Best Chinese Literary Criticism
Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more. Raymond Dawson, Emeritus Fellow, Wadham College, Oxford.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"As I understand of my readings from the "Tao Te Ching" and the "Complete Works of Chuang Tzu", TAOISM is a philosophy of inaction, the common analogy being that of the river eroding a mountain just by slowly doing its thing over a long course of time. Within the "Analects of Confucius" one finds quite a few gems of wisdom, including the almost universal Golden Rule (the saying, not the health insurance company)."
"One thing that seems worth mentioning is that, although Confucianism is generally referred to as a religion, the values, beliefs, and teachings of Confucius seem to render Confucianism more a philosophy than a religion. He placed great emphasis on "gentlemanly behavior, but seemed less concerned with anything like preparing for the hereafter."
"This actual paper copy was published in 2013 according to amazon, but many of the most helpful reviews are from 2001 or 2004."
"Given to friends."
"Then, as now, I was attracted to a philosophy that did not hold out a reward of eternal salvation as the basis for establishing common morality. At one point in the Analects, Confucius mocks someone who wants to know about death when in his opinion the person knows nothing at all about life. On the other hand, reading it as part of a class and as a student gave me what I am sure was a much better framework for placing the work against history and context. I had read Mencius two years ago and distinctly remember being frustrated by the introduction. I recognize that writing an introduction is rather a thankless job-- you either bore the experts or lose the newbies. I am not certain whether the Lau introduction to the Penguin edition of The Analects would bore an expert, but this (relative) newbie certainly appreciated its assistance."
"Item as described and fast shipping - recommended!"
This 6-page guide provides vocabulary essentials for students, travelers and businesspeople.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This is a great alternative to always checking vocabulary online."
"good reference guide for reminding yourself while walking past or actually studying it."
"The quick guide is great, but, it unfortunately did not contain any verbs."
"It's a helpful chart, what more can you say about it besides I got exactly what I wanted."
"Nice and concise."
"it has lots of information compacted in the pamphlet."
"I have started learning Mandarin and also preparing for HSK tests as official benchmarking of mandarin skills for a foreigner."
"Good basic vocabulary in a concise form."
Exquisite and amusing miniatures regarded as the pinnacle of classical Chinese fiction With their elegant prose, witty wordplay and subtle charm, the 104 stories in this selection from The Strange Tales of Pu Songling (1640-1715) reveal a world in which nothing is as it seems. PU SONGLING (1645-1715) was a poor, undistinguished scholar who had an uneventful life.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"First of all, the quality of physical book itself is lacking. Although it was packaged poorly, the other two books in the box arrived OK, so it says to me that maybe this book just wasn't strong enough to hold up like the other two, which were the quality of an average trade paperback. Physical Book: 2.5 stars. Book Content: 5 stars."
"These are tales rich in the folklore and everyday life of early 18th century China, John Minford provides copious footnotes and appendixes to guide you through an unfamiliar Asian society."
"I read this selection of Chinese fantasy and horror tales in bed, usually one story a night, just before I fell asleep, and that is how I would recommend they be read."
"You'll come across weird things like a demon that wears the skin of a beautiful woman in order to lure men to their death. Most are malicious, using humans to create magical elixers to further their goals of eternal life, but some can be kind and sympathetic to the humans around them."
"Rare combination of simplicity, style, depth presented effortlessly by a writer & translated carefully into modern day English."
"A Chinese classic that is highly esoteric - not sure if non-Chinese readers would understand it - not even sure if modern day English-speaking readers of Chinese descent (like myself) would either..."
"As a Chinese, I find these supernatural tales penned by one of ancient China's finest and most imaginative storytellers - Master Pu Songling, proved to be fascinating reading, particularly in a cold and windy night and alone by oneself...!"
Best Japanese Literary Criticism
Lady Shonagon was an erstwhile rival of Lady Murasaki, whose novel, The Tale of Genji , fictionalized the elite world Lady Shonagon so eloquently relates. The Pillow Book is one of the three most important works of its kind in Japanese literature, and Professor Morris has given it handsome treatment. The liveliest and most endearing of Heian writers, and the one who gives the most intimate and vivid picture of life at court.... Its denizens emerge as real and never-to-be-forgotten people.... Morris belongs to the literary rather than the literal school of translators, and his talents are shown here at their best. Shonagon comes through vividly.... [Morris] has given us for the first time in full a delightful and fascinating book which is also a work of notable scholarship.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Besides learning about life in Japanese court from ancient times you will realize that life is the same for people from thousand years ago and us."
"McKinney has impeccable academic/linguistic credentials, and was more scrupulous in compiling her source material (not leaving things out as I recall that Morris did--readers can skip whatever isn't interesting to them, which I think is far preferable)."
"Best segments: her 3-star review of bad boyfriends, her lists of random pretty poetical crap she liked, and her funny critique of middle-aged married couples taking afternoon "naps.""
"It quickly revealed an unknown world of absolute beauty and a life lived as art to my young mind, a world in which the mere examination of a particular color of a mountaintop at sunset or the blink of a firefly winging its way through the first moments of a misty dusk, the small tragedy of a fire reduced to dying embers, are interpreted and elevated to their proper place as the miracles of a life well-observed. She freely and whole-heartedly chronicles the daily doings of palace life, unfettered and uncensored--she wrote in secret, living with the dire danger that she be found out--from the grandest and most complex internecine details of royal ceremonies and celebrations to the delicious gossip of secret romantic affairs of high and low society. I enjoy simply letting it fall open to any random page, allowing myself a few minutes or several hours of sheer pleasure. For writers of any sort, or for anyone for whom reading is more than a pleasure but necessary to one's routine, The Pillow Book will become a touchstone, indeed an anchor and a shield against the unpleasantries of modern culture. The absurdities of the mundane, glamour, the glorious beauty of the infinite within the small, the evil that permeates and remains shrouded within structured societies but does not destroy us, has never been captured so rapturously and with such a rigorous eye."
Best Indian Literary Criticism
Full of information on the various aspects of Buddhism, meditation, yoga, and more, Buddhism stands apart as a concise and practical guide to infusing your life with its many teachings. What Buddhism is and what its teachings are The core concepts of Buddhism: karma, suffering, nirvana, and reincarnation The practice and benefits of yoga The four noble truths Practices, treasures, and poisons of Buddhism How to practice the five precepts of Buddhism How to practice mindfulness in order to reduce stress and anxiety And much, much more! Plus it provides great information on the different types of schools. I recommend this book to anyone who is curious about Buddhism and mindfulness."
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Buddhism is one of the ancient techniques to clean the body and soul through meditation and other useful techniques.Though the origin came from India but still it is been practiced by many people in many countries for peace , mindfulness and other benefit."
"I bought this as a Christmas present for my 19 year old daughter who is interested in learning about different religions."
"For a person who's curious about Buddhism, this is a good starting point."
"I loved this book and read it within two days!"
"This book helped me turn my life around."
"Very nice treatment of the subject."
"This book does explain Buddhism in a fairly simple way, but I was horrified at the amount of typos and grammatical errors in this book."
"An easy to read book, but often not easy to understand because of all the typos, grammatical issues, and confusion of terms."