The last of the elder dragons was slain long ago, and ever since his death, the world has been beset by violence, poverty and the many other evils that vex humankind. After Wyc the minstrel relates the tale of Sir Ulryc and the Last Dragon to the court of the warmongering King Adryc, the king decides to recover the dragon's treasure from Mount Dragonheart. However, the secret of how to reach the inaccessible mountain is known only to the monks of Elyon. When the king’s soldiers invade High Dragon monastery looking for the secret way, young Tercyn and four squabbling monks escape into the mysterious Land of Dragons carrying the monastery’s most sacred relic, the Eye of the Dragon. To save the monastery, all five must overcome their own personal dragons and somehow find a way to defeat the king’s soldiers. Dragongate is both an imaginative tour de force and an exploration of the causes of human suffering and how to overcome them.
Sailing to California in 1865, 14-year-old Otter leaves China to meet his father and legendary uncle on the transcontinental railroad, an adventure that challenges his survival on the mountains of the Sierras. Newbery Honor Book
This authorized biography of the contemporary Taoist expert Wang Liping (1949 -) tells the true story of his apprenticeship in Taoist wizardry, as well as Taoist principles and secrets of inner transformation. The 18th-generation transmitter of Dragon Gate Taoism, Wang Liping is heir to a tradition of esoteric knowledge and practice accumulated and refined over eleven centuries. This is the first English translation by noted writer Thomas Cleary of the authorized biography by two longtime disciples of this living master of the Dragon Gate branch of the Complete Reality school of Taoism, which integrated Buddhism and Confucianism into a comprehensive new form of Taoism.
Johnson and Te Salle deliver a meditative, beautifully illustrated yet profoundly practical book that takes readers deep into the natural world and into a new understanding of the art of gardening.
From simple breathing exercises that make you feel healthier and more alive to advanced sexual yoga, The Secrets of Dragon Gate is the key to your unique path to health, wealth, and spiritual fulfillment. The Dragon Gate School is known for its singular combination of sexual yoga and dream yoga practices; mystical divination methods for choosing a wise and fruitful path; Chi-gung and martial arts practices for health and longevity; and profound philosophy, based on the I Ching (Book of Changes) and the five elements, that provides a deep insight into the nature of reality. Incorporate the mysterious and ancient wisdom of the Dragon Gate School of Taoism into your daily life, and find answers to the question of how to live a long, prosperous, and happy life.
Former Academician Anna Kim’s research into AI cost her everything. Now, years later, the military has need of her expertise in order to prevent the destruction of their AI-powered fleet. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
This book celebrates the most important collection of 17th-century Chinese porcelain in the world, assembled by the distinguished British diplomat Sir Michael Butler. His passion for porcelain is clearly reflected in the over eight hundred pieces he collected and lived with at his home and private museum in Dorset. The pots (as Sir Michael called them), many of extreme rarity or exquisite quality, give testimony to the incredible depth of knowledge he acquired over five decades and his outstanding contribution to research and education in this previously neglected field of study. This lavish and comprehensive collection covers most types of porcelain produced at Jingdezhen, in Jiangxi province, during the 17th century. The variety of the pieces carefully acquired by Sir Michael reflects the great innovative spirit of the highly skilled Jingdezhen potters and painters at a time when they were released from the controls of Imperial patronage, between the end of the reign of the Ming Emperor Wanli in 1620 and the re-establishment of the Imperial kilns by the Qing Emperor Kangxi in 1683. It is a study collection of porcelain unrivalled in its breath and rarity that demonstrates the stylistic and qualitative evolution which occurred in Chinese porcelain production during the 17th century. An introduction written by Katharine Butler tells the fascinating story of the circumstances that encouraged her father to acquire, collect and passionately study Chinese porcelain of the 17th century; how he found rare pieces with dates, interesting inscriptions, seal marksor narrative scenes; and how the collection and his scholarly publications came to be internationally renowned. The core of the book is composed of nine sections presenting the main categories of porcelains in the collection: Late Ming, High Transitional, Shunzhi, Early Kangxi, Mid-Late Kangxi, Monochromes and Famille Verte, as well as disputed pieces. Some of the highlights are the extremely rare High Transitional pieces painted only in overglaze enamels dating to the Chongzhen reign, c.1640-43; the first piece acquired by Sir Michael, a green enamel winepot, dating to the early Kangxi reign, c.1665-70; a group of rare dated Zhonghe Tang pieces painted in underglaze blue and red, and an early Kangxi basin finely painted in underglaze blue and red with a Master of the Rocks landscape, dating to c.1670-75. Leaping the Dragon Gate refers to the symbolic metamorphosis from a humble carp to a mighty dragon - the most powerful of the Four Divine Creatures - that a student would undergo on succeeding in the Jinshi or Imperial civil service examinations. Passing these examinations required years, sometimes decades, of enormous effort to acquire the requisite educational merit and success was very rare. It is a worthy metaphor for Sir Michael's scholarly achievement. This 384-page book with over 600 colour illustrations is a catalogue raisonné of almost his entire 17th century porcelain collection, including many previously unpublished pieces. In the spirit of keeping the family legacy of acquisition and scholarship alive, the authors have included a few important, recently purchased pieces and also have revised and expanded the list of all known dated pieces of 17th Century Chinese porcelain in the world that Sir Michael compiled in his 1992 USA exhibition catalogue.
This text examines the enormous pressure placed on University students in Japan, Korea and Taiwan which have led to the rapid expansion of the "cramming" industry and to a growing number of students looking to religion and spirituality for guidance. The book examines the issue of the rise in youth suicides, and the dramatic rise in levels of cheating; both raising fundamental questions about the education system in the late 1990s.
"Dragon's Gate is a superb book, a fascinating story written from the heart and woven into a complex cultural and historical tapestry - a modern classic in the making." - Robert Macklin, author of Dragon and Kangaroo Shi Ding is seventeen. In an attempt to impress a girl, he joins a local Red Guard unit and succeeds in having a nine-year-old boy arrested and a widowed professor of foreign literature driven to a shameful suicide. But when his father's death is also revealed as suicide, Shi Ding is expelled from the gang. He suspects there was more to the relationship between his father and the professor than friendship and he moves into her empty house. There he discovers a library of translations of forbidden Western classics. Himself a born storyteller, he is transfixed by the stories in these books by the likes of Dostoevsky, Stendhal, Hugo, Dickens, and Dumas … Set in China in the mid-60s, Dragon's Gate is about the power of storytelling. Within its overarching narrative, there are stories of little-known worlds: river logging in remote mountains, armed fighting between Red Guard factions, fortune telling on long train journeys, community life in the courtyards of Beijing hutong. Memorable characters abound in this rich and varied tale - characters like Sun Lanfen, the nosy, tough but decent residential compound leader; the blind singer who was struck dumb when he had to sing songs set to Chairman Mao's quotations; and the Buffalo Boy who was reputed to have fathered a hundred children in a Tibetan village. "The unique interweaving of fascinating tales set in exotic places with familiar and much loved western classics makes this book a page turner from beginning to end." - Jane Sydenham-Kwiet, German teacher and translator
