels in both China and India. The mighty rivers of Tibet are being dammed by Chinese engineering consortiums to feed the mainland's thirst for power, and the land is being relentlessly mined in search of minerals to feed China's industrial complex. On the drawing board are plans for a massive engineering project to divert water from Eastern Tibet to water-starved Northern China. Ruthless Chinese repression leaves Tibetans powerless to stop the reckless destruction of their sacred land, but they are not the only victims of this campaign: the nations downstream from Tibet rely heavily on rivers sourced in Tibet for water supply, and for rich silt used in agriculture. This destruction of the region's environment has been happening with little scrutiny until now. In Meltdown in Tibet, Michael Buckley turns the spotlight on the darkest side of China's emergence as a global super power.

Jade Mirror: Women Poets of China


Michael Farman - 2013
    A rare achievement!"—Red Pine"Jade Mirror's particular strength comes from the fact that all of its fine translators bring to the work different senses of where poetry is to be found in the originals as well present some of the finest poetic translation of the last twenty years."—Jerome SeatonThis anthology spans twenty-five hundred years of writing by women. These are voices that were most often left out of the official anthologies and represent a hidden tradition that deserves a wider audience.

The Painted Skin : hua pi ; 画皮 Chinese Breeze Graded Reader Series, Level 3,


Yuehu Liu - 2013
    

Taming Tibet: Landscape Transformation and the Gift of Chinese Development (Studies of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University)


Emily T. Yeh - 2013
    In Taming Tibet, Emily T. Yeh examines how Chinese development projects in Tibet served to consolidate state space and power. Drawing on sixteen months of ethnographic fieldwork between 2000 and 2009, Yeh traces how the transformation of the material landscape of Tibet between the 1950s and the first decade of the twenty-first century has often been enacted through the labor of Tibetans themselves. Focusing on Lhasa, Yeh shows how attempts to foster and improve Tibetan livelihoods through the expansion of markets and the subsidized building of new houses, the control over movement and space, and the education of Tibetan desires for development have worked together at different times and how they are experienced in everyday life.The master narrative of the PRC stresses generosity: the state and Han migrants selflessly provide development to the supposedly backward Tibetans, raising the living standards of the Han’s “little brothers.” Arguing that development is in this context a form of “indebtedness engineering,” Yeh depicts development as a hegemonic project that simultaneously recruits Tibetans to participate in their own marginalization while entrapping them in gratitude to the Chinese state. The resulting transformations of the material landscape advance the project of state territorialization. Exploring the complexity of the Tibetan response to—and negotiations with—development, Taming Tibet focuses on three key aspects of China’s modernization: agrarian change, Chinese migration, and urbanization. Yeh presents a wealth of ethnographic data and suggests fresh approaches that illuminate the Tibet Question.

What Remains: Coming to Terms with Civil War in 19th Century China


Tobie Meyer-Fong - 2013
    Many millions of people lost their lives. Yet while the Rebellion has been intensely studied by scholars in China and elsewhere, we still know little of how individuals coped with these cataclysmic events.Drawing upon a rich array of primary sources, What Remains explores the issues that preoccupied Chinese and Western survivors. Individuals, families, and communities grappled with fundamental questions of loyalty and loss as they struggled to rebuild shattered cities, bury the dead, and make sense of the horrors that they had witnessed.Driven by compelling accounts of raw emotion and deep injury, What Remains opens a window to a world described by survivors themselves. This book transforms our understanding of China's 19th century and recontextualizes suffering and loss in China during the 20th century.

Masterpieces of Chinese Painting 700-1900


Hongxing Zhang - 2013
    But dating back over 2,500 years, many Chinese paintings were made to be viewed just for a few hours or weeks. As a result, the masterpieces of the form have been seen very rarely, and then only by a few. This spectacular book accompanies a major V&A exhibition that brings together some of the world’s greatest paintings on silk and paper—many of which will be displayed only for a short time. All the paintings are reproduced in full, together with enlarged details. Written by international scholars, the book explains the background against which Chinese painters worked, as well as the original social context of the paintings and their display in the palace, temple, studio, or tomb. Essays on technique, materials, and collecting describe why these paintings are considered masterpieces today. The extraordinary range covers 8th-century devotional banners from the Dunhuang caves in the Gobi Desert to self-portraits by artists living in 19th-century Shanghai in an age of Western influence. Together they present a remarkable chronicle of Chinese painting through an appreciation of individual artists

In Line Behind a Billion People: How Scarcity Will Define China's Ascent in the Next Decade


Damien Ma - 2013
    But that is the least important thing to know about China. In this enlightening book, two of the world's leading China experts turn the conventional wisdom on its head, showing why China's economic growth will constrain rather than empower it. Pioneering political analyst Damien Ma and global economist Bill Adams reveal why, having 35 years of ferocious economic growth, China's future will be shaped by the same fundamental reality that has shaped it for millennia: scarcity. Ma and Adams drill deep into Chinese society, illuminating all the scarcities that will limit its power and progress. Beyond scarcities of natural resources and public goods, they illuminate China's persistent poverties of individual freedoms, cultural appeal, and ideological legitimacy -- and the corrosive loss of values and beliefs amongst a growing middle class shackled by a parochial and inflexible political system. Everyone knows "the 21st century is China's to lose" -- but, as with so many things that "everyone knows," that's just wrong. Ma and Adams get beyond cheerleading and fearmongering to tell the complex truth about China today. This is a truth you need to hear -- whether you're an investor, business decision-maker, policymaker, or citizen.

44 Days Backpacking in China: The Middle Kingdom in the 21st Century, with the United States, Europe and the Fate of the World in Its Looking Glass


Jeff J. Brown - 2013
    He would produce a book full of telling insights that functioned like a five-dimensional chess game. It would be a guide book, travel companion, memoir, political history, and plain-old-pleasure for someone who likes their prose with pith in it. Oklahoma's latter-day Tocqueville, Jeff J. Brown, is one hell of a good story teller, and traveling with him deep into China is an adventure not to be missed. Thomas Bass, Author of The Spy Who Loved Us, Vietnamerica, Camping with the Prince, Reinventing the Future, and The Eudaemonic Pie."44 Days" is a delightful romp through a changing China and Jeff Brown is an excellent guide.John Pomfret, author of Chinese Lessons: Five Classmates and the Story of the New China"44 Days" is a fascinating exploration of the people of China, and the land in which they live. Brown is very knowledgeable of China's government and the country's millennia-old history. He obviously enjoys not just his travels but the people he meets. While he journeys, we journey with him. Jeff Brown is an intelligent, articulate and entertaining writer and 44 Days is absolutely enthralling. I highly recommend it. Mick Winter, author of Cuba for the Misinformed: Facts from the Forbidden IslandMuch more than just a travelogue, 44 Days is an intimate dialogue with China's peoples, their histories, regions, economies, cultures, work, foods and future. Unabashedly iconoclastic and a contrarian's delight, Jeff brings down many a golden calf, as he writes as few travelers do - putting China's relations and rapid arc of development in perspective with the United States and Europe, making 44 Days a fascinating and unique approach to today's critically important world affairs.Traveling over 12,000km by train and bus, walking hundreds more, while climbing a few of those in vertical ascent, join Jeff as he reports from the ground up on the greatest socioeconomic transformation ever seen, 21st century China - our planet's soon to be greatest superpower. How will Baba Beijing, China's central government behave, while honoring its 2,200 year old Heavenly Mandate for 20% of the human race? After 500 years of being masters of the world, what will the great historical Industrial Age powers do in response - adapt or lash out? All of our standards of living and lifestyles, even our species' survival, depend on these soon to be events.Funny, enlightening & with an eye for the right details, 44 Days provides unique perspectives to these new century issues. It will keep you amused and thinking, as Jeff takes you traveling in, across and over five wild and wooly Western China provinces, face to face with the local people. Includes 125+ photos, maps and charts.

Double Happiness: One Man's Tale of Love, Loss, and Wonder on the Long Roads of China


Tony Brasunas - 2013
    The journey that changed him forever, that broke open his heart and awakened his mind, began in a high school classroom in hot, coastal Guangzhou, China, and culminated on the plateaus of Tibet.A journey into the heart of a changing China and through the soul of a young American, Double Happiness is both travel writing at its very finest and a groundbreaking story of spiritual awakening in the era of globalization. This is a tale for armchair travelers, English teachers, China buffs, adventure backpackers, young people in their twenties and thirties seeking a place in this shrinking world, and readers of all ages curious about a young man's coming of age in a foreign land.

Lao-Tzu


Thomas Watters - 2013
    A study in Chinese philosophy (1870). This book, "Lao-Tzu," by Thomas Watters, is a replication of a book originally published before 1870. It has been restored by human beings, page by page, so that you may enjoy it in a form as close to the original as possible.

Tales from Victoria Park: Short Stories of Indonesian Women in Hong Kong


Todd Crowell - 2013
    Most come as maids, but some descend into the netherworld of overstayers, illegal street hawkers and PR girls. Whoever they are, they all know Dina: a woman who sells telephone cards, changes money, dispenses advice and listens to their tales of exile."

China and the Victorian Imagination: Empires Entwined


Ross Forman - 2013
    Yet the Victorians held similar beliefs that China was rising in importance, and that its rise was integrally tied to the success of the West. This book traces the development of this perception of China and the Chinese from the Opium Wars to the 1911 demise of the Qing dynasty. It surveys an array of literary and cultural materials, from short stories produced by British expatriates in China and distributed locally to representations of the Chinese on the British stage, from the sensational fiction surrounding the Chinese community in London's East End to turn-of-the-century invasion novels with their 'Yellow Peril' villains. Ross Forman demonstrates that China, as much as India, occupied the Victorian imagination; in so doing, he reassesses British imperialism in Asia.

China: Revolution and Counterrevolution


Brian Becker - 2013
    China: revolution and counterrevolution is a unique contribution to the left, using a Marxist analysis to identify political and social trends in China 30 years after the introduction of capitalist market reforms."The 1949 Chinese Revolution placed China squarely on the path toward socialist development. While elements of that revolution remain, the country and the ruling social order have dynamically moved toward the restoration of capitalist property relations.It is our assertion that if the overthrow of the Communist Party of China were carried out by forces of domestic counterrevolution-forces that would be vigorously supported by U.S. imperialism-it would represent a historic setback for China."-China: revolution and counterrevolution"China: revolution and counterrevolution is a timely short history of modern China that captures all the essential achievements and challenges facing Chinese socialism today. This book captures the drama and excitement of China's success, the dangers inherent in market socialism, and the contradictions of building a new society in the world's biggest developing country."-David Ewing, U.S.-China Peoples Friendship Association, San FranciscoTable of ContentsI. Overview: What do socialists defend in China today? II. China today -- Capitalism and socialism in China -- Is China's foreign policy of appeasement sustainable? -- Independent development vs. imperialist domination -- Behind U.S. smears against China -- Tibet, imperialism, and self-determination -- Tiananmen Square and the threat of counterrevolutionIII. China and socialism -- Lenin and the NEP: Can market methods build socialism? -- China's 'socialist market economy' -- An appeal from within the CPC: 'Precarious is China's socialism!' IV. China's revolutionary legacy -- The Red Army: a new kind of military -- The contributions of Mao Zedong -- The Sino-Soviet split -- Phases of China's socialist revolutionAppendix: PSL Resolution on China

The Peasant in Postsocialist China: History, Politics, and Capitalism


Alexander F. Day - 2013
    Today, as China becomes an economic superpower, the issue continues to loom large. Can the peasantry be integrated into a new Chinese capitalism, or will it form an excluded and marginalized class? Alexander F. Day's highly original appraisal explores the role of the peasantry throughout Chinese history and its importance within the development of post-socialist-era politics. Examining the various ways in which the peasant is historicized, Day shows how different perceptions of the rural lie at the heart of the divergence of contemporary political stances and of new forms of social and political activism in China. Indispensable reading for all those wishing to understand Chinese history and politics, The Peasant in Postsocialist China is a new point of departure in the debate as to the nature of tomorrow's China.

Exhibiting the Past: Historical Memory and the Politics of Museums in Postsocialist China


Kirk A Denton - 2013
    With the implementation of the post-Mao modernization program in the late 1970s and 1980s and the advent of globalization and market reforms in the 1990s, China underwent a radical social and economic transformation that has led to a vastly more heterogeneous culture and polity. Yet China is dominated by a single Leninist party that continues to rely heavily on its revolutionary heritage to generate political legitimacy. With its messages of collectivism, self-sacrifice, and class struggle, that heritage is increasingly at odds with Chinese society and with the state's own neoliberal ideology of rapid-paced development, glorification of the market, and entrepreneurship. In this ambiguous political environment, museums and their curators must negotiate between revolutionary ideology and new kinds of historical narratives that reflect and highlight a neoliberal present.In Exhibiting the Past, Kirk Denton analyzes types of museums and exhibitionary spaces, from revolutionary history museums, military museums, and memorials to martyrs to museums dedicated to literature, ethnic minorities, and local history. He discusses red tourism--a state sponsored program developed in 2003 as a new form of patriotic education designed to make revolutionary history come alive--and urban planning exhibition halls, which project utopian visions of China's future that are rooted in new conceptions of the past. Denton's method is narratological in the sense that he analyzes the stories museums tell about the past and the political and ideological implications of those stories. Focusing on "official" exhibitionary culture rather than alternative or counter memory, Denton reinserts the state back into the discussion of postsocialist culture because of its centrality to that culture and to show that state discourse in China is neither monolithic nor unchanging. The book considers the variety of ways state museums are responding to the dramatic social, technological, and cultural changes China has experienced over the past three decades.

Yangtze River Patrol and Other US Navy Asiatic Fleet Activities in China 1920-1942


U.S. Department of the Navy - 2013
    Yangtze River Patrol and Other US Navy Asiatic Fleet Activities in China, 1920-1942, as Described in the Annual Reports of the Navy Department.A very nice historic collection.

Don't Kiss With Your Mouth Full: A Ladybug Raises Her Daddy


Henry P. Mahone - 2013
    And happy, quirky Meghan certainly didn't expect to be growing up in America instead of China. Nine months after the tragic (and mysterious) loss of his wife, Barry begins to rebuild his love life. Of course, his little "ladybug" has her own ideas about whom he should date.Uplifting and rowdy, Don't Kiss With Your Mouth Full: A Ladybug Raises Her Daddy is a warm, funny novel about single parenting, international adoption, and the perils of romantic fraternization between Generation X and Millennials.

Religious Diversity in Chinese Thought


Perry Schmidt-Leukel - 2013
    Though not entirely free from conflicts, it was comparatively much more peaceful than the religious history of the West. What were the reasons? Was it a strong control exercised by the ruling authorities? Was it the powerful ideal of harmony extended to the religious realm? Was it a different sense of religious identity? How translates this heritage into contemporary China, its current politics and its most recent discussions after the liberalization of religions in the 1980s? This volume offers fresh insights by renowned scholars and specialists in the field.

From the Oxus River to the Chinese Shores: Studies on East Syriac Christianity in China and Central Asia


Li Tang - 2013
    Because of this, the staging posts of Christian merchants along the trade routes grew into missionary centers. Thus, the mission of the Church of the East stretched from Persia to Arabia and India, and from the Oxus River to the Chinese shores. This book contains a collection of studies on the Church of the East in its historical setting. It sheds new light on this subject from various perspectives and academic disciplines, providing fresh insights into the rich heritage of Syriac Christianity. (Series: orientalia - patristica - oecumenica - Vol. 5)

China's Strategic Interests in the South China Sea: Power and Resources


Sigfrido Burgos Caceres - 2013
    China's regional actions and reactions are reshaping the power dynamics in East and South-East Asia, while economic and geopolitical futures depend on the variegated outcomes of these complex relationships with neighbours and the West. An introductory section will be complemented by four case studies (Japan, Vietnam, the USA and the Philippines) and the concluding chapter will discuss the importance of the South China Sea to China as its new leadership deals with growing economic and military might.

Subsidies to Chinese Industry: State Capitalism, Business Strategy, and Trade Policy


Usha C.V. Haley - 2013
    Industrial subsidies in key Chinesemanufacturing industries may exceed thirty percent of industrial output. Economic theories have mostly portrayed subsidies as distortive, inefficiently reallocating resources according to non-market criteria. However, China's state-capitalist regime uses subsidies to promote the governments' andthe Communist Party of China's interests. Rather than aberrations, subsidies help Chinese businesses and governments produce, stabilize and create common understandings of markets; the flows of capital reflect struggles between critical Chinese actors including central and provincial governments.Concepts of state capitalism including market-transition theory, the multi-organizational Chinese state, and state as paramount shareholder, create complex and relevant understandings of Chinese subsidies. The authors develop independent measures of industrial subsidies using publicly-reported dataat firm and industry levels from governmental and private sources. Subsidies include free to low-cost loans, subsidies to energy (coal, electricity, natural gas, heavy oil) and to key inputs, land and technology. Four sequential studies identify the growth of subsidies to Chinese manufacturingover time and effects on world industry: steel (2000-2007), glass (2004-2008), paper (2002-2009) and auto parts (2001-2011). Subsidies to Chinese industry affect and are affected by business strategy and trade policy. Business strategies include lobbying for subsidies and for protection fromsubsidized foreign competitors and managing supply chains to guard against whiplash effects of uncoordinated subsidies. The subsidized solar industry highlights how global business strategies and decisions on production location and technology development respond to production or consumptionsubsidies and include market (competitive) and non-market (political) strategies. The book also covers government policies and regulation on subsidies broadly focusing on domestic consumption (antidumping and countervailing duties) and domestic production (indigenous innovation).

The Social Evolution of International Politics


Shiping Tang - 2013
    More specifically, the book shows how the nasty and brutishHobbesian/offensive realism world many of us take for granted had evolved from an Eden-like paradise; how the Hobbesian world had self-transformed into a more peaceful defensive realism world from 1648 to 1945; and how some regions of the post-1945 world have become more rule-based and peaceful. Thebook critically engages with all the key grand theories of international politics and provides neat solutions to some of the 'great debates' between those theories, from offensive realism to defensive realism, neoliberalism, the English School, and constructivism. This book is essential reading forscholars and students of international politics and of interest to those working in anthropology, sociology, political science, and social sciences in general.

The Nanjing Massacre


Wing Lum - 2013
    Asian American Studies. The subject is the notorious Japanese occupation of Nanjing, China, in 1937. Wing Tek Lum's poems capture all perspectives of the tragedy--from the weary, casually cruel Japanese soldiers to the uncomprehending child victims, and from the desperate helpless parents and the brutalized "comfort women" to the bloodless yet vicious bureacrats of death."THE NANJING MASSACRE is a striking volume of poetry. The poems, intelligent and at times brutal, provide both kaleidoscopic slices and a vast panorama of the tragedy. The magnitude of the poetic vision and effort is simply overwhelming."--Ha Jin"History is not poetry and of course poetry is never history--and yet, Wing Tek Lum has fused the two with skill, sensitivity and fury. This brilliant collection, based on documents, avoids agenda, although Lum is necessarily partisan in addressing a massacre that others prefer to forget. By way of his poems, he invigorates dry record. For those who have a bias against 'political poetry, ' this collection will crack preconceived notions. Lu is unflinching in his art."--Kimiko Hahn

Spirit, Qi, and the Multitude: A Comparative Theology for the Democracy of Creation


Hyo-Dong Lee - 2013
    As befits a world so interconnected, this book presents a comparative theological and philosophical attempt to construct new underpinnings for the idea of democracy by bringing the Western concept of spirit into dialogue with the East Asian nondualistic and nonhierarchical notion of qi.The book follows the historical adventures of the idea of qi through some of its Confucian and Daoist textual histories in East Asia, mainly Laozi, Zhu Xi, Toegye, Nongmun, and Su-un, and compares them with analogous conceptualizations of the ultimate creative and spiritual power found in the intellectual constellations of Western and/or Christian thought--namely, Whitehead's Creativity, Hegel's Geist, Deleuze's chaosmos, and Catherine Keller's Tehom.The book adds to the growing body of pneumatocentric (Spirit-centered), panentheistic Christian theologies that emphasize God's liberating, equalizing, and pluralizing immanence in the cosmos. Furthermore, it injects into the theological and philosophical dialogue between the West and Confucian and Daoist East Asia, which has heretofore been dominated by the American pragmatist and process traditions, a fresh voice shaped by Hegelian, postmodern, and postcolonial thought. This enriches the ways in which the pluralistic and democratic implications of the notion of qi may be articulated. In addition, by offering a valuable introduction to some representative Korean thinkers who are largely unknown to Western scholars, the book advances the study of East Asia and Neo-Confucianism in particular.Last but not least, the book provides a model of Asian contextual theology that draws on the religious and philosophical resources of East Asia to offer a vision of pluralism and democracy. A reader interested in the conversation between the East and West in light of the global reality of political oppression, economic exploitation, and cultural marginalization will find this book informative, engaging, and enlightening.

The Mythic Chinese Unicorn


Jeannie Thomas Parker - 2013
    It proves, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the Chinese unicorn was not the qilin, but a one-horned female goat-like beast called the zhi (pronounced jhuhr). It also examines the real animals upon which the myth was based. Its most significant finding, however, is that the unicorn zhi was the ultimate symbol of justice under the law in ancient China. Making judicious use of all available evidence, historical, epigraphical, archaeological, art historical and scientific, this book explains how the myth of the unicorn began in China and then gradually spread to other parts of Asia and Europe.

Eighteen Lectures on Dunhuang


Xinjiang Rong - 2013
    In "Eighteen Lectures on Dunhuang," Professor Rong Xinjiang provides a reliable, yet accessible, overview of the discovery of the Dunhuang manuscripts, the emergence of the field of Dunhuang studies and its contribution to scholarship both in China and the West.

The Pheasant Cap Master and the End of History: Linking Religion to Philosophy in Early China


Marnix Wells - 2013
    He was called Heguanzi, the ‘Pheasant Cap’ master and appeared incognito. Seemingly a political refugee, this Daoist Demosthenes in outspoken jeremiads warned against a looming danger of total collapse and Zhao’s imminent annexation by the ruthless kingdom of Qin.Pheasant Cap’s writings, long neglected and misunderstood, combine a potent mix of religion, metaphysics, philosophy, politics and strategy to unroll a vibrant picture of life and death in perhaps the most climactic period of Chinese history. Against the totalitarian system of Qin, he offers an alternative vision of meritocracy and inclusiveness to unite a fractured world. Marnix Wells offers readers the first full translation and analysis in any language.

China and the First Vietnam War, 1947-54


Laura M. Calkins - 2013
    It shows how the Chinese provided finance, training and weapons to the Vietminh, but how differences about strategy emerged, particularly when China became involved in the Korean War and the subsequent peace negotiations, when the need to placate the United States and to prevent US military involvement in Southeast Asia became a key concern for the Chinese. The book shows how the Vietminh strategy of all-out war in the north and limited guerrilla warfare in the south developed from this situation, and how the war then unfolded.

Practice Makes Perfect Basic Chinese


Feng-Hsi Liu - 2013
    Gain the language skills you want. "Practice Makes Perfect: Basic Chinese" is a trusted companion to your Chinese learning experience. In each bite-sized lesson, the authors explain one or two language concepts and illustrate them with many clear examples. Although these lessons are purposely short so you can complete them in twenty minutes or less, you can go at a pace that works for you.You will, of course, get plenty of practice, practice, practice using your new skills. Whether you are learning on your own or taking an advanced beginning Chinese class, "Practice Makes Perfect: Basic Chinese" will help you build your confidence."Practice Makes Perfect: Basic Chinese" will help you master: Basic grammar High-frequency vocabulary Sentence structures And more

The Education of Migrant Children and China's Future: The Urban Left Behind


Holly Ming - 2013
    Because of policies related to the household registration (hukou) system, migrant students are not allowed a public high school education in the cities, so their urban education stops abruptly at the end of middle school. This book investigates the post-middle school education and labor market decisions of migrant students in Beijing and Shanghai, and provides a glimpse into the future of a crucial link in China's development. The stories of how these migrant students seek upward mobility and urban citizenship also reveal one of the most intricate structural inequalities in China today.Based on quantitative data collected from middle schools in Beijing and Shanghai, and ethnographic data drawing on in-depth interviews with migrant children, their parents, and teachers, this book offers a portrait of the migration and educational experiences and prospects of second generation migrant youth in China today. It explores the urban experience of migrant students, contrasting it with that of local city youngsters, examining the migrant students' family backgrounds, family dynamics, neighborhood and school experience, and interaction with locals. It goes on to look at the migrant students' education and career aspirations, the structural obstacles preventing their fulfilment, and how migrant families respond to institutional constraints on educational opportunity. Finally, the book concludes with a discussion of policy implications and offers proposals for resolving the dilemmas of migrant youth.This book will of great interest to students and scholars of Chinese studies, Asian education, migration and social development.

Reaching Chinese Worldwide


G Wright Doyle - 2013
    Drawing upon four decades of reading and experience, the author first lays a biblical foundation for cross-cultural witness, then briefly explores the various facets of ministry among Chinese: Preparation, Presence, Proclamation, Points of Contact, "Perfection" of Believers, Participation in the Body of Christ, Performance of Good Works, and Partnering with God. This nearly comprehensive survey contains both fundamental principles and practical suggestions useful for all those wanting to make a Christian impact on China.

New Cathay: Contemporary Chinese Poetry, 1990-2012


Ming Di - 2013
    Asian & Asian American Studies. Translated from the Chinese by many hands. The most up-to-date anthology of contemporary Chinese poetry, translated by American poets and edited by the executive editor of the bilingual literary journal Poetry East West. Showcasing the achievement of Chinese poetry in the last twenty years, a time of tremendous literary ferment, this collection focuses on a diversity exciting poets from the mainland, highlighting Duo Duo (laureate of the 2010 Neustadt International Prize for Literature) and Liao Yiwu (recipient of 2012 Peace Prize of the German Book Trade organization) along with not yet well-known but brilliant poets such as Zang Di and Xiao Kaiyu and younger poets Jiang Tao and Lu Yue. The anthology includes interviews with the poets and a fascinating survey of their opinions on "Ten Favorite Chinese poets" and "Ten Best-Known Western poets in China."Featured poets: Duo Duo, Bai Hua, Zhang Shuguang, Sun Wenbo, Wang Jiaxin, Liao Yiwu, Song Lin, Xiao Kaiyu, Lu De'an, Feng Yan, Zang Di, Ya Shi, Mai Mang, Lan Lan, Jiang Tao, Jiang Hao, Lu Yue, Hu Xudong, Jiang Li, Zheng Xiaoqiong, etc.With translations by Neil Aitken, Katie Farris, Ming Di, Christopher Lupke, Tony Barnstone, Afaa Weaver, Jonathan Stalling, Nick Admussen, Eleanor Goodman, Ao Wang, Dian Li, Kerry Shawn Keys, and others.Co-published with the Harriet Monroe Institute of the Poetry Foundation.

Tang China in Multi-Polar Asia: A History of Diplomacy and War


Zhenping Wang - 2013
    Without any one entity able to dominate Asia’s geopolitical landscape, the author argues that relations among these countries were quite fluid and dynamic—an interpretation that departs markedly from the prevalent view of China fixed at the center of a widespread “tribute system.”To cope with external affairs in a tumultuous world, Tang China employed a dual management system that allowed both central and local officials to conduct foreign affairs. The court authorized Tang local administrators to receive foreign visitors, forward their diplomatic letters to the capital, and manage contact with outsiders whose territories bordered on China. Not limited to handling routine matters, local officials used their knowledge of border situations to influence the court’s foreign policy. Some even took the liberty of acting without the court’s authorization when an emergency occurred, thus adding another layer to multipolarity in the region’s geopolitics.The book also sheds new light on the ideological foundation of Tang China’s foreign policy. Appropriateness, efficacy, expedience, and mutual self-interest guided the court’s actions abroad. Although officials often used “virtue” and “righteousness” in policy discussions and announcements, these terms were not abstract universal principles but justifications for the pursuit of self-interest by those involved. Detailed philological studies reveal that in the realm of international politics, “virtue” and “righteousness” were in fact viewed as pragmatic and utilitarian in nature.Comprehensive and authoritative, Tang China in Multi-Polar Asia is a major work on Tang foreign relations that will reconceptualize our understanding of the complexities of diplomacy and war in imperial China.

Masculinities in Chinese History


Bret Hinsch - 2013
    Bret Hinsch introduces readers to the basic characteristics of historical Chinese masculinity while highlighting the dynamic changes in male identity over the centuries. He covers the full span of Chinese history, from the Zhou dynasty in distant antiquity up to the current era of disorienting rapid change. Each chapter, focused on a specific theme and period, is organized to introduce key topics, such as differences between the sexes and the mutual influence of ideas regarding manhood and womanhood, masculine honor, how masculine ideals change, the use of high culture to bolster masculine reputation among the elite, and male role models from the margins of society. The author concludes by exploring how capitalism, imperialism, modernization, revolution, and reform have rapidly transformed ideas about what it means to be a man in contemporary China.

The Chinese Secrets for Success


YuKong Zhao - 2013
    To prevail in this tough environment, many Americans are seeking solutions to better manage their lives and raise their children. Wisdom from other successful cultures may be just what families need to broaden their worldview and provide fresh ideas to meet these challenges.The Chinese Secrets for Success: Five Inspiring Confucian Values offers fresh ideas and practical guidance based on five Confucianism values as they relate to career aspiration, education, money management, family, and friendship. These are the untold secrets behind the rise of China and the success of Asian Americans—“the highest-income, best-educated, and fastest-growing racial group in the US,” according to the Pew Research Center.Based on his bicultural living experience and deep understanding of Confucianism, YuKong Zhao connects ancient Chinese wisdom to today’s real-life challenges and shares an “inside view” on how Chinese Americans apply these values to their lives and make themselves successful. He provides many examples of what Confucianism-influenced Chinese families do differently when it comes to parenting, money management, family management, and friendship in their pursuit of a high-quality education, good career, and prosperous life. Using an insightful cross-cultural perspective, he advocates a balanced approach that combines the strengths of Confucian values and American culture. He challenges many prevailing pop-culture values that weaken the good traditions that once made America great in the twentieth century, and offers sensible solutions that are refreshing, distinctive, and effective.

The Ethical And Political Works Of Motse


Mozi - 2013
    

Voices of New China: Chinese Young Adults Talk About Their Lives


C.J. Shane - 2013
    They also tell us what they think of westerners and what they believe we need to know about China. Chapters by the author on Confucian values, recent Chinese history, and the typical life stages of the Chinese give meaningful context to the Chinese commentary. Chinese blue-collar workers, educated professionals, and university students are represented in these interviews which were conducted with adults between the ages of 18 and 35. Learn what life is like in China from the Chinese perspective.

Has Man a Future?: Dialogues with the Last Confucian


Shu Ming Liang - 2013
    Liang was also one of the early representatives of modern Neo-Confucianism. Guy S. Alitto, associate Professor in the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations (EALC) at The University of Chicago, is author of, among other things, The Last Confucian: Liang Shu-ming and the Chinese Dilemma of Modernity, and is one of the most active and influential Sinologists in America. In 1980 and again in 1984, at Liang Shu-ming s invitation, he conducted a series of interviews with Liang in Liang's Beijing home. This book of dialogues between the American sinologist and The Last Confucian, Liang Shu-ming, gives a chronological account of the conversations that took place in Beijing in 1980. In these conversations, they discussed the cultural characteristics of Confucianism, Buddhism, Daoism, and their representative figures, and reviewed the important activities of Mr. Liang s life, along with Liang s reflection on his contact with many famous people in the cultural and political realms Li Dazhao, Chen Duxiu, Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Chiang Kai-shek, Kang Youwei, Hu Shi, etc. Rich in content, these conversations serve as important reference material for understanding and studying Mr. Liang Shuming s thoughts and activities as well as the social and historical events of modern China."

Riding the Dragon: A Journey Through Every Chinese Province


Chris Taylor - 2013
    Instead he discovered the vastness of China. Ten years and 33 provinces later he became that rarest of commodities; a westerner who scratched beneath the surface and explored beyond Great Wall, shopping malls and Terracotta Warriors in order to understand this fascinating, frustrating and beautiful country. From the mega cities of the East to the wild, untamed landscapes of the West and the icebound challenges of the frozen North, Riding the Dragon is an inspiring portrayal of every province and the everyday people of a country that may shape the 21st century and yet is still little understood.

Mooncake


Ray Hecht - 2013
    There is always a generation gap. How can precocious children in the future understand the metaphor?Enjoy this short short, a taste of one writer's science fiction and Sino overlap..