From the Soil: The Foundations of Chinese Society


Fei Xiaotong - 1992
    Written in Chinese from a Chinese point of view for a Chinese audience, From the Soil describes the contrasting organizational principles of Chinese and Western societies, thereby conveying the essential features of both. Fei shows how these unique features reflect and are reflected in the moral and ethical characters of people in these societies. This profound, challenging book is both succinct and accessible. In its first complete English-language edition, it is likely to have a wide impact on Western social theorists.Gary G. Hamilton and Wang Zheng's translation captures Fei's jargonless, straightforward style of writing. Their introduction describes Fei's education and career as a sociologist, the fate of his writings on and off the Mainland, and the sociological significance of his analysis. The translators' epilogue highlights the social reforms for China that Fei drew from his analysis and advocated in a companion text written in the same period.

The Secret Language of Women


Nina Romano - 2015
    Gianluca Brasolin, fluent in Italian, to tend the Italian ambassador, at the Summer Palace of Empress Dowager, where she meets and falls in love with Giacomo.Through voyage and adventure, their love intensifies, but soon is severed by Lian’s dutiful promise as the wife to another. Forbidden from pursuing her chosen profession as a healer, and despised because she does not have bound feet, she is forced to work in a cloisonné factory while her in-laws raise her daughter, Ya Chen. It is in Nushu, the women’s secret writing, that she chronicles her life and her hopes for the future.Rebelling against the life forced upon her, she empowers herself to act out against the injustice and becomes the master of her own destiny. But her quest for freedom comes at a costly price: The life of someone close to her, lost in a raging typhoon, a grueling journey to the Yun-kang Caves, and a desperate search for beauty and love in the midst of brutality.

Ultimate Journey: Retracing the Path of an Ancient Buddhist Monk Who Crossed Asia in Search of Enlightenment


Richard Bernstein - 2001
    Pilgrimage complete, Hsuan Tsang wrote an account of his trek that is still considered one of the classics of Chinese literature.In 1998, Richard Bernstein, venerated journalist and Time magazine’s first Beijing bureau chief, retraced the steps of Hsuan Tsang’s long and sinuous route, comparing present and past. Aided by modern technology but hampered by language barriers, harried border crossings, hostile Islamic regimes, and the accidental U.S. bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, Bernstein follows the monk’s path not only in physical but in contemplative ways. Juxtaposing his own experiences with those of Hsuan Tsang, Bernstein has crafted a vivid account of two stirring adventures in pursuit of illumination. Inspiring and profoundly felt, Ultimate Journey is a marvelous amalgamation of travelogue and history, cultural critique and spiritual meditation.

The Great American Divorce: Why Our Country Is Coming Apart—And Why It Might Be for the Best


David Austin French - 2020
    

Journey To The Centre Of The Earth


Richard Crane - 1987
    

House of the Winds


Mia Yun - 1998
    In episodic and dreamlike prose, the narrator shares stories and memories of those around her: her feckless, mostly absent father; her lonely, loving mother who tells her daughter that butterflies are the souls of napping children; her gossiping neighbors; and the ghosts of weeping women that haunt their house.This extraordinary novel allows us to see how Korean women "lived in the folds of history ... laughing, wailing, spirit-cajoling, poetry-writing, tear-hiding, bosom-bracing, scheming, fire-breathing". Vivid, sensuous, permeated by beautiful images and by the mysteries that define a child's world, House of the Winds is a moving tale of awakening.

Between Two Rivers: A Story of Life, Love and Marriage from an English Woman in Baghdad


Dorothy al Khafaji - 2013
    When Dorothy set off on a night out with her sister, she never dreamed it would lead to a car journey to Baghdad; but that night she met a dark, mysterious stranger—an Iraqi student named Zane—and almost before she knew it they were married and driving to Baghdad in a borrowed car with their baby daughter. They moved into a house in the suburbs with Zane’s family, throwing Dorothy into the maelstrom of Iraqi culture: letters could take weeks to arrive, there were no mobile phones or computers, and there was no direct dial facility to the UK—she might as well have been living on the moon.

China's New Red Guards: The Return of Radicalism and the Rebirth of Mao Zedong


Jude Blanchette - 2019
    Would it democratize? Would it embrace capitalism? Would the Communist Party's rule be able to withstand the adoption and spread of the Internet? One debatethat did not occur in any serious way, however, was whether Mao Zedong would make a political comeback.As Jude Blanchette details in China's New Red Guards, contemporary China is undergoing a revival of an unapologetic embrace of extreme authoritarianism that draws direct inspiration from the Mao era. Under current Chinese leader Xi Jinping, state control over the economy is increasing, civil societyis under sustained attack, and the CCP is expanding its reach in unprecedented new ways. As Xi declared in late 2017, Government, military, society and schools, north, south, east and west-the party is the leader of all.But this trend is reinforced by a bottom-up revolt against Western ideas of modernity, including political pluralism, the rule of law, and the free market economy. Centered around a cast of nationalist intellectuals and activists who have helped unleash a wave of populist enthusiasm for the GreatHelmsman's policies, China's New Red Guards not only will reshape our understanding of the political forces driving contemporary China, it will also demonstrate how ideologies can survive and prosper despite pervasive rumors of their demise.

A Woman Soldier's Own Story: The Autobiography of Xie Bingying


Xie Bingying - 2001
    It provides a fascinating portrayal of a woman fighting to free herself from the constraints of ancient Chinese tradition amid the dramatic changes that shook China during the 1920s, '30s, and '40s.

Miss Moorthy Investigates


Ovidia Yu - 2012
    Despite the rumours doing the rounds, young Miss Moorthy feels safe as a secondary school teacher. That is, until her colleague, Evelyn Ngui, is murdered and her free-spirited flatmate, Connie, encounters the murderer in their house. Now sensible Miss Moorthy has no choice. She must investigate. Will she pin down the motivations of The Strangler?. Will she understand his association with the naive Evelyn Ngui? Most importantly, will she come out alive, as she stumbles upon forgotten secrets? Find out, as Miss Moorthy handles school students, anxious parents, a stuffed blue rabbit, and possibly, more than one killer, with aplomb.

The Last Princess of Manchuria


Lilian Lee - 1992
    35,000 first printing. $25,000 ad/promo.This is an English Translation of the Chinese novel by Lillian Lee / Li Pik-Wah

Cambodia: Report from a Stricken Land


Henry Kamm - 1998
    foreign policy. Many view it as the unfortunate stage upon which American and Communist forces battled during the Vietnam War in a savage struggle that tore up the land and shattered the fragile populace. Starting with the overthrow of Prince Norodom Sihanouk in 1970, South East Asia correspondent and Pulitzer Prize winner Henry Kamm recalls 30 years of revolution and genocide in Cambodia. He begins with the establishment of the Khmer Rouge, detailing the vicious Communist occupation that took place between 1975 to 1979, then moves on to the Vietnamese invasion, the 1991 Paris peace settlement, and the demise of Pol Pot. Kamm pays special attention to the foreign influences that played a significant role in crippling the evolution of the Cambodian people. This sobering perspective on Cambodia's recent, often tragic, history explains how years of political turbulence and violence has strangled the economy and stagnated the social growth of the people to this day. Kamm intrepidly attempts to answer the questions of "why" and "how" even as he contemplates the uncertain future of the country as the new millennium approaches. Kamm writes with poise and grace, while his 30 years of experience in the region gives him unique insight into the plight of the Cambodians. Those who were moved by The Killing Fields, will find Cambodia a gripping read. --Jeremy Storey Cambodia has long been regarded as one of the lost causes of U.S. foreign policy. Many view it as the unfortunate stage upon which American and Communist forces battled during the Vietnam War in a savage struggle that tore up the land and shattered the fragile populace. Starting with the overthrow of Prince Norodom Sihanouk in 1970, South East Asia correspondent and Pulitzer Prize winner Henry Kamm recalls 30 years of revolution and genocide in Cambodia. He begins with the establishment of the Khmer Rouge, detailing the vicious Communist occupation t

走得越远,离自己越近 The Farther I Walk, The Closer I Get To Me


Hong Mei - 2014
    Encountering Maoist insurgents in Orissa, performing in a Bollywood production alongside superstar Aamir Khan, befriending India's Hijra community, and being kidnapped - and subsequently arrested - in the Dharavi slums are among her many unique experiences.Written from the unique perspective of a young Chinese woman of the 1980s generation, and heralding the transformative nature of independent travel, Hong's groundbreaking journey and book have been covered extensively in the international media. Husband Tom Carter, the critically acclaimed photographer and author of CHINA: Portrait of a People, adds a wonderful dimension with his numerous beautiful photographs.《走得越远,离自己越近》是中国女孩洪梅与外国男友背包走印度的深度游走纪行。一年之内四进印度,走遍印度东西南北,我和汤姆以最平和的心态接受了一切。有时被瑰美的建筑震撼,有时被当地人的虔诚感染,有时因为突如其来的遭遇饱受冲击,有时又懒散地躺在海滩边晒太阳。前一刻被半大小子戏弄,在孟买贫民窟遭遇绑架,下一刻在恒河边漫步,在红堡遥看泰姬陵,在圣河瓦拉纳西洗涤尘埃。这一村惊叹悬崖上养蜂人勇敢矫健,那一寨遭遇牛尿液酿饮料骇人听闻。这一端凡间生活生机盎然,另一端生命终结古老圣洁。我们拿笔和相机记录下一路的感受,没有什么真知灼见,要的是真实的自己。

Tiger's Heart: The Story of a Modern Chinese Woman


Aisling Juanjuan Shen - 2009
    Book by Shen, Aisling Juanjuan

Crazy Rich Asians


Kevin Kwan - 2013
    What she doesn't know is that Nick's family home happens to look like a palace, that she'll ride in more private planes than cars, and that with one of Asia's most eligible bachelors on her arm, Rachel might as well have a target on her back.Initiated into a world of dynastic splendor beyond imagination, Rachel meets Astrid, the It Girl of Singapore society; Eddie, whose family practically lives in the pages of the Hong Kong socialite magazines; and Eleanor, Nick's formidable mother, a woman who has very strong feelings about who her son should—and should not—marry.Uproarious, addictive, and filled with jaw-dropping opulence, Crazy Rich Asians is an insider's look at the Asian JetSet; a perfect depiction of the clash between old money and new money; between Overseas Chinese and Mainland Chinese; and a fabulous novel about what it means to be young, in love, and gloriously, crazily rich.