We spent two months in NW China this summer and used this book so much that we threw away my other guide book (It is a very lonely one now). We finally left China: the Silk Routes with another traveller in Xiahi as we left the Silk Route regions. It is simply the best guide book for the Silk Road available, listing locations and towns that are not yet covered in other books, plus great essays on historical areas and the sites. It also has a handy index (with Chinese characters) of food, phrases, and other useful words to ease communications.

Last fall, I traveled on the Silk Road, from Uzbekistan through Western China to Xian, with two companions. This was far and away the best travel guide we used. Not only did it guide us to the best accomodations available in out of the way places, but it also gave us excellent practical information wherever we were. Because we did not speak the local language, we relied on this excellent book to give us interesting background and historical info. When communications were all but impossible, I would open the book and point to the relevant phrases written in Chinese characters, and we were able to get what we needed! This book is worth its weight in gold for anyone traveling independently in this part of the world.

Two great virtues make this an excellent guide indeed. First, it is a really useful planner in that it contains sufficient details for you to map your routes, pick your transports, accomodation, eating places, etc. Alongside are also well written sections on the history and other aspects that an inquiring traveller demands and appreciates. Both the traveller/writer and the publisher are to be heartily congratulated

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

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

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

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

It would make a perfect Christmas present.

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

This is the first of a series of Judge Dee novels set in seventh-century China. Judge Dee is an Imperial Magistrate who in the course of his job, is posted all over the Imperial Chinese Empire. He has a keen interest in solving crimes and is interested in interacting actively with the people around him. The novel opens with Dee leaving the imperial capital for the district of Peng-lai, near the Korean border. This is his first posting as District Magistrate. He leaves accompanied by his adviser Sergeant Hoong and on the way, meets two highwaymen, Ma Joong and Chiao Tai. Impressed by his forceful personality, the two men decide to give up their life of crime and become officers of the tribunal under Judge Dee. Upon arrival in Peng-lai, Judge Dee has to deal with multiple crimes; his predecessor was murdered, the wife of a prominent businessman has disappeared, a tiger is terrorizing the locals, the judge's chief clerk has gone missing and there are suspicions that Peng-lai is a center for gold smuggling into Korea! Into this hotbed of crime, comes Judge Dee who is able to pull all the threads together and solve the crimes. I loved the wealth of historical detail in the book as well as the actual mysteries, and Judge Dee himself is refreshingly human and is amused by the antics of his underlings! Would highly recommend the book to all those interested in historical mysteries - it's great fun!

Long before Brother Cadfael, there was Judge Dee. The series started in the 1950s but they are modelled after Judge Dee mysteries written in early China. In this adventure, Judge Dee arrives at a new post and must solve the murder of his predecessor. As with all of his adventures, there are several side mysteries to unravel. Well written and skillfully plotted, the Judge Dee mysteries are must reads.

I have all of Van Gulik's Chinese murder mysteries and this is the one to start out with. Not only is the book entertaining on its own merits as a mystery but you learn about a historical Chinese culture. The plot twists and villains are clever and Judge Dee is the bomb.

If the name John Blofeld means anything to you, you've probably been consulting the I Ching. Blofeld wrote a popular translation to the Chinese oracle at a time when the only other version available in English was Richard Wilhelm's groundbreaking but somewhat turgid text.

"City of Lingering Splendor" is an autobiographical travelogue, one of the best ever written. Dedicated to ' the hermits, scholars, youths and courtesans who inspired these pages ' it's a love letter to Peking and the breathtaking greatness of an ancient civilisation at its twilight, about to be extinguished.

While remote jungles still offer anthropologists the chance to chew the fat with stone age peoples, the romantics among us are simply out of luck. Until someone invents a working time machine, Ancient Egypt is gone forever along with Homer's Greece and Imperial Rome.

But in 1934 it was still possible to travel back in time. Back to Old China, to a culture that had remained virtually untouched for thousands of years---and chew Peking Duck with Taoist sages. . .

Wonderful reading.

I had no idea when I picked up this book that I had such a pleasant experience in store for me. Beginning in 1934, a young man in his twenties spends "three exquisitely happy years" in a China at the edge of the abyss. Japan had already invaded Manchuria and made no secrets of its intentions of further conquest. The shaky Chinese Republic was ruled out of Nanking; and Peking was still full of memories of the old Dowager Empress, the last of her line.

The streets of Peking were full of Confucian scholars, aging palace eunuchs, adepts of Taoism and Buddhism, starving White Russian refugees, 14-year-old opium addicts, and gentle courtesans and flute girls. Blofeld threw himself headfirst into this world which was on the point of being snuffed out forever. Most memorable are the White Russian hermaphrodite Shura and the Rasputin-like Father Vassily; the decorous Buddhist scholar Dr Chang; Yang Taoshih, the Taoist sage, and his friend known only as the Peach Garden Hermit; the lovely courtesan Jade Flute; and the mysterious Pao, who elopes with a young girl intended for a Japanese colonel.

After Blofeld leaves for a trip to England, the Japanese finally invade. There are two bittersweet chapters at the end where Blofeld revisits the scenes of his youth after 1945. His fragile Peking of the 1930s is now poised between a growingly thuggish Kuomintang secret police and the great unknown of Mao Tse-tung's Eighth Route Army.

Blofeld's Dr Chang says it all: "Decay is inherent in all things, as Shakyamuni Buddha bade us always remember. Death swallows all that has been born; rebirth or re-creation follow in their turn, as spring follows winter. Things rise and wane in unceasing flux."

CITY OF LINGERING SPLENDOUR is recommended to all sentient beings who were ever young once and are now faced with a confused welter of possibilities, none of which seem particularly appetizing.

This is the most sensitive, respectful and intelligent book I have read on traditional Chinese culture. The writing is terrific, on a par with Peter Fleming's, though more from the heart.

It records the author's love affair with the city before WW2 (and includes a return to Beijing after it). While meeting many of its remaining Daoist, Confucianist, Bhuddist and literary leaders and exploring its temples, nightlife and food, we get a last sympathetic, philosophical, tragic glimpse of the splendour decaying under the Republic. Before it vanished under the Maoists.

If you thought there was little more to pre-War China than footbinding, Dowager Empresses, opium and Shanghain greed and degeneracy, this book will even the score a little.

This is one of the best collector reference books I have ever seen. It is laid out in an easy to read and refer format and the pictures are fantastic. It contains well over 100 pages on teapots alone. Descriptions are clear, interesting and well written.

This is a perfect addition to the Hall China or teapot collector's library.

One of the most beautifully set up collector's books I have seen. The Hall China items are photographed and then all the backgrounds are eliminated and they are arranged "floating" on a solid color background.... just like a color version of a few old Hall China Catalog pages I have framed... only those "old" catalogs were in black and white... to have all the patterns shown in color and arranged this way is a tribute to the Whitmyer's artistry.

The scope and number of patterns shown was expanded and the wait for the new edition was worth it! The only complaint I have is the prices, especially on Autumn Leaf, seem to be a bit too low, and some items show values much lower than they regularly sell for on Internet Auction services. One can only hope to buy a Autumn Leaf batter bowl for $2,500!

Order it now, I think you will not be disapointed!

This is a great book. It has almost 300 pages of photos and illustrations of the popular collectable pottery made by Hall China of East Liverpool, Ohio. The Whitmyers give us a history of the pottery, a chart of color swatches to use to compare to our collectibles, and an extensive treatment of the various patterns and styles made over the years.

They cover the various dinnerware patterns: Ruffled D-Shape, C&D-Shape, E-Shape, the classic Eva Zeisel Shapes, and the Century & Tomorrow's Classic Dinnerware. They cover the kitchenware patterns, the refrigerator ware, the teapots and coffee pots, other products like the punch sets, and shed some light on re-issues and new products.

All in all this is an exhaustively thorough reference work, valuable for all, from dealer to novice. If you love collecting Hall China, don't hesitate to buy this book!

I was so pleased to receive this book. Mr. Conti elevates biographical data to a new plane. His descriptions are insightful and useful in the evaluation of Sascha art. This is one of the best books I've acquired on Amazon.

Thsi is one of the most informative books I own, and I have aver 100 books on Antiques and Collectibles. Wonderful pictures, price guide, and the most interesting biography of Sacha's life beginning in early childhood.

Very well written with wonderful pictures. A most interesting biography of Saschas life. Anyone interested in pottery, sculpture, and many other forms of art will love this book. Feel free to contact me regarding this excellent book. I have a very large library of books on antiques and collectibles, this is my favorite.

I agree that this book rings hauntingly true, from my own travels on the mainland, Hong Kong, and living in Taiwan. I've read just about all of the most popular autobiographies of Chinese who lived through the Cultural Revolution (the last decade has seen a flood of these, many very good reads), but never have I wanted so BADLY to meet the author as with this book. She rings so true and human, if it's not all true, she is a powerful story teller... She is feisty, funny, and a true survivor... I love the book and her for sharing it with me...

I have traveled to China on business for 20 years. What struck me was not just the story of the China(s) that I know, but the much deeper and more complex China that I do not know. The author's descriptions ring true to everything I have seen and to the small glimpses I have had of what goes on that is not according to the official story. For instance, I have seen first hand what the author talks about in the generation whose education and professional lives were sacrificed to the cultural revolution. In the late 70's and early 80's, technical meetings would consist of a few older experts and a multitude of young trainees. There were none in the middle age groups who would normally be just entering the peak of their professional lives. A generation on, this is no longer so evident but the effects are still there. Thanks to Toto, by the way, for giving me the opportunity to enjoy this book. I was aware of the difference between the monolithic official line and the incredibly pluralistic personal views of individual Chinese. This book brought home to me just how much more there is to China and the people of China than I known. The events related here would make a fabulous fantasy tale. The strangest thing is that they were instead the normal, every day lives for most of a billion people for many, many years. I heartily recommend this book to any who want an intense and closeup view of China in the last 50 years.

I came across this book at the library one day while looking for a memoir on the Cultural Revolution. Most of the books that I have read about the Moaist years in China have been about people who didn't realize the effect the Party and Mao had on them. But author Chen Chen was raised by liberal parents and was educated in the Western style. This probably allowed her to relize that some of the movements and programs were a little odd and forced the Party's power on to the brainwashed citizens and the now lost generation. I was totally engrossed in this novel because the story was told by someone who understood what was happening and who was brainwashed.

This is one of my favorite Christian books, and Carl Lawrence is a favorite author. The book repeats some of his earlier book, now out of print, "The Church in China." Even so, this does not detract. Lawrence details the movement of the Holy Spirit in China, while giving examples. Also, the book gives a history of Chinese missions, at least partly explaining this movement of Christianity in a hostile country. A great book!

Reading this book encouraged me greatly. The work of the Holy Spirit among Christians in China is phenomonal. The lesson of how God turns what to man seems evil into good is prominent throughout this book. I recommend this as reading for all Christians who believe that what we are about is to follow Jesus' command to go forth, make disciples, teaching what Jesus has taught us. I sincerely pray that this book will be printed again.

This book renewed me more than anything I've read in ten years. God is moving in China!

Excellant book, well written. Conveys core ideas succinctly. Uses modern spellings: Kongzi=Confucius, Mengzi=Mencius, Xunzi=Hsun Tzu, and Zhu Xi=Chu Hsi. A thoughtful and educational book. It was enlightening and stimulating.

If you are a beginner or student of Chinese philosophy, you should buy this book. This is a great introduction to Confucian thinkers written in accessible and clear language. I found it to be extremely easy to read and very easy to understand. Like the anthology he co-edited with Dr. Van Norden (whose review is below), this book is excellent. And it is very reasonably priced as well.

- J. McCausland

Ivanhoe provides a readable and reliable overview of some of the major figures in Confucianism from over 2,500 years. Each Confucian is discussed in terms of two themes: the relative emphasis he gives to study and reflection, and his conception of human nature. Confucius himself was somewhat ambiguous on these points (leading to much dispute among later followers). Mencius, since he believed that human nature is good, said that reflection on our innate instincts could provide us with ethical guidance. Xunzi disagreed with Mencius, arguing that human nature is bad, so we must study to reform our nature. Later Confucians like Zhu Xi and Wang Yangming were deeply influenced by the Buddhist notion of a transpersonal self that all humans share. However, Zhu Xi thought that our selfish desires heavily obscured our good, original nature, so we must study in order to better understand our own nature. In contrast, Wang Yangming, while recognizing the danger of selfish desires, warned against the dangers of purely academic study. He held that each of us has, prior to study, the ability to exercise a "pure knowing," through which we both know the good and will act in accordance with it.

I use this book a lot in my classes: I recommend it highly.

(This book is a revised version of a much more expensive hardback edition published by Peter Lang.)

This is another of Allan W. Eckert's Winning of America series. This installment deals with the bloody Indian uprising in 1763 attributed to the Ottawa chief Pontiac in the days following the fall of New France to the British during the French and Indian War. In actuality, Pontiac was not so much the leader as the initial inspiration for a frontier-wide attempt by the Great Lakes Indians to rise up and overthrow their British conquerors and restore their French allies to control of the lands west of the Alleghenies.

The uprising was a result of agressive and arrogant British policies toward the Indians, whom the British commander-in-chief Jeffery Amherst viewed as a dangerous and barbaric race that deserved to be exterminated. Against the advice of his advisors and officers, Amherst had instituted a blatant anti-Indian policy forbidding the sale of arms and ammunition to the western tribes which had the effect of effectively starving them out as they could no longer hunt and provide for themselves, a direct result of the near-total dependence of the tribes on European trade goods. When the British assumed control of the former French forts and settlements in the Northwest, the stage was set for a terrible confrontation.

Pontiac's uprising was one of the largest and nearly successful Indian rebellions in North American history, with the Indians for a time controlling nearly all the forts in the Northwest territory and laying seige to Fort Detroit and Fort Pitt. It was only with Colonel Henry Bouquet's victory at Bushy Run and the subsequent march of Bouquet and Bradstreet's armies into the Ohio country that finally quelled the bloodshed. The failure of the rebellion ultimately showed that the British were there to stay and that not only was the power of the French in America smashed forever, but that the symbiotic relationship between the whites and the native tribes was coming to an end, and with it the Indians way of life.

Eckert brings the story alive with great historical characters like Pontiac, George Croghan, Alexander Henry, Robert Rogers, John Bradstreet, and Henry Bouquet and depicts the important events that helped shape the early western frontier that would one day become the states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana. Highly recommended.

Since a co-worker introduced me to Eckert's 'Narratives' series, I don't find time for much else. I finished Wilderness Empire, the Conquerer and am now into The Frontiersman. This has not only been a great learning experience, but an absolutely fascinating account of the American Indians, French, English, and early American colonists and the conflicts involved in the taking of America. Historic characters such as George Washington, Daniel Boone and Chiefs Pontiac and Tecumsah, come to life in a narrative that makes you feel that you are there. Eckert is a master of presenting an objective viewpoint of history - as opposed to presenting history in the viewpoint of the victors, usually the norm.

Thank you Mr. Eckert for taking the BOREDOM out of history. The graphic (and realistic) details of the struggle on the frontier captured my attention from start to finish. I can't wait to move on to the next in the series.