Ethnic China Living Books
Since I started with the page more than 10 years ago I have been posting some book reviews and news. Now that information is going to be expanded with the small summaries that I make (sometimes) for myself after reading a book or an article, or some of the notes that I take after the readings. In some interesting books that I have not been able to read or of which I do not keep any notes, I may put the text provided by the publisher.
I think all readers will be able to distinguish when it is a personal opinion, when it is an excerpt from the work, and when it is material provided by the publisher.
I have organized the material in the following sections. If you think something is missing, please write to me at the address below.
– Art
– Buddhism
– Classics of Chinese culture
– Daoism or Taoism
– Ethnic groups
– Folklore
– Gender, women and matriarchy
– History
– Idiom and language
– Journeys and travels
– Literature and poetry
– Myths, tales and legends
– Novels
– Orientalisms. Novels set in China.
– Philosophy
– Qi Gong, taiji and health techniques.
– Religion
– Society
– Tibet
– Zoom on politics and current affairs
LAST POSTS ABOUT BOOKS ON CHINA
Mao Dun’s Spring Silkworms-A must read
Mao Dun's Spring Silkworms-A must read In short: A set of stories of exacerbated realism by one of the finest pens of 20th century Chinese literature, which no one should miss in order to understand both the literature and the life and history of contemporary China....
Midnight by Mao Dun – a failed novel
Midnight by Mao Dun - a failed novel Before reading "Midnight", the masterpiece of Mao Dun, the most powerful Chinese writer in the twentieth century, reading the presentations of the Chinese edition, one wonders why such a great literary treasure is not better known...
Life of Milarepa, the hermit poet
Life of Milarepa, the hermit poet. MiIarepa is one of the most beloved religious leaders of Tibet. His story, full of unique facts, has been told again and again over the centuries, and if the publishers did not warn that this is the autobiography written by the holy...
The history of the Sani of the Stone Forest
The history of the Sani of the Stone Forest As told by father Paul Vial in his book Les Lolos, Histoire, religion, mœurs, langue, écriture. The Lolos say they came from the region between Tibet and Burma, and at the very beginning of their history, they...
Violence and cannibalism in the Five Dynasties
l l Violence and cannibalism in the Five Dynasties When one begins to know the history of China, one concentrates its readings on its brilliant moments, on those great dynasties that expanded the territory, recreated surprising cultural forms and became the greatest...
DRAMATIC ART IN CHINA AT THE END OF THE DYNASTIC REGIME
oyaaDuring a break in my studies, the afternoon of Christmas Eve I was looking through a cabinet in which I have some somewhat old books bought on various occasions at flea markets in Beijing and Shanghai. After running into Lewis Morgan's "Ancient Society" and taking...
The value of the Taotejing, the sacred book of the Taoists
In Peter Goullart The Monastery of the Jade Mountain. Unlike the Bible and the Koran. the Taoteking does not refer to the historical processes which led men, or rather a particular tribe among men, to the idea of One God. Neither does it describe in detail how this...
The path to Nirvana in the Kunming Dharani Pillar
The path to Nirvana in the Kunming Dharani Pillar The main courtyard of the Kunming Municipal Museum houses one of the most original art-works from the time of the Dali Kingdom (937-1253 CE) in Yunnan. It is called the Dharani Pillar of the Dizang Temple. It is a...
Legends of the Mother Goddess: Intro
From Leyendas de la Diosa Madre. Pedro Ceinos Arcones. Miraguano, 2007. Anyone who approaches the literature of the minorities of Southern China will discover numerous works where the leading role is played by a female goddess or deity. Whether dedicated to the...
Chinese characters
Chinese characters -person
A sample of the first three pages of the English translation of my book on Chinese characters 人 rén – person, human being • adult • each. This is a pictogram of a person standing, with legs separated. Person > kind of person > every > other. It is one of the...
Ethnic groups
Sexual aspects of Gu venom
Gu illness resulted from a contamination by gu poison, which a recent analyst has characterized as “an alien evil spirit which entered [the] body and developed into worms or some similar animal that gnawed away at the intestines or genitalia.” This poison was thought...
Chinese culture
A Humble Proposal for Rethinking Historical Periodization: To Go Beyond Dynasties in Chinese History
A Humble Proposal for Rethinking Historical Periodization: To Go Beyond Dynasties in Chinese History Historical narratives are never neutral. The way we divide time reflects not only the facts we choose to remember, but also the frameworks we use to interpret them. In...