From the Pulitzer Prize winning journalist: a revelatory portrait of religion in China today, its history, the spiritual traditions of its Eastern and Western faiths, and the ways in which it is influencing China's future. Following a century of violent antireligious campaigns, China is now awash with new temples, churches, and mosques as well as cults, sects, and politicians trying to harness religion for their own ends. Driving this explosion of faith is uncertainty over what it means to be Chinese, and how to live an ethical life in a country that discarded traditional morality a century ago and is still searching for new guideposts. Ian Johnson lived for extended periods with underground church members, rural Daoists, and Buddhist pilgrims. He has distilled these experiences into a cycle of festivals, births, deaths, detentions, and struggle a great awakening of faith that is shaping the soul of the world s newest superpower. (With black-and-white illustrations throughout).
The Soul of China offers readers a tour of Chinese tradition and character lost to the modern era. Richard Wilhelm arrived in China before the Boxer Rebellion and stayed for a quarter of a century. He became intimate with retired princes and Taoist priests; he steeped himself in Chinese philosophy and occultism; he emerged with a profound respect for the Chinese culture. With chapters on the Revolution, Chinese country life, royalty and soundrels, and occultism and religious movements, this book is one man's fascinating travelogue and exploration of an important age in Chinese history. Richard Wilhelm (1873-1930) was a German scholar who translated many philosophical and spiritual works from Chinese into German that in turn have been translated into other major languages of the world, including English. His translation of the I Ching is regarded as one of the finest.
An inside analysis of modern cultural and political upheavals in China by a fluent Beijing correspondent describes the power struggles currently taking place between the party elite and supporters of democracy, the outcome of which the author predicts will significantly affect China's rise to a world super-power. 125,000 first printing.
The definitive book on China's uneasy transformation into an economic and political superpower, and an insightful and thought-provoking analysis of daily life in China from the Pulitzer Prize–winning journalists and bestselling authors of Half a Sky. "Nick Kristof's and Sheryl WuDunn's work as correspondents in China was beyond compare, and now they have written a book every bit as astonishing. China Wakes is filled with anecdote, detail, and analysis of the highest order.... This book demands reading, and yet it is a pleasure as well as an education." —David Remnick, Editor of The New Yorker Featuring 16 pages of photos
The most comprehensive study of Shifu available, this valuable work explores the life and political milieu of a central figure in Republican China. Krebs provides an intellectual biography of this committed revolutionary and analyzes the importance of Shifu's thought during the New Culture-May Fourth years as his followers fought for influence with the Marxists and later over the issue of alliance with the Nationalists.
Any kitchen can be a Chinese kitchen with these 80 easy comfort food recipes—plus tips and techniques for cooking with a wok, stocking your pantry, making rice, and more. Chinese food is more popular than any other cuisine and yet it often intimidates North American home cooks. Chinese Soul Food draws cooks into the kitchen with accessible recipes that bring comfort with a single bite or sip. These are dishes that feed the belly and speak the universal language of "mmm!" In Chinese Soul Food, you’ll find: • 80 approachable recipes for homestyle Chinese dishes • Essential tips for Chinese cooking, including wok care, rice preparation, and more • Basic Chinese pantry staples, plus acceptable substitutions for busy cooks Recipes include: • Red-braised porky belly • Dry-fried green beans • Braised-beef noodle soup • Green onion pancakes • Garlic eggplant • Hsiao-Ching Chou’s famous potstickers • And much more! Recipes are streamlined to minimize the fear factor of unfamiliar ingredients and techniques, and home cooks are gently guided toward becoming comfortable cooking satisfying Chinese meals.
"This book will act as a powerful introduction to the story of Beijing Opera over the course of the twentieth century with a particularly strong emphasis on the Communist period and its influence on contemporary performance. Using excellent oral history research and with a strong focus on practice and performance techniques, Li Ruru places the genre in both its historical and global context: not a timeless Chinese tradition, but a product of China's turbulent twentieth century and the global interactions that were a key part of that history." Henrietta Harrison, Harvard University "This meticulously researched and colourful account of the highly complex performance form, jingju, will be of interest to a wide constituency of theatre scholars and cultural historians. Writing from the unique dual perspective of`insider/practitioner' and academic, Li Ruru deftly weaves oral and cultural histories together with detailed performance analyses, including a fascinating chapter on the secrets of jingju training. This book promises to raise significantly the profile of this Chinese total theatre for English-speaking audiences."Jonathan Pitches, founding co-editor of Theatre, Dance and Performance Training "Li Ruru's unique and valuable perspective combines the critical eye of the imaginative researcher with the intimate perspective of a true jingju insider-the daughter of one of the twentieth century's leading female performers. Impeccably researched, passionate and personal, this aptly titled book provides readers with an exciting and thought provoking look at jingju history and performance practice through its focus on the lives and work of six controversial leading artists." Elizabeth Wichmann-Walczak, University of Hawai'i at Manoa Any traditional theatre has to engage the changing world to avoid becoming a living fossil. How has Beijing Opera --- a highly stylized theatre with breath-taking acrobatics and martial arts, fabulous costumes and striking makeup --- survived into the new millennium while coping with a century of great upheavals and competition from new entertainment forms? Li Ruru's The Soul of Beijing Opera answers that question, looking at the evolution of singing and performance styles, make-up and costume, audience demands, as well as stage and street presentation modes amid tumultuous social and political changes. Li's study follows a number of major artists' careers in mainland China and Taiwan, drawing on extensive primary print sources as well as personal interviews with performers and their cultural peers. One chapter focuses on the illustrious career of Li's own mother and how she adapted to changes in Communist ideology. In addition, she explores how performers as social beings have responded to conflicts between tradition and modernity, and between convention and innovation. Through performers' negotiation and compromises. Beijing Opera has undergone constant re-examination of its inner artistic logic and adjusted to the demands of the external world.
