Search results for ""shanghai press""

This beautifully illustrated multicultural children's book tells the story of a young boy and his magical rooster in both English and Chinese—a great story for Chinese New Year!Long long ago, there lived a boy named Tang Yun. He studied very hard and was ready to take the imperial exam in the Capital City thousands of miles away. Yun's mother was worried about him traveling alone. After working day and night, she finished hand embroidering a rooster on Yun's outfit, hoping the magical rooster would be her son's guardian angel. During his trip, magic happened whenever Yun was in danger. With a crowing of "cock-a doodle-doo," the embroidered rooster jumped out of Yun's outfit. He was alive! He was brave, timely and kind. He helped Yun overcome many obstacles during his trip. Yun arrived at the Capital City safely and successfully passed his exam with honor. He eventually reunited with his mother. They lived happily together ever after.Other books in the Chinese Zodiac Series (as well as the year of that animal) include: Little Pigs and the Sweet Rice Cakes—2007 & 2019 Water Dragon—2012 & 2024 Little Monkey King's Journey—2016 & 2028 Snake Goddess Colors the World—2013 & 2025 Horse and the Mysterious Drawing—2014 & 2026 Sheep Beauty—2015 & 2027 Bronze Dog—2006 & 2018 Little Rat and the Golden Seed—2008 & 2020 Little Calf—2009 & 2021

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In this colorfully illustrated multicultural children's book a little boy and his father get lost on a visit to the Great Wall!After Ming's exciting adventures in the Forbidden City, Ming and his father travel to the Great Wall to learn more about the creation of the longest structure ever build by humans. On their way, they take a wrong turn, leading to a great adventure as Ming and his father get to tour the wall and encounter all sorts of important figures from history and literature!The patron saint of the Great Wall shows Ming all the important passes and Ming even gets to meet the very emperor who had the Great Wall built! But when the emperor runs into a tricky situation at the beacon tower, it's up to Ming and some important information to save the day.Children will love to travel the wall with Ming as this delightful adventure brings to life the Great Wall and how it has influenced China over its 2000-year life span.

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Children will love to learn all about their Chinese zodiac animal with this great multicultural book for kids.Which Chinese zodiac animal are you? A clever rat? A brave tiger? A hardworking ox? Or an energetic dragon?In ancient China, each sign marked a different year in a 12-year calendar. Over time, people believed that a person's character and destiny were somehow decided by his or her zodiac animal. Chinese Zodiac Animals explains the traits of each animal sign and what luck the future might hold for the person born under that sign. Chinese Zodiac Animals is a fun and informative way to learn about an important part of Chinese traditional culture.

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Long long ago, an old magic stone suddenly cracked open after lying in the sunlight and moonlight for thousands of years. From the shell of the stone, a little Monkey was born. Adopted by the Monkey King in the mountain, Little Monkey was very naughty and playful. One day, while playing in a tree, he fell. When the Monkey King tried to save Little Monkey, he was terribly injured. To save the Monkey King, Little Monkey had to journey across the ocean in search of the immortal pill. With help from the Immortal Turtle, the Phoenix, the Dragon King and the Immortal, the Little Monkey gained a powerful body. Could he find his way home to save the Monkey King?Other books in the Chinese Zodiac Series (as well as the year of that animal) include: Little Pigs and the Sweet Rice Cakes—2007 & 2019 Magical Rooster—2005 & 2017 Water Dragon—2012 & 2024 Snake Goddess Colors the World—2013 & 2025 Horse and the Mysterious Drawing—2014 & 2026 Sheep Beauty—2015 & 2027 Bronze Dog—2006 & 2018 Little Rat and the Golden Seed—2008 & 2020 Little Calf—2009 & 2021

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This fun multicultural children's story tells a Chinese parable.One monk shoulders two buckets of water. Two monks lift one bucket of water. Three monks have no water! This is a story told generation after generation, and has much in common with the western saying "too many cooks spoil the broth." When there is one monk in the temple, he fetches water for himself. When there are two, they share the duty. But as the third comes, it's hard to divide the responsibilities. Everyone thinks for himself and nobody fetches water any more. At last, a fire in the temple teaches them the importance of cooperation. From then on, they cooperate and have water every day.

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In these charming volumes, Little Mei asks her grandfather about each of the four different Chinese celebrations represented.He tells her the stories of Nian and the monster Xi (Chinese New Year); Qu Yuan, a patriotic poet who loved his kingdom (Dragon Boat Festival); the Jade Emperor of Heaven who ordered the earth to be destroyed by fire (Lantern Festival); and Hou Yi who shot down the suns (Mid-Autumn Festival). In Celebrating the Lantern Festival Little Mei wants to know why her grandpa is making a paper lantern. Grandpa tells her the story of the Jade Emperor of Heaven and how he ordered the earth to be destroyed by fire. The story also includes a quick recipe for yuanxiao, sticky rice dumplings.

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In these charming volumes, Little Mei asks her grandfather about each of the four different Chinese celebrations represented.He tells her the stories of Nian and the monster Xi (Chinese New Year); Qu Yuan, a patriotic poet who loved his kingdom (Dragon Boat Festival); the Jade Emperor of Heaven who ordered the earth to be destroyed by fire (Lantern Festival); and Hou Yi who shot down the suns (Mid-Autumn Festival). In Celebrating the Dragon Boat FestivalLittle Mei wants to know why she must wear a special scented pouch to ward off the evil spirits. Grandpa tells her the story of Qu Yuan, a patriotic poet who loved his kingdom. Includes a quick recipe for zongzi, sticky rice balls wrapped in reed leaves.

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This Chinese novel is set in Shanghai in the late 1980s. Luo Ke, the protagonist, works as a part-time shop window painter. He once served in the army for several years and fought in the Vietnam War at the close of the 60s, when he was still young. The plot unfolds in his relationships with five women—Yin Mang, a college student; Yin Chu, her sister; Ou Xiaolin, an actress; Liu Yazhi, an art teacher; and Xiang An, a worker. The past, the present, and the future overlap when the writer narrates their complicated family histories, mutual dependence and betrayal, eccentric and introspective way of living, excessive thinking and obsession with eternity as a result of previous traumas. It is a tale of love and desire filled with resounding reminiscence. When people start to waver and hesitate, their present desire ends, and a new episode of life begins, with signs of the changing times waiting for the readers to find out.

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A suspense writer comes upon several murder stories on his computer that are written in his own unique style. He doesn't remember writing them, but it is not impossible for him, as a man who suffered memory loss, to be their author. Soon a journey takes him to northwest China along the ancient Silk Road. He is shocked to learn that the murders in the stories really happened in cities he visits. The horrific crimes were committed in the years when he lost his memory, but none of them have been solved. Did the best-selling writer ever kill? Are those murder stories accurate records of what he did?

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In this collection of Chinese short stories by prize-winning author, Jin Yucheng, the past experiences of the leading characters act as heavy shadows in their present-day lives. The development of the story-plots and complex ideas of these characters are interwoven with one another like riddles. The leading characters tirelessly explore the significance of life in the changing era and in their own life experiences. The SpecimensMy old friend Xiaohan was put behind bars for opening the mail of others. His wife Heiti thought that he had died, which was why she didn''t come to see him in jail. Not long ago, a public document from a stranger reached my mailbox. Could this be related to Xiaohan? Using the return address from the public document, Heiti and I went there to look into it.A Nest of Nine BoxesFor dozens of years, the grandmother had been chiseling the wall and digging into the ground. She was looking for things that her husband may have hidde

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Why do we do what we do? Zou Zou explores this question in this compilation of four short stores.In Abandonment, a married couple adopts a baby girl after the death of their own daughter, and raises the child as their own. Unbeknownst of the shadow that looms over her, the girl stumbles through life searching for approval and acceptance in the wrong places and just when all hope seems to be lost love finds her unexpectedly.In Thrity-One Days of Love, the beginning and end of an affair between two writers is documented by exchanging pieces of a story.In She She, one woman's long time obsession with her friend leads her on a path of continual self-destruction.In the humorous piece Writing, the author ruminates about her journey to becoming a writer, which tells of the inspirations and muses from childhood to adulthood and the constant battle with the writing self.

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This novel gives a first-person perspective of adolescence in Shanghai in the 1950s and 60s, a time of upheaval and daily drama in the live of even the most ordinary of people. Through the perspective of our young narrator, we can observe the social reality of the time, impacted by the enormous tide of political changes.We follow our narrator as he navigates the difficulties anyone might face in growing up: shifting loyalties among friends, conflicts with teacher and other significant adults in his life, and an array of family troubles. His single mother is raising him with the help of his grandparents, together struggling to keep this poor family afloat while adhering to their moral code. Always lurking in the background is his now deceased father, once a member of the military police, who was divorced from his mother twice.Against this backdrop of "normal" domestic drama is the turbulent political situation of that time. All over China, urban youth were being transferred to the countryside, and our narrator shares this fate. We follow him as he prepares for this monumental change, having been informed that he would go to a farm on Chongming, a rural island north of Shanghai.Among the novel's carefully drawn characters—the friends, family and neighbors of the narrator—is the city itself, as the author depicts the culture and customs unique to Shanghai.Through his striking picture of a "normal" young man, the author has captured the lives of many unknown and unremembered people whose destinies were influenced by political movements. This novel represents the memory of the youth of a generation.

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In this anthology by one of China's rising female authors, the philosophical concept of cause and effect is the main theme that echoes throughout this series of four Chinese novellas. In The Night of Rammusen an orphaned young woman explains the tragic demise of her beloved childhood friend in a written letter to her lover, weaving a heartbreaking tale of loyalty and betrayal. In The Trilogy, the reader is literally treated to three short stories, beginning with a ring so unique that it survives a cremation to be handed down from one owner to the next, cursing each life it touches. Next, we meet a young widow haunted by a cat from her childhood, and lastly, the changes of a little village forces one family to exhume the body of their dead relative to turn him into ashes. In There Is No If, Su De examines the lives of four flawed characters and their entwined destiny as a result of their actions. Finally, Consequences is the first of a two-part story about Daughter Three and her quest to find out where she came from and what and who caused her to be.

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The Most Beautiful Face in the World contains two stories from noted Chinese author Xue Shu. The title story is an intricate look at the life of Ah Xing, a man who sees the world with his hands. Blind since birth, Ah Xing has a fully independent and comfortable life, until two women unexpectedly enter his world.Keening, the second story in the collection, explores the ancient art of ritual wailing at funerals. Xiao Fengxiang, a former actress who reinvents herself as the most sought-after of keeners, is a bright light in a most unusual, yet revered, occupation.Xue Shu's detailed observations provide a window onto city life in China. These two stories will draw you into today's world with its challenges and contradictions, hardships and triumphs.

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Perfect for beginners, this calligraphy book teaches over 100 Chinese paintings and calligraphies along with historical and cultural information.Chinese calligraphy is a unique visual art form that can be appreciated regardless of having previous knowledge of Chinese characters. While modern Chinese calligraphy consists of five styles, this book focuses on the semi-cursive script, a practical style that emphasizes the transition and structure between strokes.The Beginner's Guide to Chinese Calligraphy Semi-Cursive Script teaches how to write the practical and artistic semi-cursive script. Based on the style of Zhao Mengfu, a master of semi-cursive script, you will learn the distinct features of the script and what exemplifies the semi-cursive style. This guide, with step by step illustrations, reduces the difficulty for beginners to learn Chinese calligraphy and is truly a must for Chinese calligraphy amateurs.

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With its combination of modern techniques and traditional patterns, Quilt Art Chinese Style will be an exciting new challenge for any crafter!This book highlights the popular craft of quilt art, which includes both trendy and timeless quilting techniques to create art objects with a special Asian flair for your home.This book includes: Basic patchwork techniques for beginners—a popular technique that can be traced all the way back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907) Step-by-step instructions for small projects, including appliques, clothing accessories and handbags Larger projects to decorate your home, including tapestries and wall hangings, rugs, table runners and quilts The beautiful projects highlighted in this book have a uniquely Chinese twist—they are full of culturally-significant symbols as well as elements of Chinese gardening and painting. Each piece is meant to act as a canvas, where crafters can show off their individual creativity.

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Try your hands at these historically and culturally important methods, and create some beautiful paintings of your own.Chinese painting is an ancient art that has evolved and become refined over many centuries. Artists brush ink and color pigments onto silk or paper using a variety of techniques, with two main approaches: gongbi a traditional and realistic style based on line drawing, and xieyi style, a freehand method that uses fewer strokes to suggest objects in a less literal way.Painting themes generally fall into three categories: figure, landscaping, and bird-and-flower. Chinese brush painting is mainly presented in lines, shades and white space to express the feelings about nature, social phenomena, and the very essence of the universe. The framework for this expression is often traditional: certain subjects carry cultural connotations that are well-known and imbue the painting with a layer of meaning beyond face value of objects shown. The traditional subjects such as mandarin ducks, butterflies, and the 'Four Gentlemen' (plum blossoms, orchids, bamboos, and chrysanthemum) are examples that contain this rich cultural meaning. Readers will learn first about the tools and materials, then painting techniques. Early pages explore the very basic painting methods and subjects—perfect for beginning painters—but continue to build skills for painting plants and animals of increasing complexity.Chinese Brush Painting illustrates several Chinese brush painting techniques with the use of different tools, brushwork and color mixing. With the step-by-step projects, you can first follow the introductory lessons to learn the necessary skills of brushwork, usage of paper, and characteristics of water, ink and colors; then follow the advanced lessons to learn the compositions and more complicated color applications.

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In China, moxibustion —the practice of burning Chinese mugwort leaves over a patient's acupoints—is a natural therapy that has been handed down from generation to generation for several thousands of years. This volume details everything readers need to know to get started enjoying the benefits of moxibustion for both health and beauty. Useful as either a handbook for quick reference or as a guide to in-depth study, Illustrated Moxibustion Therapy covers: The basic theory of moxibustion Essential materials, tools, and methods Operative skills and important points The ten major health-care acupoints of traditional Chinese medicine and their respective moxibustion methods The moxibustion therapies of nearly 100 common diseases, demonstrated by real people and described with illustrated texts Daily maintenance suggestions and auxiliary therapies The therapeutic burning of moxa sticks or moxa fibers made of Chinese mugwort soothes and dredges the meridians, improves the circulation of vital energy and blood, and regulates the function of internal organs, thus aiding in the treatment of specific diseases and maintaining general health. Characterized by organic materials, simple techniques, and soothing feelings, moxibustion is a practice whose popularity in the west is growing by leaps and bounds.

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Create stunning papercraft works of art for every season with this creative and easy-to-follow Chinese paper quilling book.Quilling, the art of coiling and shaping narrow paper strips into 3-D designs, has been popular with crafters for some time but the art form is hundreds of years old. Chinese paper quilling is a lovely and flexible art form perfectly suited to illustrating scenes from different seasons. This seasonal guide links beloved Western crafting with traditional Chinese Arts. Paper Quilling Four Seasons Chinese Style presents unique creations and includes the terminology, methodology and detailed step-by-step instructions you need to recreate these pieces and to design your own art.This guide offers: Background on various Chinese art forms to help stoke your imagination. Adaptable paper quilling methods, breaking from traditional; approaches to paper quilling. Unique elements of Chinese paper quilling to help you discover different creation techniques. Cultural background on the 24 solar terms, which have been used for more than 1,000 years and are still relevant today, and examples of artwork that capture these terms. Get started today with your own beautiful depictions of the four seasons with this unique paper craft. The flexibility and elasticity that paper has gives you endless possibilities. All you need to get started is strips of paper, glue, and a tool to roll the paper. You can readily get these at any craft store or use what you already have: recycled paper and a bamboo skewer or toothpick work well.

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Built in 1707, the Old Summer Palace (Yuan Ming Yuan) is a masterpiece integrating the classic garden-building arts of China. It is reputed as the "Garden of all Gardens," due to its rich and incomparable landscaping. The beautiful and expansive gardens were known to the world, and triggered the craze of Chinese gardens in 18th century Europe. Victor Hugo, one of the best and greatest known French writers, described it as "Achievements generated from the imagination of a super nation." The Old Summer Palace was also the second political center in addition to the Forbidden City in the Qing Dynasty (1636–1911). Five emperors chose the Old Summer Palace as their venue for administrative governance. They felt it expressed an ideal of state governing and an appeal of aesthetics. Meanwhile, it was the base for turning out important national policies while serving as an important venue for the exchange between Chinese and foreign envoys. Having gone through a span of over 150 years, the Old Summer Palace reflects the history of the rise and fall of the Qing Dynasty. Deserving its honor as the largest royal art museum, the Old Summer Palace contained calligraphic works and paintings of many noted artists, numerous rarities such as secret and valuable books, ancient bells, tri-pots, precious articles, gold and silver wares, jewelry and jade as well as rare flowers and trees of that time. In 1860, the Old Summer Palace was destroyed by British-French Allied Forces and all the collections inside were looted, resulting in a terrible disaster in the history of international culture. Today, the Older Summer Palace represents an important piece of cultural history for human civilization. At the end of the 20th century, Guo Daiheng, the author of this book, led over 80 experts, scholars and professionals in starting a project of Digital Reconstruction of the Old Summer Palace, an unprecedented task in the history of international historic parks. Over the past 15 years, the project has included an orderly development in 3D molding, digital restoration, and digital experience. Scenes of the Old Summer Palace in this book are the exact results from a digitalized Old Summer Palace, which reveals the magnificence of the garden in its prime.

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Learn Chinese paper folding with this easy origami book.This origami paper craft book features zhezhi, the art of paper folding and origami which originated in China more than 1900 years ago and is still practiced today by the Chinese. Chinese Origami: Paper Folding for Year-Round Celebrations introduces many basic techniques and step-by-step instruction for a over 70 origami projects. Origami projects include: flowers animals decorations for festivals plum blossoms a narcissus lantern steamed rice dumplings and much more… This origami book will show you how to fold these objects and understand the traditions of Chinese culture that are deeply rooted in them. Beginners can follow the detailed easy-to-follow diagrams and illustrations, while those who are more advance can learn from the basic techniques to create and customize their own masterpieces.Watch your imagination take shape in clever and inspired forms with the art of Chinese paper folding!

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This authoritative collector's book is the largest collection of Chinese weaving and embroider patterns available.For more than twenty-five hundred years the patterns of Chinese silk textiles captured the imaginations of their beholders. The woven and embroidered designs catalogued in Exquisite Fabrics, a survey by Gao Chunming, combine consummate mechanical and technical skill with an aesthetic vision driven by the need to communicate the most important message of Chinese culture. This Chinese art book is a compilation of over one thousand Chinese traditional designs found in weaving and embroidery. Known as zhiwen or wen in ancient China, these traditional patterns are the products of brilliant artistic skills that have been passed down from one generation to the next. Available in a gorgeous slipcase, this book presents a wide and comprehensive range of classical design motifs that include: dragons phoenix birds auspicious animals floral patterns insects and fish figures religious allegorical

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Goldwork embroidery is a traditional Chinese embroidery technique that was originally used in the court or palaces and was exclusive to nobility in ancient times. Similar embroidery techniques were used in Central Asia and Europe in ancient times as well. Today, this sort of technique, characterized by its diversity of thread textures, variety of techniques, unique three-dimensional shape, and ability to blend other embroidery styles, is familiar to and admired by embroidery enthusiasts all over the world. Through her practice in embroidery over the past two decades, Chen Daiyu has simultaneously studied both Chinese and European embroidery. Her work is unique in that it combines the beauty of both forms, making it uniquely original. In this book, she draws inspiration from elements of traditional Chinese painting, combining traditional Chinese silk embroidery with European goldwork embroidery to create stunning, elegant works with a unique Chinese aesthetic appeal. This volume combines images and text, taking the reader systematically through the world of goldwork embroidery with a step-by-step guide.

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Mei finds an old album in Grandma's house in Beijing. She discovers a charming character doing a back flip on a faded photo and surprisingly learns this is her late Grandpa. She wishes she could have spent more time with him. Grandma says Grandpa was one of the best performers of Peking Opera (jing ju). It is hard for Mei to imagine him singing and doing back flips, so Grandma takes Mei to a show at the Mei Lanfang Grand Theater. The wonderful performance and Grandma's explanations offer Mei a beautiful overview of Peking Opera, the classic Chinese performance art, as well as interesting stories of her Grandpa. Mei returns to Washington D.C. after vacation. She decides to introduce the 'most beautiful face' to her friends. What is the most beautiful face? Why does Mei love it? Will her friends like it too? Let's follow the traditional Chinese paintbrush to enjoy an affectionate story about familial love, and learn about the traditional Chinese art enriched by more than a thousand years

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As one of the few ancient civilizations in the world, China features a multidimensional cultural deposit in consistency and unification, endowing her history with a sense of perplexity and enchantment. Together in this book, we shall follow the historical trace of 50 national treasures of the museums through the time tunnel, and enjoy their stories buried in the past 5000 years. In this book, the Chinese history is divided into eight periods. The treasures selected as samples are precious collections from museums around the world, including ceramics, jades, bronze wares, paintings, bamboo slips, sculptures, gold wares, and silver wares. Rich in photographs and illustrations, the book introduces the most representative academic thoughts, moral education, religious beliefs, and folk customs in every period of the ancient China, and describes the interaction of Chinese and foreign cultures, as well as the spirit of the times and the cultural characteristics hidden behind them. In this way, the most crucial social concepts and the most attractive anecdotes in history will be revealed, and a sketch of Chinese culture will unfold in front of you.

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Once upon a time, the city of Beijing was experiencing a pandemic. All the doctors there did not know how to end the pandemic. When the White Rabbit who was busy preparing medicine for immortals in the Moon Palace heard about the pandemic, she felt so worried that she flew to Beijing, as she wanted to help patients. The White Rabbit knocked on the door of an old grandpa's house and tried to offer treatment, but the old grandpa believed that only the human doctor could cure him. In order to convince the old grandpa, the White Rabbit disguised herself as a human being with the clothes that she took from a statue in a nearby temple. After the White Rabbit made several visits to the grandpa's house, the grandpa was touched by her persistence, and finally became willing to receive her treatment. After taking the pills made by the White Rabbit, the old grandpa recovered quickly. As the good news traveled around the city, all the neighbors came to seek the medicine from the White Rabbit. However, unexpectedly, some people became even sicker after taking the pills. What should the White Rabbit do to resolve the crisis brought by the pandemic? Read the story to find out!

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Changsheng’s father brings home a homeless tabby kitten. However, as the kitten grows older, they realize that it's actually a little tiger. Soon Changsheng and the little tiger become so attached to each other. Wearing a tiger-head hat made by his mother, Changsheng and the little tiger become best brothers. However, the villagers are scared of the tiger. Changsheng has no choice but to send the little tiger back to the mountains. The little tiger promises that it will return in times of need. All Changsheng has to do is to put on his tiger-head hat and yell “Tiger Brother” from the top of the mountain. One day a gang of robbers appear in the village. Since the villagers are unable to resist the robbers, Changsheng runs up to the top of the mountain, yelling for his tiger brother. The tiger brother and his brave tiger friends arrive to their rescue, driving away all the robbers out of the village. The tiger brother returns to the mountains, but it keeps its promise to Changsheng forever. A story about bravery, love, and promise, it also introduces the characteristics of people born in the Year of the Tiger, the origin of the Siberian tiger, and the history of the tiger-head hat.

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This book covers basic knowledge of tuina (massage therapy), including detailed explanations of massage methods for common diseases and sub-health conditions. It is a simple, practical family healthcare book, with illustrations of the techniques accompanied by captions, so that readers with zero knowledge can understand and learn. The book can also be used as a reference for professional masseurs. Specific contents include: • The main principles, preparation work, things to take note of, and commonly used acupoints, offering the sort of comprehensive understanding that is necessary to put tuina into practical use. • 26 massage manipulations, 53 massage methods for common diseases, ways of locating acupoints accurately, and practical massage techniques, with detailed steps and clear pictures to help beginners learn quickly. • 12 daily healthcare massage therapies, including techniques for different parts of the body and the various zang-fu (viscera), as well as beauty and slimming. Just 10 minutes of massage a day can stimulate the body’ s self-healing power, and you will feel its effect on your physical and mental health.

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Each season has its own identity, which comes with its own associated health risks. For example, many people report feeling sleepier in spring, and allergies and colds are common; while in summer, there is an increased risk of heatstroke, diarrhea and dysphoria. Autumn often brings coughs, constipation and dry skin, while winter is generally higher incidence season for respiratory and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.Effective prevention, however, is not complicated. A basic understanding of season-related health goes a long way toward maintaining a strong body and mind all year around. What diet is best suited to the different seasons? What form of exercise is best? How can you tap into things that might affect your mood? What living habits and practical changes to your lifestyle can help prevent diseases?This book systematically and comprehensively introduces the simple and easy methods of holistic Chinese medicine that help maintain human health. Using accessible language, it meets the health needs of different groups of people, including disease prevention, exercise, entertainment, diet, lifestyle, emotion, physical therapy, etc in different seasons.

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With beautiful illustrations this multicultural children's book takes readers on a tour of China's most famous caves!The sandstorm was blowing hard over the Gobi Desert. Xiao Ming got separated from his parents on their way to the Mogao Caves. As it was getting dark Xiao Ming, along with the other travelers who were separated from the group, were huddling in the sand helplessly. In the darkness of the Gobi Desert, Xiao Ming vaguely saw a little light flashing in the dust. The light got closer and closer and, finally, he saw a deer with nine shades of color in his fur. His antlers were as white as snow and his body was wrapped with a touch of bright light. The nine-colored deer told Xiao Ming to follow him. The story unfolds with Ming being guided to the caves where ancient paintings come to life!

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Cai Lun was called into the Palace to serve the Emperor at the age of 15. He was smart and studied hard. Soon he was promoted to be an attending official in charge of documentation. At that time, documents were written either on tablets of bamboo strips or on silk. Bamboo strips were heavy and silk were expensive. The Emperor was very unhappy about it. Therefore, Cai Lun was determined to find another durable material that would be good for writing including a light-weight quality with a soft writing surface. Cai Lun began his experiments with all the cheap natural material that he could find such as dry grass, bark, fishnet and old ropes. With the support from the Emperor and the help of the imperial craftsmen, Cai Lun successfully invented "paper" after many attempts. The innovation of paper made it possible to keep records and also paintings.

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In this colorfully illustrated multicultural children's book a boy of today and a Little Emperor from the past find adventure and fun in the Forbidden City!On a visit to the Forbidden City, Xiao Ming somehow manages to lose his father. During his search, Ming finds a strange set of stairs. Perhaps his father went down them? Off he goes—down the stairs, across a strange pathway and through a hall where, rather than finding his father, Ming finds himself in the midst of the Qing Dynasty!The awed little boy is discovered by Imperial Bodyguards who take him to meet the Little Emperor. Ming described the airplanes and cars of the future and the Little Emperor shows Ming his treasures. The new friends are admiring a bronze dragon when suddenly the dragon comes to life and carries the Little Emperor and Ming up into the sky! The two boys and the dragon fly over the whole city, until Ming slips and falls from the dragon's tail into the city moat, bringing him back to the present—and his anxious father.A delightful tale of past meets present, Ming's Adventures in the Forbidden City will surely capture the imagination of children and parents alike.

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This beautifully illustrated multicultural children's book tells a story about China's most famous archeological site—the terracotta soldiers of Xi'an.When a special exhibition of terracotta warriors comes to town, Ming and his mother go to see them at the museum. To remember this exciting event, Ming's mother buys him a little figurine of a General to keep in his room at home. But at midnight, Ming wakes up and finds the General figurine is alive and he has a copper carriage ready to take Ming to his home in Emperor Qin Shi Huang's Tomb in Xi'an, China. In this mysterious underground world over 2,000 years old, Ming meets the General's army of terracotta warriors. Read and find out more about Ming's adventures with his new friends!

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This series introduces the most famous and well-known Chinese fables and folktales that have entertained children in China for generations. Now illustrated in beautiful color, these books will be a perfect bedtime companion for any young child.This volume includes: Xue Tan Learns What it Means to Sing The Parrot that Put Out a Fire Jiu Fanggao's eyes for Horses The Wrong Way Helped by an Expert

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This beautifully illustrated, bilingual Chinese and English children's book invites you to learn a store inspired by the rare Ming Dynasty cup that's admired as the "holy grail" of China's art world.Known as the Chicken Cup, it's vividly decorated with a rooster and a hen tending to her chicks. This story tells the tale of a grieving young prince who has recently lost his parents. His uncle who becomes the Emperor decides to send him to the frontier. Upset by the news, the price accidentally smashes his mother's favorite cup…While the young prince is away he learns to appreciate the fine art of porcelain while recreating his mother's favorite cup.Porcelain evolved in China over 1200 years ago, and this book explains how it's made and its importance in Chinese history. Written in English and Chinese, this beautiful story follows the young emperor's journey from being ousted from the palace to his time in a ceramics workshop and to his victorious return to the palace as emperor.Find our years later how the prince creates a beautiful and flawless Chicken Cup when he returns to become Emperor. After admiring a famous painting of A Hen and Her Chicks, he designs a small porcelain cup with a rooster representing his brave father, a hen symbolizing his kind mother, and chicks that signified the young prince. This Ming Dynasty piece was recently sold at auction for an unprecedented $36 million in 2014. The Chinese words for chicken and lucky sounds like Ji which is why the chicken motif is thought to be a symbol of good luck and prosperity.

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In this contemporary Chinese novel, a family opera performers struggles to remain true to each other and their art as they are buffeted by political turmoil and personal drama.The eventful lives of three generations of outstanding Chinese opera performers form the framework of Behind the Singing Masks, a story of turmoil and resolution, both personal and political.Xie Yingge, a celebrated dan actor of Yue Ju (also known as Shaoxing Opera), grew up and thrived in an environment alive with music. But just as she and her art form were at their zenith in the 1960s, the Cultural Revolution arrived to tear them down. After the decade-long turmoil, as Xie Yingge was poised to revive her career, a stroke forced her to leave the stage for good. To perpetuate the stage persona she had devoted her life to creating, she directed, with the complicity of her younger sister and her stage partner, a play of masks that lasted sixteen years.Was it life imitating art or art imitating life? This engaging story of human frailties, magnified by political movements, is marked by betrayal but also dedication, both to loved ones and to art.

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This wonderfully illustrated children's book tells a story of a little girl and her adventure on the way to school!The little girl left for school at dawn. On her way to school, she met a little spider, a little squirrel, a little hedgehog and a little panda. They were all afraid of the darkness and wondering if monsters were hiding in every corner. Only the little girl was not scared, because she had a little magic lantern. They held hand-in-hand so that nobody would be scared…

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These two novellas by one of China's most prolific writers paint a picture of life in Shanghai and all the turmoil that comes with it.Shanghai is one of the cities in China that has been exposed to a great deal of outside influences throughout its history. The author, with a keen eye for observation, has chiseled out the life of common city dwellers in its alleyways from the 1980s to the 1990s in these two stories. Through the perspective of Gu Longfei, also nicknamed Black Bug, the leading character, River Under the Eaves follows the family through three generations. In Jiqing Li, Xiaoyu lives in a new residential area of Shanghai, has a good job and a handsome boyfriend. She then rents a small room on Jiqing Li, desiring to live a truly elegant life in Shanghai. But all is not what it seems and her life heads for turmoil. Behind these stories is the gap between the cities and countryside, the legacy of the political upheavals of the past, and the price that has come with new found prosperity. The people who resided in the stone gate houses represented the rapidly changing dynamics of the Shanghai metropolis.

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Pains is renowned writer, publisher and editor Zhao Lihong's newest collection of Chinese poetry in translation—a thematically interlinked meditation on the human body, aging, and the complexities of freedom.In this collection of fifty-one poems, Zhao pulls in his focus and examines the universal in constrained microcosmic units of abstraction. The poet utilizes his decades of influence to pull ahead as a preeminent representative of contemporary Chinese poetry in all of its simplicity, and proves that limitation in itself may be a blessing. Sample poetry from Pains:"When did it happen:black becoming white? White as smoke ash, white as surviving snow, white and rough and vacuousas a sigh that cuts through a glacier. Those silken threadsare still atop my headthinning by the day. When the wind blows, it still levitates. The wind says, your earth still lives, my breath cannot break you."

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Labyrinth of the Past is a collection of short stories that explore the lives of young women raised by single mothers in China, a country that is unforgiving to unmarried women and their children.A dark, yet engrossing look at the lives of these girls, each story examines their personal struggles with family and the greater world around them. Coping with the stigma of being the daughter of a single mother, most of these women can't seem to form anything but dysfunctional relationships, from mothers to friends to lovers.While often frank and terribly bleak, these stories provide a vivid and real view of the women who struggle against a history they can't change, in a culture that has difficulty accepting them.

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Retold as an entertaining and readable story, this chronicle of Confucius' travels brings a new perspective to the teachings of this ancient sage.Reading about the life of Confucius—the renowned Chinese philosopher—never seems old-fashioned, even in this era of constant change. For millennia his philosophy and teachings have deeply influenced the lives and politics of people in China and many other countries in Asia. What led to his great fame? What lay inside his mind? What is the Great Way, and why did Confucius devote his entire life to it? Touched by Confucius' persistence and faith even after numerous failures, the author, Mr. Qian Ning, was inspired to depict Confucius' life story in modern style while basing the story strictly on credible ancient sources. The book chronicles Confucius frustrated travels and meetings with the dukes of various states and introduces Confucius' political philosophy, his rumination on education, and his theory of the junzi (a morally superior individual). As readers follow Confucius' footsteps through the book, an intimate portrait of Confucius emerges, helping readers understand the sage in a new light, as a real man of flesh and blood. At the same time, readers will learn about one of the most tumultuous, thrilling periods of Chinese history, the warring States era, during which ancient Chinese philosophy was born.

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Ancient Chinese history is largely a legendary collection of mythical lore and annals written centuries after they occurred. These takes about Chinas beginnings reveal the heroic figures and rich storytelling traditions of Chinese culture including: Pangu opening heaven to save the earth from chaos Nuwa creating man and repairing the vault of heaven Fuxi fixing the calendar by observing the heavens Shennong creating agriculture Cangjie inventing writing thus creating the basis for Chinese culture. Fragments of these myths and legends are found in Chinese paintings, wood artifacts, relief carvings, and lacquer art which are illustrated in this book along with informative text. Anyone interested in Chinese culture, philosophy, history, or art will find this collection a must-have volume for their bookshelf.

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Paper quilling, a classic papercraft art that creates designs using paper strips in clever, inventive ways, gets an Asian flavor in Paper Quilling Chinese Style.Sure to delight the myriad and diverse group of crafters who have fallen in love with quilling, this lovely book uses traditional Chinese arts to create an array of paper quilling projects with a distinctly Chinese design. A flexible and limitless art form, paper quilling allows so much individual expression that it has attracted fans around the world. By showcasing the bold and inventive use of color, composition and traditional symbols, this book is sure to bring a new level of depth and beauty to your work.With simple tools and materials easily found at most craft stores, you will be able to explore the boundaries of Western handicraft and traditional Chinese culture and your own creativity!

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In China, the tradition of living as a hermit has existed for 5,000 years and is one of the mysteries of its culture. In the age of the internet hermits still dwell in the mountain ranges south of Xi'an living life as it was thousands of years ago. Drawn to the hermetic life, the author spent three years in the depths of the Zhongnan Mountains visiting and staying with over 100 hermits. In their midst, high amongst the clouds he practiced with the hermits, achieved enlightenment and learned their secret traditions. Seated above the clouds he looked down on the mundane world below as he refined his spirit and reformed his soul in the experience of a different mode of existence.As contemporary man busied himself with the creation of his own networks, and searched for knowledge, wealth and love, the author took the opposite route and sought out the hermits of legend. As we close the book, his efforts allow us, for a moment, to transcend the chaos of life, achieve detachment and an inner contemplation and turn and enter our own inner being.

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Animals are an intrinsic part of the human experience. Artistically, as a major genre in Chinese painting, they also provide abundant inspirations. With clear instructions and illustrations in beautiful colors, The Beginner's Guide to Chinese Painting—Farm Animals and Pets introduces the techniques needed to paint cats, dogs, rabbits, roosters, ducks, pigs, goats, cattle and horses. This book is an easy-to-use guide for the newcomers who are interested in animal painting in Chinese tradition. With hundreds of illustrations in beautiful colors, and a wide selection of templates and styles, this is a must-have guide for those new to Chinese brush painting.

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The Elegant Life of the Chinese Literati is the first complete translation of a classic 17th century Chinese guide to the ordinary objects of everyday life from trees and birds to windows and tea. Similar to Feng Shui, the principles laid out in this book describe how to find harmony among these ordinary objects to bring peace to your life. With annotations by Chen Zhi, a well known modern scholar of Chinese garden design, readers gain insight into the historical and cultural context of instructions such as, The wooden cross-piece of the door frame should have a strip of speckled bamboo nailed horizontally across it either with two or four nails, never six. Lavishly illustrated with famous Chinese paintings and photographs of Chinese gardens, furniture, and objets d'art, readers can immerse themselves in Chinese culture, history, and values, and perhaps even learn to appreciate the everyday objects in their own lives. With the pace of modern life, we often don't stop to appreciate the little things in life. Everyday objects go unnoticed and are continuously underappreciated. However, these individual elements come together to form a larger picture one that defines our lifestyle.

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Silk ribbon embroidery is a handicraft that uses colorful and delicate ribbons as the main material to stitch floral patterns on fabric. The patterns are three dimensional with defined layering effects which are suitable to decorate evening gowns, sweaters, cushions, and even craft pictures. This ribbon embroidery book breaks through the traditional style of Western silk ribbon embroidery by incorporating traditional Chinese elements such as simple layouts with liubai (leaving blank) as well as incorporating the contemporary Chinese art to create silk ribbon embroideries that are unique and ethereal. Readers will find dozens of basic stitching techniques with detailed steps and illustrations that are ranging from small scale decorations on mirrors and handheld fans to large scale stitch art. The patterns include flowers, trees, fish, prawns, architecture and more. Among the different stitches, the prawns, peony and lotus leaf are originated by the author with years of experience.

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Learn to build and fly your own authentic traditional chinese kites with this user-friendly crafts book.Kites and China are practically synonymous, since these childhood toys were originally invented there before becoming popular around the world. For over 2000 years, kites have been a common sight in China, from the imperial court to the common people, and over that time period the craftsmanship of the kite has been perfected—and includes a diversity and richness of styles.In Chinese Kites, you'll learn not only the history and varied forms of the Chinese kite, but also how to produce, step-by-step, a beautiful Chinese kite of your own! Learn how to: Create the kite's framework Paint colorful designs Master the techniques of putting the painted cover on the framework Fly your creation! With Chinese Kites, you will be able to experience firsthand the joy of seeing a kite you made soaring across the sky.

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