(Part 2) Best books about chinese people according to redditors

If you enjoy feeling what it is like to live a completely different life from a non-Western perspective, you will like this film. Kurosawa based the movie on the book written by Dersu's Russian friend.

It's a very deep cultural problem. I can only speak for China but in older times, families would be given land for each boy born, but only half that amount for every girl born. Too many girls could mean starvation, particularly given that in Chinese superstition you were expected to continue having children until you had a boy. In fact, the family would not even consider you a person until you had given them a son to carry on the line. The girls would grow up to be part of another family and would therefore not even be able to take care of the parents and grandparents in their old age. They were seen as a drain on resources that could not even be justified in the end.

Chinese superstition is still very ingrained into every day life. My boyfriend is Chinese (still lives in China) and his family are extremely stubborn in their ideas- things like drinking cold water will give you stomach cancer. I once offered his mother a paracetamol for her headache and she became hysterical, as though I were trying to poison her with my 'western medicine'. In fact, all of the things on this thread are true and not exaggerated. The one child policy is very difficult for people in rural areas when they are treated like lesser beings for having girls. Over time it will change, but do not underestimate how slow and difficult that process will be. It already is very different in urban areas; people worship their daughters like little princesses. But the gap between the urban rich and the rural poor is absolutely massive and so is the gap in mindset. I have been to villages in China where it is like being transported back into the past by a hundred years.

I am not trying to say that these beliefs are right because they are not. I just wanted to elucidate a little because it is very difficult to understand from a western viewpoint why this would be, when our society has developed in a different way. These women are not emotionless. It is not an easy thing for them to simply to defy biology and their emotions because that is the way that their society wants them to. In fact, China is very unique in that it is the only country in the world where the suicide rate for women is higher than men. If anybody is interested in reading more about the experiences of Chinese women in having to give up their female children, there is an excellent book written by a Chinese woman, Xinran, whose mother chose to give her up for adoption, who tried to seek out the stories of the individual women caught up in this problem: Message from an unknown Chinese mother

http://www.thebeijinger.com/forum/2009/08/25/struggling-us-move-china

https://www.amazon.com/Struggling-Move-China-David-Williams/product-reviews/7119050877

Could you imagine if Angela Merkel published this book, how the exact same white guys who go to Asia would react? "Why German women make great girlfriends for unemployed Muslim men" published by the German government. This would be their "smoking gun" for the Kalergi plan.

Highly recommend reading Chinese Playground if you want to learn more about the Chinese Underworld in SF

China in Ten Words heavily talked about modern china in the same light. Copycat being 1 of the big words that goes into discussion, showing that if a chinese man can do it "better" by making it cheaper, than will cut corners to do it.

How is this racist? She wrote a book called Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother

Few better books for understanding modern China than this one https://www.amazon.com/China-Ten-Words-Yu-Hua/dp/0307739791

Worth what to who?

If you read this and you don't like it, then you can save yourself some time and not study Zen:

https://www.amazon.com/Zen-Master-Yunmen-Essential-Sayings-ebook/dp/B072Q8Q4NJ/

In Confession of a Buddhist Atheist, Stephen Batchelor wrote of visiting the giant Buddhas of Bamiyan, three decades before they were reduced to a pile of rocks.

"From the monk's cell, hewn out of the sandstone cliff centuries earlier, where I spent my days idly smoking a potent blend of marijuana, hashish, and tobacco, a narrow passage led to a dark inner staircase that I would illuminate by striking matches. The steep rock steps climbed to an opening that brought me out, via a narrow ledge, onto the smooth dome of the giant Buddha's head, which fell away dizzily on all sides to the ground one hundred and eighty feet below. On the ceiling of the niche above were faded fragments of painted Buddhas and bodhisattvas. I feared looking up at them for too long lest I lose my balance, slip, and plummet earthward. As my eyes became used to the fierce sunlight, I would gaze out onto the fertile valley of Bamiyan, a patchwork of fields interspersed with low, flat-roofed farmhouses, which lay stretched before me. It was the summer of 1972. This was my first encounter with the remains of a Buddhist civilization, one that had ended with Mahmud of Ghazni's conquest of Afghanistan in the eleventh century.

Like others on the hippie trail to India, I thought of myself as a traveler rather than a mere tourist, someone on an indeterminate quest rather than a journey with a prescribed beginning and end. Had I been asked what I was seeking, I doubt my answer would have been very coherent. I had no destination, either of the geographical or spiritual kind. I was simply "on the road," in that anarchic and ecstatic sense celebrated by Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and other role models I revered at the time.

I enjoyed nothing more than simply being on the way to somewhere else. I was quite content to peer for hours through the grimy, grease-smeared windows of a rattling bus with cooped chickens in the aisle, observing farmers bent over as they toiled in fields,women carrying babies on their backs, barefoot children playing in the dust, old men seated in the shade smoking hookahs, and all the shabby little towns and villages at which we stopped for sweet tea and unleavened bread." https://www.amazon.com/Confession-Buddhist-Atheist-Stephen-Batchelor/dp/0385527071

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While the adventures of past pilgrims are inspiring, other types of journeys are impressive as well:

Cave in the Snow: A Western Woman's Quest for Enlightenment https://www.amazon.com/Cave-Snow-Western-Womans-Enlightenment/dp/0747543895

The Sound of Two Hands Clapping: The Education of a Tibetan Buddhist Monk https://www.amazon.com/Sound-Two-Hands-Clapping-Education/dp/0520232607

And On Gold Mountain is one of my favorite books, it tells the story of the Chinese American experience through the history of one family through 2 centuries in the US. Fascinating, and highly recommend, especially for anyone who lives in California, or the Pacific Northwest.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0307950395

Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother :). More of a personal story rather than a parenting book, but intriguing nonetheless. This book isn't about parenting per say either but is a broad approach to positive reinforcement that is applicable to parenting as well.

soccerbud offered this read for someone else. I don't have anything to suggest unfortunately.

http://www.amazon.com/Genius-China-Science-Discovery-Invention/dp/1853752924

I'd start by recommending you read Georges Dreyfus's book The Sound of Two Hands Clapping (http://www.amazon.com/Sound-Two-Hands-Clapping-Lilienthal/dp/0520232607). Dreyfus was the first westerner to earn a Geshe degree, and also has a PhD, so he does a nice job of straddling the two worlds of the monastic and the academic.

My next recommendation would be to study for a year or two at a western dharma center (such as Karme Choling in Vermont) where you can begin your education in English, rather than having to learn Tibetan first.

The old RK surgery had some very strange effects in high altitude climbs. "Left for Dead," is an account of a climber who had vision challenges on Mount Everest. Another account, "Into Thin Air" details the experience of another climber related to eye surgery.

Granted Rainier is not Everest, but climbers need to be mindful that some eye surgeries can cause some climbers problems at high altitudes. Certainly not all surgeries and certainly not all climbers, but it is always good to ask your eye surgeon and other climbers who have had that particular surgery before a serious climb. Rainier is a climb in its own right, but is often a prelude for this list

those are extremely western centric lists.

paper money, silk, procelain, plowing, water pumps, seismograph, herbal medicine, cross bows, printing press

also, many mathematical and scientific discoveries were made independently from western sciences

also:
http://www.amazon.com/Genius-China-Science-Discovery-Invention/dp/1853752924

Here are all the local Amazon links I could find:


amazon.com

amazon.co.uk

amazon.ca

amazon.com.au

amazon.in

amazon.com.mx

amazon.de

amazon.it

amazon.es

amazon.com.br

amazon.nl

amazon.co.jp

amazon.fr

Beep bloop. I'm a bot to convert Amazon ebook links to local Amazon sites.
I currently look here: amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca, amazon.com.au, amazon.in, amazon.com.mx, amazon.de, amazon.it, amazon.es, amazon.com.br, amazon.nl, amazon.co.jp, amazon.fr, if you would like your local version of Amazon adding please contact my creator.

http://www.amazon.com/On-Gold-Mountain-Lisa-See/dp/0307950395/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1404907708&sr=8-1&keywords=on+gold+mountain

The Golden Age of Zen.

Oooh, I have a shelf full of these.

First, a warning: Dragon Lady is a terrible, unreadable book that's hard to take seriously.

Books I've enjoyed:

Empress Orchid, about the last empress of China (and there's a sequel!)

Hell, anything by Anchee Min

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, about re-education

Bound, the original Cinderella story; teen lit

Peony in Love, takes ghosts seriously

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, same author, completely different story. Still want to throttle characters.


And you're aware of Amy Tan already, I presume?

The Eight Gates of Zen is one of my favorites by far.

And I just started to read The Golden Age of Zen which seems excellent so far, it is about Chinese Zen (Chan) and the old masters.

Just for 20th century/Civil War period I really liked The Last Empress. It's a biography of Madame Chiang Kai Shek but it gives a good overview of the political situation in China at the time. It's more of a light/fun read than academic though.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Last-Empress-Madame-Kai-shek/dp/B005DI8SNU/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1332188801&sr=8-3

The thing is the moment they see Tan's picture on the back of the book, they know that it was due to her insecurities of being ugly.

On another note, my school did not offer the book, but we did read this other one also written by a AF called Falling Leaves: https://www.amazon.com/Falling-Leaves-Unwanted-Chinese-Daughter/dp/0767903579

This one actually describes the author's Asian stepmother as being cruel.

As far as Gelasimov and Zabuzhko are concerned, you're in luck. I got all their currently-available AmazonCrossing works for $1.99 or below, and I've seen them regularly in the monthly rotation over the past year or so. Thanks for the heads-up about Harington; the introduction by sfnal author Peter Straub is a bonus draw, and the price is certainly right for trying out. His publisher Lake Union is another Amazon line, which is generally also good about the rotating sale prices.

If you're interested in memoirs, from the AmazonCrossing selection I'll recommend France-resident China expat Zhu Xiao-Mei's The Secret Piano: From Mao's Labor Camps to Bach's Goldberg Variations currently $1.99, which I'm halfway through. So far it's been an interesting glimpse into the restrictions on performing arts during the Cultural Revolution.

Another really worthwhile S&S 99 cent pricedrop this week if you're into science biographies is Margaret Cheney's Tesla: Man out of Time, which though a little old is one of the best Nikola Tesla biographies IMHO. If I didn't already have it from a daily special offer last year, I'd be snapping it up instantly.

For more discounted Asian authors, you might want to keep an eye out for Arcade Publishing and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt's Mariner Books imprints. Every so often they put some Mo Yan, Lin Zhenyun, Anchee Min, Young-ha Kim, and others on sale for just $1.99 in their daily rotating sales, which is how I picked up even more additions to my ever-growing backlog of stuff I'll one day actually read.

The single best book about Beijing I have ever read is "Décadence Mandchoue: The China Memoirs of Edmund Trelawny Backhouse". There will never be another Beijing (or China) like that.

I loved reading Dersu the trapper. The book focuses on a native trapper in the Taiga. And there is also an excellent movie adaptation called Dersu Uzala which was directed by Akira Kurosawa.

Awesome- you are a quick reader, though. which one are you reading? If you are reading No Picnic on Mt. Kenya, be sure to read the forward by the author (or if you didn't get a version with the forward, try to find it in the library or online) because his life is fascinating.

If you like Krakauer's writing style, I recommend his other mountaineering book Eiger Dreams

some other good mountaineering writers to check out: Joe Simpson, Maurice Herzog , Ed Viesturs, Anatoli Boukreev, Nick Heil, Beck Weathers, and Dave Breashears

Not watched the link...VPN a bit slow tonight.


If you want an interesting read about what Chinese mothers went through, in particular with girls, then this is a heart-rending read by Xue Xinran.



https://www.amazon.co.uk/Message-Chinese-Mother-Stories-Loss/dp/0099535750

I'd love to read this used.

Woo Vacation! Glad you are finished with one of your jobs!

Yeah, I'm a talented actor who has starred in several important movies.

You can read about it in my book:

http://www.amazon.com/Struggling-Move-China-David-Williams/dp/7119050877

Justin Trudeau admires China though.

It seems the entire Trudeau family have a respect and admiration of China

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01AFYYIPI/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

Also from the CBC:

Canada may have a unique relationship with the Trudeau family. But the Trudeaus have a unique relationship with China. In Chairman Mao's day, China was a special place for the former prime minister. In the 21st century, Alexandre Trudeau feels its pull.Al 25:21

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/alexandre-trudeau-shares-unique-relationship-family-has-with-china-1.3768698