DescriptionWhile Pang-Mei Natasha Chang was a Chinese Studies major at Harvard University, she stumbled across the name of her 83-year-old great aunt Chang Yu-i in a history book. Over the next several years, Pang-Mei spent long afternoons drawing forth her aunt's story. Born in Shanghai to a well-to-do family, Chang Yu-i lived a life of defiance, continually breaking class and culture barriers. Her saga, told touchingly by her first-generation, American-born niece, includes her marriage to the preeminent Chinese poet Hs| Chih-Mo, how she ran the Shanghai Women's Savings Bank in the 1930s, and how she endured the anguish of China's first Western-style divorce.
DescriptionA journey back in time, The Golden Mountain is the gripping tale of four generations of Chinese women who live and die under the restrictions of their culture, except for one, the author. Her story tells of growing up in Hong Kong and of her transition to New York City where she struggled to meld the American dream with her ethnic background. Finally, at age 50, she dares to move into the present and understand the true nature of dreams and what it means to live. Spanning continents, generations, immigrations, cultural changes, and social movements, The Golden Mountain is the deeply inspiring tale of a woman claiming her power.
DescriptionHe has much in common with super-sleuths Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot, but there's a difference - Judge Dee Jen-djieh was a real person! Gathered here are tales of actual crimes solved by the magistrate of Chang-ping in 7th-century China. Listen as Dee ventures down winding paths in ancient graveyards to consult the spirits of the dead, and hear him solve real-life crimes through astute deductions. The intriguing stories in this collection include "The Case of the Double Murder at Dawn, " "The Case of the Strange Corpse" and "The Case of the Poisoned Bride."…
DescriptionWinnie Louie and Helen Kwong have always shared secrets, but now Helen wants to reveal them. Helen is convinced she is dying and decides to celebrate what might be her last Chinese New Year by telling all the secrets of her life, as well as Winnie Louie's and those of Winnie's daughter Pearl. There are some things, however, that Pearl would rather her mother didn't know. The result of Helen's tell-all mood is a series of comic misunderstandings and heartbreaking realizations about luck, loss, and trust. In this funny and touching novel Amy Tan reveals important truths about the effect of secrets kept and revealed, and the miraculous, resilient nature of love among mothers, daughters, and friends.
DescriptionGhosts have haunted Olivia ever since her half-sister Kwan told her stories of the frightening World of Yin. At 5, Olivia tried to purge the images of Yin's bandit maidens, missionaries, and mercenaries, but instead committed a betrayal with long-lasting consequences. At 40 she is still wearily enduring advice from Kwan and her ghosts, who now visit the world of the living in the bizarre form of marriage counselors and amateur restaurant reviewers. Olivia travels to China, to the mountain village of Kwan's childhood, where another betrayal occurred more than 100 years before. As Olivia tries to reconcile the ghosts of her past with hopes for the future, family secrets unfold, chance becomes fate, and we learn along with Olivia the truth about love and our many secret selves and senses.
DescriptionFour Chinese women, drawn together by the shadow of their past, meet in San Francisco to play mah jong, invest in stocks, eat dim sum, and to "say" stories to each other. Nearly 40 years later, one of the women has died, and her daughter arrives to take her place. However, the daughter never expected to learn of her mother's secret lifelong wish - and the tragic way in which it has come true. The revelation creates among the women an urgent need to remember the past. What is lost between generations and among friends - and what is salvaged - resonates throughout this novel of friendship among women and the relations between mothers and daughters.
DescriptionFor more than two thousand years, The Art of War has stood as a cornerstone of Chinese culture, a lucid epigrammatic text that reveals as much about human psychology, politics, and economics as it does about battlefield strategy. The influence of Sun-Tzu's text has grown tremendously in the West in recent years, with military leaders, politicians, and corporate executives alike finding valuable insight in these ancient words. In this crisp, accessible new translation, eminent scholar John Minford brings this seminal work to life, presenting the core text in two formats, first the unadorned 13 chapters of the original work by Sun-Tzu followed by the same text with extensive running commentary by classical Chinese scholars as well as Minford himself. The result is an opportunity for Western readers to experience Sun-Tzu's work in all its intensity as it applies to many aspects of our lives.
