... Those pictures are 100% Chinese paintings and the difference between Chinese paintings and Japanese painting are very distinguished. (By the way, I am a Chinese American, and know both Chinese and Japanese cultures, including language and art, quite well.)

I have read countless translations of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching. This is simply the best.

This book has given the ancient text of the Tao Te Ching new life. Each colorful page exudes the beauty and culture of the text. Japanese Art and Characters accompany the poetic translation. Anyone interested in Taoism would find this not only beautiful but also an informative treasure. This is not an item easily lost in your personal library. It is more likely to find its home on the coffee table.

This is a beautiful translation of the Tao Te Ching. It is not mechanistic, as is so common among English translations of this book, but attempts to flow with the beauty and prose of the original Chinese. I think the only other translation that compares to this is by Stephen Mitchell; side to side Stephen's is more scientifically accurate, but less poetic. What is commonly missed in translating this work is that the free flowing and beautiful prose plays a great deal to accuracy, but contra wise it is true that English attempts to translate this work into prose inevitably at times narrow down what should be open ended. :) If you have an interest in the Tao Te Ching, reading more than one translation helps to firmly grasp what beauty the text is in the original Chinese, and how it can be understood in various ways.

For beginners, this was my first book on Taoism. Although I am a computer scientist who enjoys logic, the Tao Te Ching brought me to the other side (dialectics), and while I keep the Mitchell translation close at hand to resolve problems in this translation, this is the translation that I go back and read time and again, not Mitchell's.

This book offers a 40 page introduction explaining the history of the Tao Te Ching and offers details of the task of translating. About it's prose and construction I can really say no more than it is beautiful, but here are two balanced examples of comparison to help (from Ch. 11 and Ch. 5 respectively):

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This translation: " Thirty spokes on a cartwheel / Go towards the hub that is the centre / -- but look, there is nothing at the centre /and that is precisely why it works!"

S. Mitchell: "We join spokes together in a wheel, / but it is the center hole / that makes the wagon move. [...] We work with being, / but non-being is what we use."

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S. Mitchell: "The Tao doesn't take sides; / it gives birth to both good and evil. / The Master doesn't take sides; / she welcomes both saints and sinners."

This translation: "Heaven and earth /are not like humans. / The Tao does not act like a human. // They don't expect to be thanked / For making life, / So they view it without expectation."

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I got this book because I was interested in learning more about Tao -- my only experience had been the Tao of Pooh. This is probably a good book if you know about Tao and the philosophy behind it, but as a newcomer, it wasn't interesting or educational.

I prefer Burton Watson's translation to Palmer and Breuilly's, especially after reading parts in the Chinese text. But Palmer and Breuilly won't steer U wrong though. No, this is a decent translation of the entire text, which is not a common sight! Only Burton Watson, James Legge, and Victor Mair have put out complete Zhuangzi translations. AC Graham's translation is also quite good.

BAO PU-
embrace simplicity

As a long-time Chuang-Tzu enthusiast, I thoroughly enjoyed this translation. I imagine this would be very enjoyable to the general reader; I have read many commentaries on the meaning of Chuang-Tzu's philosophy (Victor Mair's, Allinson's, Wing-Tsit Chan's, A.C. Graham's, etc.) so my perspective is "biased" in particular way- I like the absurdity and relativistic notions, sort of a Lewis Carroll point of view. This translation fits in with my predilictions nicely. Chuang-tzu takes some pondering, and any translation that makes it too simple is doing the reader an injustice. This one captures all the irony and absurdity, yet leaves plenty of room for befuddlement. It contains ALL the chapters, not just the inner ones. Highly recommended!! I keep this by the bed along with The People's Guide to Mexico, another perennial favorite!

This book was interesting, but lacked practical insight into personal interface with Kwan Yin. Good for a more "academic", objective look as this boddhisattva, but not for those who are looking for intimate insights.

This book gives much historical information in a short space. It also contains the 100 divination poems. The beginning is a bit dry but all in all a good book. The only thing I was hoping to find and did not was more stories about people who had had special or miraculous occurances that they attribute to her.

i was not a devotee for kuan yin.but after reading this book,i realised that there are indeed miracles associated with kuan yin,which came to my mind after reading this book.similar to one of the book's account of an example of kuan yin revelation,i had also a true account of kuan yin's help given to my mom's neighbour.a neighbour of ours happens to go out to attend some urgent things while forgeting to switch off the gas stove.a fire started and i was quite big.fortunately my neighbour who was told about the fire started to ask kuan yin for help.strangely enough,the fire suddenly extinguished by itself without anyone trying to put it off.it was witness by my mom and some friends who were desperately trying to open the locked door.finally when the door was opened,my mon saw a statue of kuan yin at the kitchen,still intact,serene and untouched by the fire.such was the strange things that kuan yin has always help people who ask her for help.maybe ,the author would like to find out more about kuan yin's revelations by asking among kuan yin's devotees in china,taiwan hk or south east asia in the future.thanks

In a plot device borrowed from M.R. James Casting the Runes a writer of international thrillers is slipped a cursed totem. Slowly he is filled with the urge to kill his child, who has suddenly become a rage inducing problem in the household. Campbell, who originally published this book under a pseudonym, builds the unbearable suspense with painful slowness, letting the reader suffer through each delicious moment until the rushed finale, which ends like a low budget horror movie. Recommended.

This author is not very very adept, their are many better versions of thi