Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon deserves a more thorough look at its production, cast, and impact on modern cinema. The essays are informative if very short. One in particular is helpful since it lists many worthwhile films from Asia that would be of interest to fans of CTHD.

Reading the screenplay is of little interest, since you can watch the DVD or video.

...The music is wonderful.

the book does not tell you much about the actors, the director, the genre, or other related subjects. its okay to browse through while your at a bookstore but not for purchase.

This is a GREAT book... It includes the screenplay of the film, which, is nice to read once in awhile when not watching the DVD. It's filled w/ wonderful photos from the movie and set, and has many quotes and commentaries from actors and Ang Lee about certain situations while filming... and about the film. It's very entertaining to read, but I just wish there was more information about the actors included in the pages. There are comments about them and their performances here and there... and the quotes are great, but the background info on all of the actors is just not there. But all dedicated crouching tiger fans should get it, b/c it's just so nicely laid out and is such good quality. I mean, who cares if they leave a little out? It's so fun to look at!

Unfortunately, this is the best book out there on the subject. But not for long...

Master Tong's student, Yang Wei Jie is currently publishing his own book in English. He has already written many in Chinese.

Besides the errors in point location in this book, the biggest problem is that it fails to convey the system that Master Tong used to choose his points.

That's to be expected, since this is basically a translation of Master Tong's first book. Master Tong did not explain his system to his students until after that book was written.

So, if you want to learn the system by which you can choose and find and create your own points for whoever walks into your clinic, wait for another book! Either Yang Wei Jie's, or one that has yet to be written on the clinical use of the system by someone else like Dr. Robert Chu.

the surprise for me was that this book covers mostly non-standard points (with some overlap at points like ST 36 and LR 3). This makes it a bit more difficult to integrate with my current treatment strategies, but offers a new approach to consider for some difficult patients. I like that each time I have needled these points there has been a definate 'da qi' sensation, also the advice about needling mainly on one side for most treatments (which I follow 80 % of the time now in my clinic)

Tong's Acupuncture is a system of treatment that developed in parallel to the more widely-known channel-style acupuncture. It was preserved as a Tong family lineage up until this century, when political upheaval saw the last Tong lineage-holder leave China for Taiwan. Dr. Tong often treated 100 patients daily in his Taiwan clinic. Upon realizing that he had no heir apparent to the Tong lineage, he allowed his students to persuade him to publish the Tong acupuncture system.

It is a blessing, indeed, that this system has survived. This is what I would term a "zone" system of acupuncture as opposed to a channel system. Extensive use is made of contralateral treatment (miu ci), and the Tong perspective on five-phase theory, while not explicitly discussed, will gradually reveal itself to the careful student. The Tong system applies five-phase theory in a way that at first seems very alien to the more familiar channel acupuncture, but it turns out to be a different application of the same concepts, and it will be accessible, with nominal effort, to anyone versed in five-phase thinking.

I owe Miriam Lee an enormous debt of gratitude for translating this material. This book has had a profound influence on my conceptualization and practice of acupuncture, and my patients would confirm the healing potential of Tong-style treatment. The Tong system continues to enjoy popularity on Taiwan, and is now becoming increasingly known abroad as an effective and elegant style of treatment, appropriate for internal diseases as well as pain.

Even if you never use any Tong points, this book will forever change your view of acupuncture.