5 comments about In Exile from the Land of Snows: The Definitive Account of the Dalai Lama and Tibet Since the Chinese Conquest.

1. Probably this book has not been read in recent times as much as it was before. The reason is that it practically stops at 1985 with a small attempt of updating to 1997. For an historical essay that relies greatly on updated information on a dramatic world situation such as that of Tibet and that still has written on the cover "the definitive account of the Dalai Lama and Tibet since the Chinese conquest" this is a major drawback. However, John Avedon's 500-page book has really represented a milestone for the awareness of the West on Tibetan reality and the crimes and genocide carried out by the Chinese. In the 1980's it was the most read book on Tibet and practically the only updated, precise, journalistic source of all information. If anyone remembers Bertolucci's "Little Buddha" on the airplane to India the boy's father is reading this book! Having been such a great bestseller it is natural that it has slightly passed out of fashion. But this takes nothing away from its value. If you want a readable, engrossing, historical narration of the last years of Tibet's freedom, to the 1955-59 Chinese invasion and especially of what happened from 1959 to 1985 to the refugees in India and to the prisoners in Chinese jails, up to the apparent "normalization" of the 1980's and the visits of the Tibetan delegations to their native land, this book remains the best document around.
   One of the main narrative themes is how Tibetans and the Dalai Lama managed to maintain their cultural and religious heritage and only regarding to this aspect there is a wave of optimism running through the book.
   
   John Avedon had a personal relationship with the Dalai Lama and was also interested in Buddhist philosophy and Tibetan culture, so the first journalistic part of the book, mostly built up out of life experiences of eminent Tibetans who survived the genocide, is followed by brief essays on Tibetan medicine, the report of a pilgrimage to Buddha's sites in India by the Dalai Lama, and a personal interview with HH on the philosophy of Buddhism, its outlook on death, life and personal experience. This last part is interesting, but it is detached from the principal narration and it seems introduced only to lengthen the book or to cram into it all the Author's knowledge. The notes and the bibliography are excellent even though dated.
   
   A must read for those interested in modern Tibet, but it would be more honest to subtitle the re-editions "Tibet from the Chinese conquest to the 1990's".
   
   I am looking for a book that tells what has been happening in the last 10-15 years. Have any suggestions?



2. If your serious about learning about Tibet and the Chinese take- over read this book.Some of the more explicit chapters made me really angry and kept me questioning "How can humans treat each other this way"?



3. A must read to truly understand the complex story of Tibet, although it may disuade you from ever going there. This is the story of the destruction of Tibet, told through a narrative of political history and a few well-chosen personal stories. Internal squabbling contributed to the Tibetan's own downfall, but in the end this small underdeveloped nation could not have withstood the Chinese without significant support from the rest of the world, and that support was shamefully lacking in the 50's. The destruction that followed was unbelievable. I've always thought it would be fascinating to go there, but I now realize that the treasures of Tibet are probably now in China or in the hands of private collectors after the Chinese sold them off, and what's left is part of a carefully constructed show for tourists. I agree with the reviewer who says that Tibetan independence seems a long shot at this point, but the world should keep the pressure on until the Tibetans gain some measure of cultural and religious freedom. My only criticism of this book is that it ends in the mid-80's, and the newer edition that came out in the late 90's contains a rather feeble attempt to update the story through a chronology. Interesting though is the interview with the Dalai Lama.



4. If you have had any Shangri-La type illusions about Tibet, this book will soon blow them away. Not that that is a bad thing, but just be warned. This book will open your eyes, make you laugh, weep, clench your fists and probably curse before you're done, but it will not leave you unchanged, either in your opinion of Tibet, the Dalai Lama, and especially of China.

   This is a very balanced account from the Tibetan perspective of the period roughly from the end of WWII until 1990. In addition to an unvarnished account of Tibetan bravery, desire to retain their homeland at all costs and credulity, and unlimited Chinese brutality and treachery, there is a great deal of social insight woven in. This is not a "feel-good" story to garner sympathy for the Tibetans, this is a tell-it-like-is book whose message is so daunting that I'm not sure most of the world, much less the Tibetans themselves are ready to face much of it.

   This is not a book so much about religion, although you cannot write about Tibet without writing about Buddhism, as about world politics thundering down on a small, isolated nation. It is about the bravery and resourcefulness of the Tibetan people and the greatness of their leader. And it is about the utter shameless cupidity and determination of the Chinese to lay hold of this strategic bit of real estate and anihilate its native population. This book should serve as a powerful reminder of what the PRC is capable of and just how much their talk is worth.

   After reading this, I believe (and HHDL must realize) that the chances for any kind of an autonomous, much less independent, Tibetan region are slim to none, but that the facade needs to be kept up for political and morale reasons. None the less it is a bitter truth that the Chinese have done the rest of the world a favor: by driving the Tibetans out of Tibet, they have released a great force for peace and good to the rest of us in the form of Tibetan Buddhism and the presence of HHDL.

   I do highly recommend this book.




5. This is an excellent source for anyone interested in Tibet politically. It provides a picture of Tibet before, during, and after the Chinese invasion. I find it very surprising, (and disturbing)that this book is out of print, given the renewed interest in Tibet and efforts to liberate the country from Chinese occupation. What was done (and is continuing to be done) to the people of Tibet should be part of our daily conversations right now, as we are about to grant China permananet normal trade relations.

4 comments about The Adventures of Eddie Fung: Chinatown Kid, Texas Cowboy, Prisoner of War.

1. Eddie Fung's curiosity, sense of adventure, and generous spirit in helping others is inspiring!
   
   He never let his small stature get in the way of anything he was determined to do, whether it was to enlist in the army, help the men on the ranches where he worked at during his teens, or (secretly) help get food and medicine for his fellow POW's during WWII.
   
   I admire his way of sharing his adventurous life, which was often humorous: he didn't hesitate to recount the times he got in trouble or made himself look not-so-smart when he could have asked for help. I like his forthright manner! As he put it to his second wife: "What you see is what you get."
   
   Fung's spirit shines throughout the book; it serves as reminder to me of the sacrifices made by servicemen such as himself, as well as my father, and members of their generation during WWII. Moreover, he describes how he helped his fellow POW's to survive in the most unimaginable circumstances by using his past experiences, however minor they may have seemed. Being frugal, helping his mom with household chores like making preparations for dinner, and working on the ranch provided useful skills he could share with the other prisoners.
   
   His many adventures are nicely complemented with loving family background/memories of parents and siblings, and life, post-POW. A really enjoyable read!
   
   Don't miss out!



2. "Another Little Big Man" might have been the immodest title of this too modest gentleman's autobiography. That memorable movie from 1970 told the life story of a diminutive guy who lived many different lives within the span of one and that could also describe Eddie Fung. Short on stature, big on life, that's Eddie. Born in San Francisco's Chinatown, he dropped out of high school and went to Texas at age 16 to become a cowboy just because he wanted to. There he discovered a now nearly vanished breed of everyday honest men and a challenging way of life that for him epitomized the American dream of freedom of spirit paid for by hard work. By 1940 as war raged in China and simmered in Europe he too joined the Texas National Guard just as many of the other ranch hands were doing. That one simple act put Eddie onto a path that took him through three and a half very tough years as the only Chinese American prisoner of war after his unit's capture by the Japanese Army early in 1942. You won't want to put it down once you begin Eddie's book but the beauty of it is that you can pick it up and open it nearly at random and be rewarded with simple truths as experienced by a complex man. For this we have Eddie's wife Dr. Judith Yung to thank for an excellent job of editing a number of multi-hour interview sessions. Judy is one of this nation's most well known and respected scholar/authors of the modern Chinese American experience. Be sure to read the Preface to learn how they met and married when Judy needed a WW II vet interview for a project she had begun. This memorable book has one little shortcoming, so to speak, that must be mentioned .... it comes to an end. This reader wanted Eddie's adventures to continue indefinitely. We do learn of his post war life including family and career, his eventual involvement with the Lost Battalion Association and its annual reunions, etc. so it is a well rounded effort. My wish came true recently when I discovered that YouTube offers a six part look at one of this special couple's book talks. Thank you sharing your life Eddie.



3. I met Eddie Fung in person last week and heard him discuss the book and his life. What a journey! He is a 10 an so is his book. There are many greatest generation stories that will never be told (my Dad's for example) so take advantage of reading this amazing story of survival from a good story teller.
   
   Also, it is a reminder that many American minorities were in WWII who were staunch patriots, sacrificed much, and should not be overlooked.



4. this is a very touching story- somewhat like angela's ashes re experiences of a poor background. school dropout, becoming a cowboy then a searing 4 years as a pow -finally graduating from stanford university and moving on

3 comments about Opium Poppy Garden The Way of a Chinese Grower.

1. The opium poppy is a potent plant that has been cultivated and used for thousands of years to alleviate suffering. The use of plant substances as alternatives to synthetic medicines is resurging due to their beneficial properties and less-toxic side effects. For example, many cancer and HIV sufferers are growing opium for personal use.
   Opium Poppy Garden is the only book available that describes the cultivation, harvest, and pharmacology of opium in a format that combines literary and instructional writing. The heart of the book is a tale of Che'ien, a young Chinese man who travels from Costa Rica to Columbia to grow an opium garden in the manner his Taoist grandfather taught him. The story, in conjuction with "The Cultivator's Diary" and the techniccal appendix, provide the reader with a working knowledge of this plant,



2. I really liked the mix of a story of a young man's first adventure away from country and family, and the technical information needed to cultivate the opium poppy. It gave me a sense of tranquility to his endeavor, not as if it were a clandestine operation. It spoke of the roots his and other families had in this way of life. Of course, it gives you all the information you need for your own adventure. I hope there is a sequel.



3. A lovely tale of a young Chinese immigrant in South America offeres some insight to the "way of a Chinese Grower" and what the culture is like... The second half of the book goes into considerable detail as to how to cultivate the poppy, albeit on a quasi large-scale endeavor- not really for the ornamental grower. Excellent depth into pharmacologic properties, particularly chemical structure of medicinal components and traditional harvesting methods and tools.

5 comments about The Glorious Deception: The Double Life of William Robinson, aka Chung Ling Soo, the Marvelous Chinese Conjurer.

1. I've always been a fan of magic, and had heard of just about every magician in this book except for William Robinson. This amazing story touches on the lives of all the greats and gives you a peek into the world of turn of the century entertainment and magic. With detailed descriptions of the theaters, costumes, the magic tricks (even some of the secrets behind them) and the colorful personalities of the time, this book sets the stage for the amazing tale of William Robinson and his evolution into Chung Ling Soo. If you have any interest in magic, or just want to learn more about vaudeville and the rough and tumble world of live entertainment in the late 1800s and early 1900s, this book takes you on an amazing journey. Highly recommended.



2. I'm puzzled by the many rave reviews for this book, which I enjoyed but found took effort to get through. The book reads like a list of stories about Robinson's life, told without the benefit of insight into the magician's psyche, and lacking much of a plot or theme to pull them into a continuous whole. At times the book seems to be a collection of loosely related encyclopedia entries. Moreover, the writing style is overly simple and lackluster, as if dumbed down. Fortunately, the stories are often interesting -- the tales of the Great Lafayette are entertaining.



3. Jim Steinmeyer gives us a labor of love with this fantastic book. For the professional or the curious, the book tells the story of magic during that exciting time of Keller, Herrmann, and Houdini (and many others)from the perspective of a man who touched the lives of each of them and contributed to their success as magicians. Only someone with the technical and historical knowledge and experience of Steinmeyer could explain the life of William Robinson aka Chung Ling Soo in the depth and with the understanding that this book achieves.



4. I don't give out a lot of 5 star reviews. This book gets 5 stars from me because of 3 reasons:
   
   1) It's a great story about a complicated and interestingly flawed person. Will Robinson was an ambitious showman, who recoginzed the flaws in his professional self and worked tirelessly to overcome them, but failed to overcome the flaws in his personal self, leaving an estranged wife and an abandoned son behind him. That he's a world-class illusionist and turn of the century entertainer makes him a lot more interesting.
   
   2) The author is a great historical writer, and he brings turn of the 20th century vaudeville to life in a real page-turning way. He does a great job exploring not just the main character and his wives and children, but the giants of magic at the time. Will Robinson spent a lot of time going back and forth between the two greatest magicians of the day, who were also bitter rivals. You learn so much good stuff about Kellar and Herrmann that the book feels like it's two or three books in content, without being two or three books in length. The author must've worked really hard to keep the book this packed and this short and accessible.
   
   3) And to me, this is what earned the 5th star in a big way: the author actually explains how the cutting edge (at the time) illusions worked. In detail. With no warnings about how "the brotherhood of magicians would kill me if they knew" or other such blather. He warns us at the beginning that illusionists don't protect the secrets from the audience, but the audience from the secrets. Once you know how it's done, you a) don't enjoy the trick anymore and b) feel foolish for not figuring it out yourself. So, knowing that ahead of time, when he reveals all the ingenious stuff the magicians build and skills they learn, he does it in a way that makes you feel like an insider, like a performer or production assistant. It makes you (well, it made me... your mileage may vary) feel like a part of the story somehow, since the discovery, invention, and espionage behind illusions is an important, sexy, and treacherous part of being a professional conjurer in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
   
   Anyway, that's why I love the book and give it a perfect score. Can't wait for his next one.



5. This book is about the world of magic in the early 1900's full of illusion and sometimes deception at the time vaudeville was being formed. Described as a combination of minstrel (Al Jolson), circus (fire-breathing acts), and variety saloons (singing, dancing), along comes William E. Robinson who leads a double life.
   
   He'd been the backstage manager for Hermann the Great, America's #1 magician, and married his assistant. They re-invented themselves as the "Marvelous Chinese Conjurer," Chung Ling Soo, and Suee Seen (Water Lily). He was a New Yorker and performed in the Black Art act, costumed as a king at the Bijou before he went out on his own. Harry Kellar, born in Erie, Pennsylvania, was the #2 magician at the time.
   
   As the Chinese marvel, Robinson wore an oriental costume with long pig-tail and slippers with up-turned toes. London had a whole troup of Chinese performers led by Ling Soo, and they arrived at the theaters in a long red Panhard touring car, top down, in style. In England, he also formed a second family with wife, Lou, and three children, Hector, Mary, and Ellsworth.
   
   There is a picture on p. 387 of him in costume, about to catch the bullet with a porcelian plate, the act in which he was killed. After his death, an investigation revealed the deception played out on the world stage, not just Amreica.

5 comments about Chronicle of the Chinese Emperors: The Reign-By-Reign Record of the Rulers of Imperial China (Chronicle).

1. Given the dearth of good English language books on Chinese history that are meant for the general public, it is refreshing to find a book tackling this area.
   
   However, it is all but impossible to cover all of the emperors of China in her 3,000 years of history in just over 200 pages, so this book is really only suitable as an introduction.
   
   As the title indicates, this is a chronicle of the emperors of China, rather than a history of China. Each emperor is given about a paragraph of text, with the exception of the more important rulers. As a result, some of the more important events and people that had profound effect on Chinese history were not included.
   
   On the positive side, this book is very well illustrated, and interspaced throughout the book, the author introduces various concepts on Chinese religion, culture, and arts.
   
   Also, I find the absence of the Shang and Zhou dynasties from this book to be an important oversight. Although they are normally considered part of imperial China, the kings of these dynasties certainly were part of Chinese history. Another oversight is the non-inclusion of the emperors of the Liao and Jin Dynasties.



2. All of these Chronicle history series books are great. This is the 4th one I have purchased. My kid is doing some big history project on a era of Chinese History that is hardly covered in traditonal Chinese history books. And to top it off the teacher is not allowing web references for the first draft. This book covered that era of history (the Three Kingdoms/Wei Dynastry) so that even I who don't know anything about Chinese history ( I am an Egyptian/Greek/Roman buff) could figure out where the 3 Kingdomsfit into the big picture. They give dates and the little plaques at the front of each reign with who their father was, who was the wife, big accomplishments is very helpful in school projects. The pictures are a big plus in making the material more interesting and real. I recommend these books to desperate parents everywhere.



3. I purchased this book in Shanghai hoping to learn more about early Chinese history. I had just visited Huang Shan meaning Yellow Mountain named after Huang Di, the Yellow Emperor. In this book there are only a few sentences on him. The material the book does cover is presented in an interesting but brief manner. Covering the material in great detail would take require a volume much larger. I recommend this as an introduction and starting point for those not familiar with Chinese history.



4. The author states that the first Tang Emperor, Li Yuan, designated his second son, Li Shimin, a crown prince. In fact, the crown prince was not Li Shimin but his first son, killed by Li Shimin in the 926 coup.



5. A blooper on page 10 says it all: the Sui Dynasty is inexplicably represented by the character 'Qi'. Paludan's book is well-intentioned and nicely-illustrated, but her grasp of the Chinese language and experience in historical research are clearly not up to the daunting task of presenting a comprehensive account of imperial Chinese history. As her bibliography shows, she has had to rely on several dated works in English, as well as more recent and authoritative ones like the massive Cambridge History of China. However, she flounders badly in the second section ("Confusion, Reunification and Golden Age", AD 220-907) and never makes it out of the confusion. The text in this section is peppered with factual inaccuracies and errors in translation that can only be blamed on general ignorance. While struggling with the emperors of the Southern Dynasties, she ignores those of the concurrent Northern Dynasties, sparing only two pages to comment on socio-economic developments in the North. The rulers of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms receive equally sparse attention. The superficial quotations that she has selected from estern sources betray the same lack of depth in examining the historical record.

   It would be unfair to single out Ann Paludan for lack of scholarship, however, because the ages of fragmentation from AD 189-589 and 907-979 suffer from a miserable dearth of research among Western historians of China. Paludan apparently had only three sources in English to go upon, none published within the last 20 years. Sadly, one of them is the famous but thoroughly mythologised "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", the author of which she characteristically names as Zhong Luo Guan rather than Luo Guanzhong. She parrots that novel's popular perception of the Three Kingdoms as "the golden age of chivalry and romance", without any attempt to compare this with historical reality.

   From here, everything goes downhill, because the Cambridge History volume on the 220-589 period has yet to be published. Paludan, probably referring to the primary sources, fails completely to get her facts and names right, translating "Prince of Yingyang" as "Sun King of Ying", for example, and referring to his replacement by an "older" half-brother when that brother was in fact younger. For that matter, Paludan bothers to give us the Chinese characters for the temple names and reign titles of the various emperors, but not their actual names (not even in hanyu pinyin, in many cases). One would think the reader is just as much interested to know the name an emperor was born with.

   The later chapters from Tang to Qing are rather more credible, but readers would do better to read the (still incomplete) Cambridge History and F.W. Mote's "Imperial China 900-1800" for the same information in greater detail and accuracy. Sadly, a proper history of the chaotic period from AD 189 to 589, imperial China's longest-ever period of inter-regional war, has yet to be written for English-speaking readers. Beyond brief excursions into the then-rising religions of Buddhism and Daoism, Ann Paludan does not even begin to do justice to its fascinating complexities.

5 comments about Confessions: An Innocent Life in Communist China.

1. So what do we know about this innocent life whose story is told across five decades? Born to city life, Zhengguo Kang is early on banished by his family to the Silent Garden of his grandparents--this to keep him from being corrupted by the "bad" kids in the neighborhood. Taking the journal his father gives him, he ensconces himself in his grandfather's library and begins his self-education, each night writing about his thoughts. Is all this foreshadow of what is to come? We never learn what is in the journals. Is it only because they are burned, or because he doesn't want to reveal himself? Does this early experience foster his emotional isolation and create the hiding place necessary for his survival?
   
   His narrative tells the brief stories of many ordinary people who are impacted by the harshness of the regime. Each story of struggle and loss is told with dispassion. His own trying experiences read like the routine of brushing one's teeth. Is he incapable of connecting with his feelings, or is he the ultimate observer? Is this book the confession of a professional confessor--who tells what needs to be said to get off, but has mastered the art of not revealing himself at all? Is it the confession of a culture that had lost its ability to feel? We'll never know for sure.



2. this would be a more profound work if the author had shown an insight into the quandary faced by all those in this totalitarian society. It is unsympathetic in its portrayal excepting the personal history of the author.



3. There are many great books on life in Communist China...Wild Swans, Life and Death in Shanghai, Mandate of Heaven, Iron and Silk etc.....Confessions is a great addition to the field.
   
   Well translated and utterly captivating and scary. A look into the horrors of life under Mao's totalitarianism.
   
   Some guys might be put off from Life and Death in Shanghai or Wild Swans which are told from very strong female points of view....Confessions is from a males point of view...I am not saying the other books are chick books and this is a guys book...but to some who might not want to read about generations of females this is a good alternative.
   
   Its a great book and I hope it reaches a wide group of readers.



4. 
   In his highly readable memoirs Yale University Professor Kang Zhengguo almost apologizes for not having it so rough in the Chinese Communist prison where he suffered privation and humiliation for three years, from September 1968 to September 1971. He reminds us that others have had it far worse, and points us to their books. But his tale of the common ailments including constipation and hunger that he and other prisoners suffered under the tyrannical rule of Mao Zedong's all-knowing and all-powerful party apparatus might be enough anyway to bring beads of sweat to a reader's brow. And for this precocious child of Xian, Shaanxi Province, who would never stop reading or learning or thinking, the prison term imposed for ordering Boris Pasternak's Dr. Zhivago by mail from the Moscow University Library in the "revisionist" Soviet Union was not the least of his suffering.
   
   The Cultural Revolution rendered an already ailing China almost useless as a productive country. In a land where education and scholarship had been given almost religious importance for more than 2,000 years, questions and the people who asked them suddenly became suspect. Students took over classrooms; workers became the arbitrary, vengeful bosses. Kang Zhengguo's father always urged him to stick to the sciences as he was growing up in a middle class family in Xian - knowing instinctively and through his own suffering that books and the ideas in them could ruin a person. That's the way it was under the Communist tyrants. Yet Kang would read, and write, like his grandfather before him. Suffering was his calling.
   
   His writing and reading cost him his place at college, alienated him from his father, landed him in prison, left him a second-class citizen for a decade and haunts him even now, he explains in Confessions: An Innocent Life in Communist China. He can't return to China - or won't. The last time he was there, in the enlightened year 2000, he was detained and interrogated and threatened for two days. Only his connections to Yale saved him. The Chinese citizen has no power in China, not political power anyway. Mao's death in 1976 changed little and the reforms of Deng Xiaoping brought economic prosperity for a few but at the price of everyone forgetting that they were stuck in a political quagmire. Kang Zhengguo escaped all that for the idyllic life of the bookish language teacher in New Haven, Conn. His writing got him in trouble, then provided his escape valve. His story will be especially compelling to writers and others who trade in ideas. But it will provide delightful reading for any student of China, filling in the details of the lives of ordinary people living through an extraordinary time in world history. - THOMAS BRENT ANDREWS / more reviews at http://chronicdiscontent.wordpress.com ##



5. Highly recommended for the reader interested in how one thoughtful young person might have survived during the madness of Mao's years. Professor Kang Zhengguo provides a well-written reaffirmation of the ultimate power of the lone individual. He, while adapting to hard circumstances, quietly strove for what was just in a time of unjustness.
   
   A harsh, deadeningly corrupt political/economic system, seemingly designed to bring out the worst in all people, is described in powerful detail.

3 comments about Zen's Chinese Heritage -- The Masters & Their Teachings.

1. I read this book back when I was living in a monastery. I found it to be extraordinary, the other monk that I was living with at the time was also amazed that such a book had been written and he was the one that order one for the monks and one for the nuns.
   
   The book goes through the very beginnings of Chan (Chinese word for Zen) up through the "Golden Age" and beyond. I found very intriguing particularly to see that at one point in the Chan history that there was this point when so many enlightened masters had arose at once. Probably something we may never see again. You will find all Five Schools in here plus other schools that were not so prominent but had an impact as well.
   
   Definitely a book worthy of your dollar.



2. I took months to read this book and only ever reached the stage of being an open-mouthed, lightning-struck bystander. Such a treasure is not often found in one life. I congratulate the authors on feeding us such juicy and tangy fruit.



3. Zen's Chinese Heritage - The masters and their teachings, by Andrew Ferguson, is a long awaited reference for those wishing to appreciate the origins of the Zen tradition. As a long time practioner of Zen, the many illustrious and noteworthy ancestors of my tradition, have often been nothing more than a confusing collection of names, difficult to pronounce and even more difficult to appreciate as once real and living men and women. Andrew Ferguson's painstaking efforts at bringing to life these practioners of old, and providing us with history and anecdotes from their allusive lives, has enlivened my practice and given new meaning to the many wonderful and amazing persons I encounter in my koan study. This book is a wonderful guide and reference, especially with its accompanying lineage chart, for anyone who is either a practioner of this wonderful tradition or is solely interested in furthering their appreciation for the history of Zen.

5 comments about Chinese Playground : A Memoir.

1. I just finished reading Bill Lee's book "Chinese Playground," it was a book that I could not put down. It is a must read. I found I had a lot in common with the author of the book, we both have had our own experiences in our lifetime, but it comes down to getting through the problems. It's a matter of SURVIVAL and learning something from our experiences. I admire the author for what he has been thru and what he has made of his life inspite of the obstacles.
   
   I would recommend that everyone read this book!



2. I've seen this in Chinatown Toishan parents and the kinds of effects that their nastiness has on their kids and the conflicted confused ideas of Confucian obedience that prevent intelligent kids from healing as fast as they could especially when in other Chinese families, Confucianism does work and families are peaceful and happy or if the kids aren't targeted by their nasty parents, they grow up smug and snug and sly. I can't even imagine what it is like to grow up with such parenting in parts of Asia where Western psychobabble isn't pervasive and there are no clues at all for kids to suss out why their parents behave terribly.
   
   When the author was four years old, he required medical appointments once a month and his mother would not speak to him during this once a month escort but she would sigh throughout the bus ride and sometimes not sit next to him to indicate that he was an imposition. I've seen this happen. I've also seen parents threaten to leave toddlers and sometimes actually walk away from children and stay hidden watching their child's distress. It looks like the parents who do this imply to their kids that this can't be held against the parents since it not a regular occurence and will soon vanish in their infant memory. I know exactly what the author means (because I have seen it) when he writes that his mother was "unpredictable," intensified abuse when her child "cried harder," "perceived [her children] as her enemies ...[and] was a master at making [her children] feel repulsive." It's not a secret and he's not exaggerating or demonizing his parents. Other people see but why don't things change? I think that things don't change within a closed community and there has to be certain conditions in place with regard to subgroup's historical attitude towards entitlement, money, education and subgroup dogmatism for the problem to exist. This is not an entirely Chinese problem. It is at least specific subgroup's problem as far as I am aware. I know that irrational injust parenting had to have had something to do with later judgement. These parents are so socially insulated even within the larger Chinese hierarchy of provenance nevermind in American society that there's unlikely to be any occasion when someone holds a mirror up to them or lets them know just how they appear to others which means their kids are really isolated in processing the abuse. This is another good book for examples of narcissistic personality disorder both covert and overt. I don't respect more fortunate Chinese American kids who think Chinatown is glamorous and lap up all the exploitive media products while living an otherwise boring but at least safe existence in suburbia. This is another person's misfortune that is being used as entertainment. I guess this is a good book for those kids who have no sympathy only voyeuristic interest for Chinatown. I'm not sure that it would be effective for an at-risk child though.
   
   Born to Lose is a better book by the same author. It has greater depth. For some one with birth defects, he's a much better writer than many others I've read.



3. I was born in San Francisco. It isn't like that anymore as you can see, I didn't live in Chinatown but regularly go to my Grandma or grandpa after school in chinatown. I lived in Japantown til I was six years old. I moved to Oakland ever since.

   When I brought this book, I didn't know what to expect, but when I read about his life, I could really relate to his childhood. Not as extreme as his was, but I can really relate, and how I would turn out if I was still in San Francisco. Would probably be the same as him with those family issues like that. Can turn a kid to look at their enviroment for support. I too am Toishanese, does that mean most toishanese parents are stubborn and ignorant? I don't know.

   And the Enviroment in Oakland is no different. Kids want to be goo wak jais and hard ghetto punks.




4. this is a very well-written book for a non-fiction plot. It was recommended to me by a friend and I have to say the plot was not boring, the author was very descriptive in his writing. Don't miss out on this.



5. Yeah-- so forget about some of the editing problems-- this book is a must read! There are so many similarities between this and cultish groups. It doesn't matter if you're a poor kid in Chinatown or a rich kid in a brainwashing group-the lessons remain the same:One's inner voice--thinking for onesself and then of course--running away when you can --are universal stories. We have seen it in Nazi Germany, with Waco, in Chinatown and in Jonestown. KIDS of all ages should read this truly eye-opening account of how easy it is to get pulled in to an ideology that then kills its own....

5 comments about The Diary of Ma Yan: The Struggles and Hopes of a Chinese Schoolgirl.

1. I thought that this book was pretty good, and it makes me compare my life to hers. How she struggles and wants to learn and how I don't have as much of a passion for learning. I know that a girl of 12 or 13 wrote the diary, but the sentences were not very well written and were not complete sentences. The entries were very simple like," A teacher arrives. He's wearing a blue jacket and black trousers and he has black leather shoes. He explains what he expects of us. I think he's our Chinese teacher." The days weren't that informative and the ending wasn't the best, but the idea was pretty clear; one of many girls that struggle on a daily bases to maintain an education and the hard work their parents and they go through to get money to eat. In the diary, it shows how Ma Yan had to starve herself to get money for a pen and how she usually got so little to eat and we can ask for a many pens and get it and stuff ourselves with food till we're full or more.
   
   It was pretty interesting to read the diary of a girl who goes through many hardships and how writing this diary could help her and many others live a better life than before. The diary probably would make whoever reads this more grateful for the life they have now, if it's better than hers. This would be a book I would recommend, especially to those who spend money wastefully and to those who have no intention to study but have an opportunity to do so. It's a book worth reading and I hope you enjoy it.



2. I thought that this book was pretty good, and it makes me compare my life to hers. How she struggles and wants to learn and how I don't have as much of a passion for learning. I know that a girl of 12 or 13 wrote the diary, but the sentences were not very well written and were not complete sentences. The entries were very simple like," A teacher arrives. He's wearing a blue jacket and black trousers and he has black leather shoes. He explains what he expects of us. I think he's our Chinese teacher." The days weren't that informative and the ending wasn't the best, but the idea was pretty clear; one of many girls that struggle on a daily bases to maintain an education and the hard work their parents and they go through to get money to eat. In the diary, it shows how Ma Yan had to starve herself to get money for a pen and how she usually got so little to eat and we can ask for a many pens and get it and stuff ourselves with food till we're full or more.
   
   It was pretty interesting to read the diary of a girl who goes through many hardships and how writing this diary could help her and many others live a better life than before. The diary probably would make whoever reads this more grateful for the life they have now, if it's better than hers. This would be a book I would recommend, especially to those who spend money wastefully and to those who have no intention to study but have an opportunity to do so. It's a book worth reading and a good one too.



3. I read Ma Yan's Diary immediately after watching the opening ceremony for the Olympics. The diary is very moving; Ma Yan shares her experience with the culture of a small Chinese province. Between the lines, her writing explains a lot about the Chinese national pride we are seeing at the Olympics. It explained many questions I had about the way Chinese residents might feel after seeing the excess of the opening ceremony. Excellent view into a young girl's life and the culture she lives in.
   Highly recommend!



4. this book is about a girl's strugels to go to school and how she had her dream of going to school she wrote a letter to her mom saying that she wanted to go school because she didnt wanted to stay home and work she wanted to go to school



5. I loved this story because of Ma Yan's spirit. This is the true story of Ma Yan who stuggles to stay in school in spite of her families severe poverty. She does not give up no matter what obstacles she faces.

1 comments about Chinese National Cinema (National Cinemas Series.).

1. Read the review by Sabrina Q. Yu, University of Nottingham, UK in
   http://www.scope.nottingham.ac.uk/bookreview.php?issue=6&id=162
   
   Three excerpts:
   
   "The book is divided into eight chapters according to historical periodization. Fully aware of the influence of an ideological viewpoint on Chinese film historiography, Zhang tries to give Chinese cinema a less politicized, but broader periodization. Starting with early cinema (1896-1929) in Chapter Two and the 'golden age' of Chinese cinema (1930-1949) in Chapter Three, the author moves to separately address the cinema of Taiwan, Hong Kong and the PRC before 1978 in Chapters Four, Five, Six, and then investigates new waves in the three Chinas (1979-1989), and concludes with a discussion of transnational imaginary in the three Chinas from 1990 to 2002. This scheme clearly shows Zhang's aim to balance complicated Chinese film history in different temporal and geopolitical locales. On the one hand, the films of the three Chinas are given similar attention, avoiding any priority. On the other hand, a roughly identical periodization is applied to the films in the PRC, Taiwan and Hong Kong."
   
   "As a mainland Chinese critic, it is heartening to see that Zhang, a film scholar from mainland China, pursues an ideological neutrality in his writing of Chinese film history."
   
   and
   
   "The significance of Zhang's Chinese National Cinema results from its groundbreaking endeavour to establish a less biased history of Chinese cinema, and to "conduct primary research and complete the constructive phase of film historiography before we can proceed with deconstruction and reconstruction in any confident, meaningful way" (12)."