This book is very helpful for those who want to know more about the earlier years of the Chinese Communist party. More than half the book covers the period before the 1960s. The author has synthesized a lot of information from the the available documents and interviews with old Communist leaders. He does a good job of pointing out the inconsistencies of currently available knowledge (for personal testimony is often self-serving, not least in a Communist country), while also supplying solid educated guesses at what really happened. The writing is clear, though because of the nature of the material, one might get lost at times with the many, many names if close attention isn't paid. This is probably a better book for a person already acquainted with recent Chinese history than an absolute beginner.

Arnold Genthe was a German doctor of philosophy who arrived in San Francisco in 1895. He was fascinated by the Chinese and used his skill as an amatuer photographer to take over 200 photos of Chinatown's "Tangrenbu" section. These are valuable photographs as they depict Chinatown as it existed before the 1906 earthquake. Tangrenbu was the home of thousands of Chinese who were forced to live in this area due to de facto segregation and deep seated prejudice by San Franciscans. The Chinese were clannish and left few written records of their lives. The 1906 disaster destroyed whatever documents which may have existed so Genthe's pictures assume an importance beyond the mere fact of depicting persons and scenes.

Chinese had been living in San Francisco as early as 1838, a full ten years before gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill. Between 1838 and 1849, Chinese were men of means, generally merchants, and few in number. As San Francisco boomed with gold seekers, the city experienced a continuing shortage of workers who were needed to lay roadways, reclaim swampy land, make boots and shoes, and to perform hundreds of other tasks. Native Americans wouldn't cooperate and Mexican-Americans were investing their time in gold mining.

The solution was Chinese laborers as they had been used profitably on British colonial plantations in South America and the West Indies. Chinese merchants were employed as middlemen in the process of supplying the laborers. In a span of 30 years, hundreds of thousands of Chinese were lured onto British, American, and other western ships for the long trip across the Pacific Ocean. Conditions on these ships were often worse than on those of the African slave trade. The mortality rate ranged as high as 40%.

During the 1850s and 1860s, 80% of the Chinese in California were spread throughout the mining areas. They were principally used in large company owned mines and had little hope of holding personal mining claims. They were disliked by most independent miners because of their race and their association with the large mining interests. The Chinese miners were also subject to the Foreign Miner's Tax. As primary contributors, they accounted for 50% of California's entire state revenues from 1850 to 1870.

After the decline of mining, the building of railroads became the focus of merchant interests. Irish immigrants were hired by the Central Pacific (CP) to start construction near Sacramento but many refused the debilitating work of carving a few feet of granite daily from the Sierra Nevada mountain range. In 1865, the CP hired 50 Chinese laborers on a trial basis and told them to carve a road through the mountains.

Pleased with the results, 10,000 Chinese were hired within 3 years and drove roadbeds through and over the mountain ranges. In the severe winter of 1866, Chinese crews worked and lived underneath the snow. Avalanches were frequent and buried many Chinese workers. Two of them were found dead, buried under 50 feet of snow with shovels in their hands. An 1870 news article reported the shipment of 10 tons of bones, representing 1200 Chinese railroad workers being sent to China for burial. Chinese were into other areas of work including sewing, shoe shops, etc. By 1870, they formed one-fourth of the state's employed but only one-twelth of its population.

Discriminatory laws were passed against the Chinese including exclusion acts, Chinese children were denied access to public schools and their parents were not allowed the rights granted to U. S. citizens. Tangrenbu or "Little China" ceased to exist after the 1906 earthquake. This proved fortuitous as all immigration records were destroyed making it impossible to determine which Chinese were in the United States illegally. For these newly created citizens, America now became a home instead of a prison.

This book contains 130 of the 200 Tangrenbu photographs in existence. Many of them have never been shown and a viewing makes it clear Genthe was enchanted with the innocence of children. He tended to take photos of special occasions in Chinatown, thus the ornate costuming in many of the prints. While Genthe did retouch some photos and erase objects from others, this does not detract from his body of work despite some fault finding by John Wei Tchen.

Genthe's photos are rich with the visual details of a bustling street life and of the affection shown by the Chinese for their families. This book provides a glimpse into a time and place long past and focuses a reader's attention on the plight of a unique people. After destruction of Old Chinatown, the Chinese embraced the 20th century. Occidental ways, dress, and customs transformed Little China from a forbidden section into a San Francisco tourist attraction.

This book lacks an index and one is sorely needed. Wei Tchen's extensive text adds enjoyment to the photgraphs as he illuminates each picture with revealing and fascinating comments. He has supplied chapter notes and these are very informative. The bibliography is limited and focuses on Genthe's volume of work and 19th century photography.

This books does an excellent job of stressing the importance of the Chinese people to the present day eminence of California and to the western states of America.

A Zen teacher gave me this book to read. I was familiar with the Bull pictures and had read Zen Flesh and Zen Bones which includes the pictures with minimal commentary. Before reading this book however I didn't really get it. This book allows one to clearly understand the meaning of the bull pictures as it relates to the spiritual path. In the process of thoroughly explaining the bull pictures it also very eloquently conveys the core teachings of Buddhism as well. I highly recommend this book.

I needed a book that my nine-year-old daughter and I could use together as she enters adolescence: not too complicated, not too simple, but clear and honest in ways with which we both were comfortable. I read six other similar books before choosing Growing Up, which was the best by far. It does just what we needed it to do without getting past her level of maturity and readiness. The illustrations and explanations are easy to understand. Every issue I wanted to address is covered in this book. My daughter loves it and so do I. I commend it to other parents.

Volume I covers Monoaromatic Hydrocarbons, Chlorobenzenes, and PCB's. Volume II covers Polynuclear Aromatic Hydrocarbons, Polychlorinated Dioxins, Dibenzofurans. Volume III covers Volatile Organic Chemicals (Hydrocarbons, Halogenated Hydrocarbons & Ethers. Volume IV covers Oxygen, Nitrogen, and Sulfur containing compounds (Alcohols, Aldehydes & Ketones, Phenolic Compounds, Carboxylic Acids, Esters, etc. While the series is not comprehensive, it contains invaluable info. If the compound you want is not listed, they suggest you consider the next closest one. Each book contains physical-chemical data for similarly structured groups of chemical substances which influences their fate in the environments of air, water, soils, sediments and their resident biota. Granted this is a compilation of existing data some of which is incorrectly reported, so one must take the "best fit" approach. These books provida a means of having comparison data readily at hand, helping to overcome the problems of identifying errors and estimating properties. This entire series is essential for all environmental scientists & engineers.

this book is great product which will improve the world. I am lookig forward to meet THE PROFESSIONAL REFERENCE. I HAVE SEARCHED THE NEW BOOK BUT i faild.

This book is a must read for anyone interested in Chinese history. The book covers practically all aspects of the life of Aisin Gioro Pu Yi from his brief period on the dragon throne to being a "reformed" man in Peking in the 1960's. A tragic figure, his story is fully told.

The stories in this collection are short in word length, brief, but resonate long after they are read. I had to take a deep breath after each piece, the subtext and implications of what Kuo is doing in using language and writing techniques as a direct reflection of the ambiguity of memory juxtaposed against an almost equally tenuous contemporary identity is fascinating and admirable. I believe that if more people knew about Alex Kuo, a 2002 American Book Award winner, they would enjoy reading this work, though I can also say that Kuo is a writer's writer. There is fine craftmanship in these stories as well as a diversity of thought and exploration that raises this collection above the pointless displays of colorless wordplay infesting contemporary "American" literature.

This book along with the one by Vanvalkenberg is one of the definitive textbooks in this line.

Kuo presents short, simple and lucid explanations of the concepts and supplements the theory with quite a number of problems.

Very useful and very well written.

The study of the Chinese in America has been given a major boost with the publication of this important book by historian John Kuo Wei Tchen. In clear and vivid prose, Tchen has altered the landscape of what has heretofore been accepted as Chinese-American history. From George Washington's porcelain tea set to the Bowery to "Siamese" twins Chang and Eng, the book is filled with eye opening original research and thought provoking conclusions. Sure to become a standard reference in the coming years.