History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

The Inner Quarters: Marriage and the Lives of Chinese Women in the Sung Period

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Comprehensive

The Inner Quarters: Marriage and the Lives of Chinese Women in the Sung Period
Patricia Buckley Ebrey
Manufacturer: University of California Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0520081587

Book Description

The Sung Dynasty (960-1279) was a paradoxical era for Chinese women. This was a time when footbinding spread, and Confucian scholars began to insist that it was better for a widow to starve than to remarry. Yet there were also improvements in women's status in marriage and property rights. In this thoroughly original work, one of the most respected scholars of premodern China brings to life what it was like to be a woman in Sung times, from having a marriage arranged, serving parents-in-law, rearing children, and coping with concubines, to deciding what to do if widowed.
Focusing on marriage, Patricia Buckley Ebrey views family life from the perspective of women. She argues that the ideas, attitudes, and practices that constituted marriage shaped women's lives, providing the context in which they could interpret the opportunities open to them, negotiate their relationships with others, and accommodate or resist those around them.
Ebrey questions whether women's situations actually deteriorated in the Sung, linking their experiences to widespread social, political, economic, and cultural changes of this period. She draws from advice books, biographies, government documents, and medical treatises to show that although the family continued to be patrilineal and patriarchal, women found ways to exert their power and authority. No other book explores the history of women in pre-twentieth-century China with such energy and depth.

Customer Reviews:

Comprehensive.......2001-12-25

This book presents a comprehensive portrait of the lives of women in Sung China (960-1279 AD). The author explores such topics as marriage, dowries, rites and celebrations, women's work, husband-wife relations, motherhood, widowhood, concubines, and match-making. Because of the need to rely on written materials for much of the information, and because literacy was restricted mainly to the educated and upper classes, the book naturally contains many more details about the lives of rich women than of the poor. Nevertheless, Ebrey was still able to distill some information about peasant women and families as well. The book will appeal to anyone interested in women's studies, Chinese history, or Asian area studies.

History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)

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Check and see
Suprise! Suprise!
Prescient St Augustine?
Something of a disappointment
Romulus courts Helen, Paris founds Rome, Moses goes to Troy..

History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)
Anatoly T Fomenko
Manufacturer: Delamere Resources LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 2913621066

Product Description

`History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2` is the second volume of the most explosive and astounding tractate on history ever written - however, every theory it contains, no matter how unorthodox, is backed by rock solid scientific data. The book is easy and pleasant to read; it is well-illustrated, contains hundreds of charts, graphs and illustrations, copies of ancient manuscripts, and countless facts attesting to the falsity of the chronology used nowadays. You will be amazed to discover: - That the chronology universally accepted today and taken for granted is simply wrong; - That ALL methods of dating of ancient sources and artefacts known today are erroneous or non-exact; - That there is not a single document that could be reliably dated earlier than the XIth century; The Author refers to the Middle Ages as the Antiquity and proves mutual superimposition of the Second and the Third Roman Empire, both of which become identified as the respective kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Furthermore, he asserts that the famous reform of the Occidental Church in the XI century by Pope Gregory Hildebrand was the reflection of the XII century reforms of Byzantine emperor Andronicus who in his turn identifies with Jesus Christ. The Trojan war counted by Homer happened only as late as of the XIII century A.D. and the great poet actually lived in XIV century A.D. No stone in history of Antiquity is left unturned. Literally. This book is the beginning of a major correction to the chronology we live with.

Customer Reviews:

Check and see.......2007-06-21

I don't care what other people say of this book. Those affirmig it's fake, they hadn't ever read it. Or have some special reasons to do so. "Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see..." This book won't make you feel comfortable. It'll make you feel free. It'll make you feel you're "not the only one" to feel you'd been lied to for centuries.

Suprise! Suprise!.......2007-03-22

Here is a serie of books which turns "the whole world" upside down. I learned a lot of it and I hope that a new book from A.T. Fomenko will follow very quick. A absolute must for everybody who is interested in history or even a little bit from it.

Prescient St Augustine?.......2006-02-05

We can so far divide the New Chronology into the following three parts:

a) The verifiable theory that proves consensual chronology wrong with the aid of astronomy, statistics and mathematics;

b) The new chronology hypothesis based on a new understanding of known historical facts and the most likely logical explanation of the most obvious inconsistencies inherent in the official version of history;

c) The history conjectures, that is experimental historical reconstructions based on assumptions that the authors believe to make sense in the light of their research and linguistic parallels - void of ironclad factual support to date.

Fomenko's theory complies with the most rigid scientific standards as a whole:

It gives a coherent explanation of what we already know.

- It is consistent: independent lines of inquiry all lead to the same conclusion.

- The predictions it makes are confirmed empirically.

Fomenko goes by the following axioms:

- Chronology is the basis of history;

- Human evolution has always been linear, gradual and irreversible;

- The "cyclic" nature of human civilization is a myth, likewise all the gaps, duplicates, "dark ages" and "renaissances" that we know from consensual history;

- The accumulation of geographical knowledge as reflected in cartography is a gradual and irreversible process;

- The chronological distance between a given manuscript and the events described therein is proportional to the amount of distortions it contains;

- There is no "useless" information in authentic ancient sources.

Why the mainstream historians do not shower mathematician Academician Dr.Prof Fomenko with thanks and laurels?

The Russians:

Because Fomenko asserts that there was no such thing as the Tartar and Mongol invasion followed by three centuries of slavery, providing a formidable body of documental evidence to prove his assertion. The so-called "Tartars and Mongols" were the actual ancestors of the modern Russians, living in a bilingual state with Arabic spoken as freely as Russian. The ancient Russian state was governed by a double structure of civil and military authorities. The hordes were actually professional armies with a tradition of lifelong conscription (the recruitment being the so-called "blood tax"). Their "invasions" were punitive operations against the regions that attempted tax evasion. Fomenko proves that Russian history as we know it today is a blatant forgery concocted by a host of German scientists brought to Russia by the usurper dynasty of the Romanovs, whose ascension to the throne was the result of coup d'état, charged with the mission of making their reign look legitimate. Fomenko proves Ivan the Terrible to be a collation of four rulers, no less. They represented the two rival dynasties - the legitimate rulers and the ambitious upstarts. The winner took it all! Over some 30 years of controversy, Russian historians have made a most remarkable transition - they were initially accusing the young mathematician Fomenko of anticommunist dissident activity and attempts to deface the historical legacy of Soviet Russia; nowadays the middle-aged mathematician is accused of adhering to "pro-communist Russian nationalism" and defacing the proud historical legacy of Great Russia.

The Westerners:

Because Fomenko blows consensual Russian history to smithereens, successfully removing a crucial cornerstone from underneath the otherwise impeccable edifice of World History. Fomenko adds insult to injury, wiping out one by one the Ancient Rome (the foundation of Rome in Italy is dated to the XIV century A. D.), the Ancient Greece and its numerous poleis, which he identifies as the mediaeval crusader settlements on the territory of Greece, and the Ancient Egypt (the pyramids of Giza become dated to the XI-XV century A. D. and identified as the royal cemetery of the Global "Mongolian" Empire, no less). The civilization of the Ancient Egypt is irrefutably dated to the XII-XV century A. D. with the aid of the ancient Egyptian horoscopes cut in stone. He was the first one to decipher and date all such horoscopes, coming up with mediaeval dates in every case. English historians rage at the suggestion that the history of Ancient England was de facto a Byzantine import transplanted to the English soil by the fugitive Byzantine nobility. To reward the English historians who consider themselves the true scribes of World History, the cover of the present book portrays Tintoretto's Jesus Christ crucified on the Big Ben.

The Chinese:

Because Fomenko wipes out the Ancient History of China outright. No such thing. Full point. The compilation of the so-called Ancient Chinese History is reliably datable to the XVII-XVIII century only. It is perfectly recognizable as the Ancient European history, reworked and transcribed in hieroglyphs as yet another historical transplantation, this time performed on the Chinese soil by the loving Jesuit hands. The Chinese are the next in line to go berserk. Chinese history is inevitably bound to get both more ancient and more eventful, proportionally to the growing involvement of China in the world affairs. Chinese historians will keep on finding valid proof of prehistoric Chinese spaceflights until the Politburo orders them to shut up.

The Arabs:

Too bad. Islam with all its key figures is datable to XV-XVI century A. D. Arabic historians may find consolation in the crucial historical role of the Ottoman Empire in the XVI-XVII century. The trouble is that this empire was initially a Christian state, with Hagia Sophia identifiable as Temple of Solomon, according to Fomenko! We can only guess if the acquisition of Alexander the Great (a Macedonian and a Christian) as the founder of the Muslim World Empire will make Fomenko's theories more acceptable to the Arabic mainstream. He certainly does not spare any holy cows at all, claiming The Stone of Qa'Aba in Mecca to contain the lost Arch of the Covenant.

The Divinity:

Despite of reiterated statement that his theory is all about chronology and not Religion, Fomenko stirs up a whole condominium of wasp nests. His collection of anathemas, fatwa, and other condemnations from all parties concerned is already considerable. Little wonder, considering that the history of religions à la Fomenko looks as follows: the pre-Christian period (before the XI century and JC), Bacchic Christianity (XI-XII century, before and after JC), JC Christianity (XII-XVI century) and its subsequent mutations into Orthodox Christianity, the Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism, and so on.

According to Fomenko we know strictly NOTHING about the events that predate the X century A. D.

St Augustin was prescient when he spoke unto us: "be wary of mathematicians, particularly when they speak the truth."

Something of a disappointment.......2005-09-09

After having read the first volume of this expected series of 7 volumes I was triggered by the thesis of these authors that ancient Greek and Roman history did in fact take place in the Middle Ages. So I started studying medieval history of the Middle East - also known as Islamic history - to find out if the opponents of the ancient Greeks and Romans - the Acheamenid Persians, Sassanids, Scythians, Egyptians, etc. - also have their duplicates in medieval history. My search was disappointing: none of the many medieval Islamic dynasties seemed to correspond to the ancient middle eastern rulers.

However, I did find a close correspondence between Herodotus' Persian kings and medieval events:

- the defeat and capture of an Anatolian king - the Lydian Croesus - by the Persian conqueror Cyrus is identical to the defeat and capture of another Anatolian king - sultan Bayezid - by the Asian/Mongol conqueror Tamerlane;
- the Persian conquest of Egypt by the cruel tyrant Cambyses reds almost exactly as the Ottoman conquest of Egypt by Selim the Grim (note the nickname!);
- Darius the Lawgiver of the Persian Empire looks very much alike to Sulayman the Magnificent, the Lawgiver in Islamic history;
- Xerxes, whose main claim to fame is to be defeated by the Greeks at the naval battle of Salamis, looks like Selim II (the Sot) whose main claim to fame is to be defeated by a Spanish-Italian alliance at the naval battle of Lepanto.

I should have expected Fomenko et al. to arrive at similar conclusions, however, they claim that the Persian kings are the alter egos of the Angevin kings of Sicily whose biographies do not contain the exploits of the Persian kings.

The similiarities I indicate lead to the conclusion that Herodotus must have written his Histories at the close of the 16th century. But this is extremely late, given that Herodotus is "the Father of History", so therefore all other "ancient" histories must have been fabricated even later. Yet, the founders of modern chronology - Scaliger and Petavius - laid their foundations also at the close of the 16th century and had the full corpus of ancient histories already at their disposal.

It seems to me that Fomenko has to address these inconsistencies, maybe in the forthcoming 5 volumes?

Another critique of their book is that the correspondencies between different rulers are often based on a superficial comparison of the biographies; upon a more thorough comparison many details appear that do not correspond at all.

Finally, the authors rely heavily on the works of Gregorovius (1821-1891!!) - his medieval histories of Rome and Athens - as the source of medieval history; these works are - at least in the West - hoplessly outdated and have been superceded by more up-to-date works (for instance, Julius Norwich's trilogy on Byzantine history is not even cited).

Romulus courts Helen, Paris founds Rome, Moses goes to Troy.........2005-07-30

If you agree with Fomenko that Roman chronology is basically the foundation of the entire edifice of global chronology; you would also certainly agree that despite its numerous gaps and inconsistencies, Roman history is the best-documented field of ancient history, and thus a reference scale. But how well is the actual date of the Eternal City's foundation known?

Firstly, Rome is supposed to have been founded by the Trojans who had to flee after the fall of Troy. Some claim Rome to have been founded by Aeneas and Ulysses shortly after Troy had fallen; others are of the opinion that there was an entire dynasty that ruled for 500 years between the fall of Troy and the foundation of Rome.

Well, that's just an innocent 500 years long misunderstanding compared with what heretic Fomenko says, asserts, proves in his second volume: Second Roman Empire, Third Roman Empire, Biblical Kingdom of Israel, Biblical Kingdom of Judah, Holy Roman Empire are stories about basically same events, written from different points of view at different times. The underlying events have actually taken place during xii-xv cy. These histories have been written and perfected by multitude of highly talented humanist and clerical writers of xiii-xvi cy disguised as "ancients" with glorious names like Homer, Pluto, Thucydides etc..Chronology 2.0 beta..

Historians are kindly invited to report the bugs.

Live in the Balance: The Ground-Breaking East-West Nutrition Program

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Personalized Nutrition
I swear by this book!
Almost didn't buy this book but so glad I did.
Interesting read, invaluable handbook
Dropped Cholesterol 50 Points

Live in the Balance: The Ground-Breaking East-West Nutrition Program
Linda Prout
Manufacturer: Marlowe & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1569246157

Book Description

For over three thousand years practitioners of Chinese medicine have known that food is health-giving. Now path-breaking nutritionist Linda Prout synthesizes the basic principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) with the science of western nutrition. With a clear focus to help readers achieve balance, Prout introduces the concept of balance and describes the signs and symptoms of various patterns of imbalance from a TCM perspective. She provides simple self-assessments readers can use to determine their own tendencies toward imbalance, and recommends foods, cooking methods, and lifestyle changes to balance each pattern. Fats, proteins, carbohydrates and sugars are each discussed from a western nutrition and eastern perspective, with beneficial and potentially unhealthful choices given for each body pattern.

Customer Reviews:

Personalized Nutrition.......2007-04-03

This is a great book if you are tired of the "one approach fits all" way of eating. It examines the time-proven message of Traditional Chinese Medicine: we can improve our health by changing what we eat. I have been following the eating plan for dampness for three weeks and have lost 5 lbs effortlessly. I have more energy and no cravings. Best of all, I feel in control of what I am eating and doing. Linda presents the information in a clear way that is easy to follow. If you want to make the right changes in your life to regain and maintain your health, this is the book for you.

I swear by this book!.......2006-10-04

About four years ago I was very ill. I had sinus infections, colds, and bronchitis just about every month for about a year and a half. I was stressed out at work and in my personal life, put on 30 pounds, and developed GI problems doctors were unable to explain. Tired of traditional western medicine prescribing costly drugs which made no difference and constantly being sick, tired, and unable to focus, I decided to consult a holistic healthcare practitioner. Unable to pay the cost to have a formal in person consultation (since my healthcare did not cover it), she referred me to this book.

I felt like Linda Prout was reading my mind. Although the food choices she recommended were not at all what I was used to eating, I decided to give it a try. Within the first week I noticed a difference in how I felt. I lost 20 pounds in the first three months (without exercising) and have maintained a healthy weight since, with regular exercising and meditation. I eliminated stressors in my life as well. This book in so many ways saved my life. I have not been sick at all for the past three years. The acute asthma I developed at that time is nearly nonexistent. I enjoy the foods Linda suggests for my body type and have minimized the others which are not so good. I love it and swear by it!

Almost didn't buy this book but so glad I did........2005-04-10

I have never written a review before, but I feel compelled to comment on this book. I read the reviews of Live in the Balance but was still hesitant to buy. I have a strong background in nutrition, eating for health, alternative medicine, etc...and was unconvinced Prout would have anything new to say. I am so thankful I made the purchase anyway. Highly readable, incredibly well researched with all studies and facts documented, this book is changing my life and the life of my family. Plagued with terrible allergies, eczema, and low energy, I feel better after following some of Prout's suggestion, IN ONE WEEK. I feel like a new person. Some of the information is also helping alleviate a family member's struggle with worsening depression. I am introducing some of the principle to make food choices for my two small children and already it seems to be helping boost their immune systems--an ongoing battle in our house. I have learned so much from this book. It is much more readable and well formatted than Food and Healing by Ammemarie Colbin (another excellent and informative book on food and healing). Buy this book.

Interesting read, invaluable handbook.......2002-11-05

I came across Linda's book after months of looking for a resource that integrated Eastern wellness and nutrition principles into the Western lifestyle realities. Linda's book was a blessing! One month after taking some of the suggestions in the book, I was finally able to get rid of a respiratory condition that my Western-trained physicians had simply labeled hayfever and prescribed an allergy pill. The usefulness of Linda's book didn't end there, though. I find myself regularly consulting it as seasons change from damp to dry, hot to cold, etc. It's an excellent resource for anyone who likes to be aware of how their food and lifestyle choices affect moods and wellness. Highly recommended!

Dropped Cholesterol 50 Points.......2001-12-18

On the urging of my doctor to get my blood pressure and cholesterol down or face a lifetime of taking drugs, I went on Linda's program with amazing success. In 6 weeks of eating by her prescription in the book my BP went from 144/94 to 130/80 and my Cholesterol from 264 to 208. And my appetite is completely under control for the first time in my 44 years. I have lost weight, inches and my skin is clear and glowing. And I have escaped getting the colds that have plagued everyone around me at work. I find it easy to eat her way with a bit of planning. My doctor is amazed at the change in my health. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has struggled with overall health and weight problems. It's the first thing that has worked for me.

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Powerful story of human struggles
To Live.
To Live - An Amazing Book
No Limiting Man's Will to Survive
Even Kugen is working hard

To Live: A Novel
Yu Hua
Manufacturer: Anchor
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1400031869
Release Date: 2003-08-26

Book Description

An award-winning, internationally acclaimed Chinese bestseller, originally banned in China but recently named one of the last decade’s ten most influential books there, To Live tells the epic story of one man’s transformation from the spoiled son of a rich landlord to an honorable and kindhearted peasant.

After squandering his family’s fortune in gambling dens and brothels, the young, deeply penitent Fugui settles down to do the honest work of a farmer. Forced by the Nationalist Army to leave behind his family, he witnesses the horrors and privations of the Civil War, only to return years later to face a string of hardships brought on by the ravages of the Cultural Revolution. Left with an ox as the companion of his final years, Fugui stands as a model of flinty authenticity, buoyed by his appreciation for life in this narrative of humbling power.

Customer Reviews:

Powerful story of human struggles.......2007-03-22

Powerfully moving and engaging. One cannot help but respect the dignity with which the protagonist handles the numerous tragedies and struggles in his life. It makes us reflect on life itself and appreciate each moment of our short existence.

To Live........2006-11-26

I have read the book in both languages and I must say the original version is much more stunning.
Many see this book as critical of the Chinese government, which it is in some ways, but the human courage remains the central theme. Historic background is only background. The the evils of the Cultural Revolution is widely known in China as well as other historical backgrounds in the book. All I want is for readers to read this book as an individual, looking into the pain and suffering of other individual, instead from an Western ideology, American national narritive point of view.
The book is touching as a human epic.

To Live - An Amazing Book.......2006-01-23

"To Live" is a book that's hard to explain. The writing, at first, seems overly simplistic, but as you read, you find yourself carried along by the narrators unvarnished description of events. "To Live" is a book that will make you cry. I finished it in two days, and afterwards I felt like I was a mute, waiting for everything to sink in. That's the mark of an amazing book. Like all of Yu Hua's books, "To Live" is a story that sticks with you long after you close the covers and put it on your shelf.

Be warned though, "To Live" not a book for the faint of heart. This book hits you in the gut. If you don't mind a little literary pain, then "To Live" is more than worth it.

No Limiting Man's Will to Survive.......2005-11-29

To Live is a "transformation" novel as much as it is historical fiction. Fugui "transforms" from self-indulgent capriciousness to loyal husband and father in a short but oftentimes dragging 1993 novel famous all over the world and was the basis for a Zhang Yimou classic. Originally banned in China, this profoundly moving novel was transitioned into a movie in 1994. To Live has since been taunted as one of the most influential works of literature to come out of modern China.

As a short synopsis, the novel is set around the turbulent time of the Cultural Revolution. The book (unlike the movie) begins with narrator Fugui describing his happy-go-lucky life as a womanizer and gambler to a very intent listener (who remains nameless). Fugui loses everything - up to the extent of the family estate. What ensues is a tragic story and a tale of man's (and women's) will "to live." Fugui is transported all over the place and survives the consecutive deaths of: Youquing, his 13-year-old son; Fengxia, his beautiful deaf-mute daughter; Jiazhen, his wife, Erxi, his son-in-law; and Kugen, seven-year-old grandson. One of the more memorable musings on death is outlined below: "After Long Er was executed, cold chills ran up and down my neck the whole way home. The more I thought about it, the more I realized just how close I had come to being in Long Er's shoes. If it hadn't been for my father and me, the two prodigal sons, I would have been the one to be executed. I rubbed my face and arms - they were all okay. I thought, I should have died but didn't. I escaped with my life from the battlefield, and when I cam home Long Er took my place as the fall guy. The graves of my ancestors must have been in the right place." (84-85)

Fugui lived to bury all those he had grown to love and work alongside, and transfer his affection to the aging ox with which he ploughs his shrunken patch of land. Yu Hua, however, takes care to make sure that we see the anger and rage that flourished in the era of the Cultural Revolution: ""We'll be able to make three bombs out of this iron, and all of them are going to be dropped on Taiwan," he proudly declared. "We'll drop one on Chiang Kai-shek's bed, one on his kitchen table and one on his goat shed!"" (118-119)

Though the work can is heartbreaking, it is narrated sardonically but readers pick up on Fugui the survivor. Yu details the grittiness of life under communism as well as the weakness of the human condition than upon the politics behind the given scenarios. This engaging story is one that this reader won't easily forget. In the translator's afterword, we read: "Having grown up near hospitals and operating rooms during modern China's most vicious and chaotic period, Yu Hua has created a fictional reflection of this reality, a world imbued with violence, death, and unspeakable cruelty." (245). A must have for anyone interested in Chinese and Asian studies.

Miguel Llora

Even Kugen is working hard.......2005-10-04

Being that I am living and working in China for the next year or so I've decided that I need to become more familiar with the country's history and literature. Now I am not completely clueless when it comes to Chinese history and literature, but, for the most part, the undergraduate and graduate classes that I have taken that pertain to China concern the centuries before the fall of the Chinese dynastical system of government. While I do enjoy reading the literature and studying the history of this vast time period, I feel that I lack knowledge that pertains to modern Chinese.

Therefore in recent months I've picked up a number of recent Chinese novels and books pertaining to modern China with hope that I can enrich myself during the next several months. Well, Wei Hui's Shanghai Baby and Chun Sue's Beijing Doll, although they are entertaining and give the reader a glimpse of attractive gold diggers and Beijing's underground punk-rock scene, they do not give the reader a foundation on how recent history, Post-1945, or when the Japanese were defeated and driven from China, has affected modern society. However, in their defense, this was not the goal the authors wanted to obtain. Yet, after I picked up and read Yu Hua's To Live, with the desire to read literature with a more historical aspect in mind, my thirst was quenched.

Before I purchased To Live I knew little about its author Yu Hua, but I did know the novel was the basis for Zhang Yimou's movie of the same title. Having been introduced to the novelists Liu Heng, writer of the novella that was the basis of Ju Dou, Su Tong, writer of the novella that was the basis of Raise the Red Lantern, and Mo Yan, writer of the novel that was the basis for Red Sorghum, through Zhang Yimou's films, I believed that I could not go wrong with To Live. I was right. This is a beautiful book.

The novel opens with a nameless first-person narrator telling the reader of his old job that consisted of traveling and collecting folksongs and old stories. The villagers were generally happy to see him and were completely willing to relay stories of their past days. Although he enjoyed their stories, the narrator had yet to find a person who could completely recreate his past. However, after he met an old farmer named Fugui who was busy plowing his fields and kindly coaxing his old ox to work, his desire was satiated.

In his younger days, like his father before him, Fugui had been the epitome of the prodigal son. Spending his days whoring and gambling, Fugui wasted huge amounts of money. However, it seems that he enjoyed himself, doing such things as riding a fat prostitute piggyback and ordering her to take him around town. His father was of course upset, but having been of a similar bent himself during his younger days, he did not protest too much. In the eyes of Jiazhen, his lovely, but pregnant, wife, his mother, and his little girl, Fengxia he could do no wrong. However, when a professional gambler named Long Er made the scene, things truly began to go bad. Fugui had at first been able to pay his debts on the spot, but eventually he had to put everything on credit that eventually resulted in him losing the family's ancestral land to Long Er. The loss of the family's ancestral land was too much for Fugui's father to handle, so he passed away in despair. After Long Er moved into the family home, Fugui moved his family into a ramshackle shack and is forced to rent some land from Long Er. Even though he lost them everything, Fugui's family, now with a son, Youqing, loved him. However, after his mother becomes ill, Fugui goes to town to fetch a doctor, but while he is there, he is forcefully conscripted into the Nationalist Army and is forced to march north to fight the Communists. However, the Communists surround his company, along with many others, and hundreds of soldiers are killed each day. Yet Fugui never fights a Communist. Instead he is too busy fighting his fellow Nationalists for rice and flatbread. Eventually The Communists are victorious and Fugui is allowed to return home. His family is glad to receive him, but he soon learns that his mother has died and Fengxia has gone deaf and mute because of a high fever. Forlorn because he knows if he had been such a Prodigal Son his family would have had money for medicine and doctors, Fugui is shocked when the Communists march into town and execute Long Er as an evil rich landowner. Fugui's life was saved because he had wasted the family's fortune. However, with People's Communes, The Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, and many other more personal crises over the horizon, maybe it would have been better for Fugui to die as a rich landowner instead of a poor peasant. The last statement might be true for some, but not Fugui. This is where the magic of Yu Hua's novel truly shines. Fuqui's determination "to live" is astounding. It might not be a great life, but he is alive and is determined to make the most of it.

Sad and humorous, Yu Hua's first novel stands as both a testament to life and as an outline that shows how millions suffered from 1945-76. While not pointing blame at anything particular, Yu Hua's novel is definitely a critical piece of literature. To Live depicts the lives of poor peasants whose only desire was to survive, however, in a world in which the old, a geomancer, and the new, a sixteen-year-old female member of the Red Guard, could destroy their lives, even this simple but vital desire was put in danger. The novel is quite gripping and should be read by those interested in modern Chinese history or just fine literature in general..

African Lives: White Lies, Tropical Truth, Darkest Gossip, and Rumblings of Rumor from Chinese Gordon to Beryl Markham, and Beyond

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What a suprising little book!

African Lives: White Lies, Tropical Truth, Darkest Gossip, and Rumblings of Rumor from Chinese Gordon to Beryl Markham, and Beyond
Denis Boyles
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0345356667
Release Date: 1989-08-26

Customer Reviews:

What a suprising little book!.......1999-09-14

I went into this book with the intention of ripping it to pieces. I came away disagreeing with the message and impressed at how well Mr. Boyles writes.

Any professional writer should read this book, if for no other reason than to explore some of the better subtleties of the trade. This book is well written, clear, it moves admirably well considering the subject matter which I previously would have thought to be prose-proof. It shows how enjoyable even subjects that one would previously have had no interest in can come alive for a reader with the right author.

Book Description

In 1966 twelve-year-old Fan Shen, a newly minted Red Guard, plunged happily into China’s Cultural Revolution. Disillusion soon followed, then turned to disgust and fear when Shen discovered that his compatriots had tortured and murdered a doctor whose house he’d helped raid and whose beautiful daughter he secretly adored. A story of coming of age in the midst of monumental historical upheaval, Shen’s Gang of One is more than a memoir of one young man’s harrowing experience during a time of terror. It is also, in spite of circumstances of remarkable grimness and injustice, an unlikely picaresque tale of adventure full of courage, cunning, wit, tenacity, resourcefulness, and sheer luck—the story of how Shen managed to scheme his way through a hugely oppressive system and emerge triumphant.

Gang of One recounts how Shen escaped, again and again, from his appointed fate, as when he somehow found himself a doctor at sixteen and even, miraculously, saved a few lives. In such volatile times, however, good luck could quickly turn to misfortune: a transfer to the East Wind Aircraft Factory got him out of the countryside and into another terrible trap, where many people were driven to suicide; his secret self-education took him from the factory to college, where friendship with an American teacher earned him the wrath of the secret police. Following a path strewn with perils and pitfalls, twists and surprises worthy of Dickens, Shen’s story is ultimately an exuberant human comedy unlike any other.

Customer Reviews:

These chinese are wacky!!!.......2007-10-08

A fascinating look inside the chinese mindset. A must read for anyone who wants to know about the crazy history of the Red Guard, the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. Also provides a great insight into how the chinese operate today. Fan Shen tells a story that will stick with you as you purchase your next "made in China" item.

Savor It.......2007-05-06

I spent about 8 months reading Dr. Shen's book -- not because it bored me, and not because it was overly long. This is just one of those books that needs to be savored in order to be properly enjoyed. It's also one of those books that you really don't want to finish.

Savor it. :)

Almost Unbelieveable.......2007-04-27

This is the story of a boy who, from a revolutionary family, eagerly joins the Red Guards at the outset of the Cultural Revolution. As Fan Shen comes of age, he realizes that the Cultural Revolution is a disaster and this book is the story of his attempt to find a way to achieve an acceptable life.

It is readily apparent that Fan is a very clever fellow as well as an intellectually gifted individual. The tales that he recounts are alternatively horrifying, sad, depressing and humorous. As he tells of his experiences, the reader can only imagine the horrors of the Cultural Revolution when you multiply his experiences by the 800 million or so others who lived through the same era.

Fan is a wonderful author and can tell a story exceedingly well. At times, however, the reader is left wondering whether we are actually getting an accurate recounting of Fan's earlier years. The stories he tells are truly beyond belief and, at times, seem to be a bit self-serving. Whether or not this is the case, the book deserves a read by anyone interested in China today or in recent Chinese history.

This book is a must read.......2006-09-22

Dr. Shen is a teacher at the college in MN I attended. It was amazing to read about the life of one of the smartest, kindest people you will ever meet. He isn't an easy teacher, but when you finish your master's degree in a year and a half and your PHD in five years what else would you expect. If you want to read a true story that will leave you in amazed this is book that you will want to pick up. But don't just take my word for it, read it for yourself.

Should be required reading.......2006-08-01

After reading this remarkable memoir, I had the great opportunity to hear the author speak, and meet him afterwards. The story is well-told, and I especially enjoyed his technique of substituting nicknames for most characters, as it made the tale far easier to follow, from this Westerner's perspective. All in all, a finely written, dramatic, and at times horrific account of the Cultural Revolution. It deserves to be widely read.

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Street talk with the common and uncommon Chinese

Chinese Lives: Oral History
Zhang Xinxin
Manufacturer: Pantheon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0394559282
Release Date: 1987-09-12

Customer Reviews:

Street talk with the common and uncommon Chinese.......2004-06-02

These two Beijing based journalists (from the center of the PRChinese propaganda universe), a man and woman team, take on an ambitious project to provide a glimpse of street thoughts in the mid 80s, for the 35th anniversary of the PRC. They gathered info from these interviews and wrote them up in Chinese. The interviewers did not use tape recorders, which I think would intimidate interviewees, but then the authenticity of the talks would depend entirely on the skill of the journalists. It appears that the authors cherry picked about a fourth of the interviews from people who already had been in the news before as model Chinese. This material was originally published as a column in NYC-based "China Daily News" for expats and OEChinese. Then it was republished as a compendium in Shanghai-based literary magazines in 1985 and a book in 1986 all in Chinese.

An editorial staff translated 64 of the 100+ articles from Chinese into Shanghai (UK) English. They edited them into appropriate idiomatic English that would be typical of the speaker. So the vignettes typically had lots of street slang from teenagers, the indigent and peasants, a more formal and cautious tone from middle aged adults, and more reverent speech from the retired. So this work simulated talking about a slice of life from the Chinese public and are categorized into 17 general topics about life. There is no index.

Since many interviews were from the available populace who are willing to talk, and many weren't, this book is one of the very few where Americans can read about a slice of life of peasants (small time farmers), the unemployed, the indigent, and the handicapped, something that you will not get at all in tourist books. It also includes a few vignettes on the new "petty capitalism with Chinese characteristics," introduced by Deng's Reform and Opening policy started almost a decade earlier in 1978. Quite a few vignettes captured the essence in surviving the social and economic turmoil of the 50s and 60s of Mao's early socialist experiments. I read this book at a local public library while researching the attitudes of modern China after Deng Xiaoping's death of 1997.

Remember, these thoughts are but a slice in time; because most interviews are extemporaneous, ie not planned out or written down. So there are interviews that are obviously braggarts, social climbers, talk about family conflicts and airing dirty laundry, and about a third who have something profound to say as they have tightly sealed their lips heretofore to avoid persecution. Interviews averaged about 4 ½ pages; the shortest about a page and the longest about 11 pages (Prison p229). Many were done in the Beijing / Nanjing metro area; the next common area was in Hebei and Shandong provinces just south of Beijing and Tianjin. Some interviews were done in Szechwan, Shanghai, Harbin, Guangzhou, and the minority regions of SW China. There is a two-page map of China with many specific interview locations marked, along with provinces, rivers, large cities, and certain mountainous areas. There are no city or county maps although many interviews reference these areas.

One thing that rang out loud and clear is that the Communist regime did an exhaustive job of methodically and systematically identifying and ridding of the Black 5s (p180); landowners, capitalists, rightists, counter-revolutionaries, and bad elements, those who would try to foment more political unrest. In tandem, they installed a socialist system with people that pledged undying allegiance, mainly the young and the malleable. They used the military at first, then city police, then the Red Guard, and street committees to effectively subjugate the populace down to the village level. Every person had a government dossier file that identified potential defectability, similar to what is in the Diary of Anne Frank and other books on persecution of the Jews by Nazi Germany. This left an indelible mark on families as they saw many people executed or shipped off to forced labor or re-education camps. Those that were borderline were put in socialist internment labor camps in poor, desolate areas and have them "educate" the indigenous peasant, much like our Vista program.

The old system of social class is very evident in the interviews as each vignette is prefaced with age, occupation, position in the family, and occupation of their parents and grandparents. Family names and township / village were left out upon request for anonymity. The topics included are: making a living, recent social history, climbing the social ladder, marriage and family, petty capitalism, peasant life, non-traditional workers, working in SOEs, working in the Party and RedGuard, individualists, crime, work as soldiers and in Defense, social history, life with handicaps, traveling salespeople, show business, and youth coping with success, failure, and apathy. Each topic will have 3-5 vignettes on the topic. Even today, it appears that the local commune and street committees that were setup so long ago need to give permission for any moving, business, and work requests. This persistent bureaucracy is so endemic that guanxi, bribery, and groveling to local politicos is necessary to improve one's status. Probably similar to our local neighborhood associations and city councils.

The more memorable vignettes were about a building construction entrepreneur (p87-94), pro-am bridge builder (p99-110), prison life for incest and murder by a juvenile (pg 229-40), and a privileged elder of avionics technology & foreign JV pre-WWII (p253-60).

This book could be compared to the popular radio and TV talk shows in the US, from national syndications to fluffy local ones. A talk with those people willing to be put on hold for a long time and then to be famous by speaking their mind in their brief slice in time. So take this book within the validity and context of Talk shows. I'd also compare the authors' work as relevant and comprehensive as Peter Hessler's River Town. One thing they didn't cover is suicide.

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Love it.

Start Here

Helps keep things straight

A Great Introduction to Confucianism!

A Great Starting Book... and Wonderful Keepsake

Confucius Speaks: Words to Live By
Tsai Chih Chung , and Brian (Translator) Bruya
Manufacturer: Anchor
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Zen Speaks: Shouts of Nothingness

Wisdom of the Zen Masters

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The Dao of Zhuangzi: The Harmony of Nature

ASIN: 0385480342
Release Date: 1996-09-01

Customer Reviews:

Love it........2007-10-01

Easy to read and understand. For those who like to know more about Confucious philosophy but dont know where to start, pick this book.
This book contains all the basic philosophy of the great master.

Start Here.......2001-11-17

Just getting started on your desire to understand eastern philosophies? Have you stood at the bookstore for hours pouring over where to start and what to buy?

Any of this authors books are a wonderful place to start. The reason? Because these books are all about the title subject in a nutshell, easy to read as a comic book, the story lines and illustrations are wonderful, and after you read this as well as all the other books by Tsai, you will have a great, well rounded start on your path and will know what you want to study more deeply!

To add, when others ask you about your interest in eastern philosophy, you can get them started here as well, because these books are fun, consise, and you know they will enjoy them over and over again!

Helps keep things straight.......2001-03-17

One of the best things about this book is it puts a face on Confucius and, more importantly, his disciples. It's difficult to read The Analects (which this book uses a few sayings from) and keep straight who's who; this book helps a lot. The last section with a brief bio on a few of the disciples is fantastic. I can find no other source to compare to this. Now when I read The Analect I see the faces from this book when different people are mentioned. My only complaint is that different translations of Confucius' work seem to use slightly different names then those used in this book. It can be a bit confusing when this book is the first one you read, but I would still HIGHLY recommend it.

A Great Introduction to Confucianism!.......2000-08-12

The Cartoon Chinese Philosophy books of this series interest me for two reasons: I like Chinese History and I have to teach it to high school kids.

On a personal level I enjoy reading through these books and find it much more useful than some of the straight translations even though they may be more complete and more pleasing to academics. In addition to the Confucius book, I have enjoyed both Daoist books and the version of the Art of War.

As a teacher, I like this book even better. New York State requires high school kids to have 2 years of world history. In this new political correct world, world history is no longer dominated by Europe. In fact, must of the New York State exam is about Asia and Africa. Thus Confucianism is a very important concept to teach.

Filial Piety, the concept of order and relationships, and the 5 Confucianian relationships are extremely important. But they are not fun things to the average teenager. There are many lessons we can get from Confucius as adults, for kids its a bit harder. However, these comic books make teaching Confucius so much easier and effective. The kids like to read them and they get so much more from them.

So in short, yes this is not the complete Confucius. But for anyone who wants to read a visually pleasing edition or teaches this is quite good.

A Great Starting Book... and Wonderful Keepsake.......2000-02-14

This book was wonderful! While I especially recommended it for beginners who are new to the teachings of Confucius, I know this book will surely be interesting to anyone. The first time I picked this comic book up, I read through 60 pages without putting it down again. The first section of the book is about the events in Confucius' life, while the second section deals with the Analects. Although I'm just a beginner to the teachings of Confucius, these comics have definitely captured my interest, and left me wanting to know more about Confucius' wisdom and philosophy. The cartoons give you various little snippets of Confucius' ideology, and leave you highly interested in learning more on each topic. I'm glad I started off with this book. Now I'm reading more comprehensive books on Confucianism; however, I will always have this little comic book to pull of the shelf and flip through.... time and time again.

Lives of the Nuns: Biographies of Chinese Buddhist Nuns from the Fourth to Sixth Centuries : A Translation of the Pi-Ch'Iu-Ni Chuan

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Ancient Buddhism in China
An interesting glimpse into an underdescribed time and place

Lives of the Nuns: Biographies of Chinese Buddhist Nuns from the Fourth to Sixth Centuries : A Translation of the Pi-Ch'Iu-Ni Chuan
Pao-Chang , and Shih Pao-Ch'Ang
Manufacturer: University of Hawaii Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0824815416

Book Description

This book contains the biographies of 65 Chinese women who were Buddhist monks in early China. It is a great read for anyone interested in Buddhism or women in religion.

Customer Reviews:

Ancient Buddhism in China.......2005-04-01

This short book contains an introduction, short (1 ½ pages) biographies of 65 ancient Chinese Mahayana nuns (265-557 C. E.), extensive endnotes, a map, and an index. Much of the material is common and consistent throughout the biographies. Nuns frequently become abbots, eat only vegetables, memorize texts easily, recite texts rapidly, perform austerities, chant, build monasteries, and meditate, but don't keep donations and usually don't wear silk (worms are killed in the processing). Mostly they are of high integrity, but a very few are involved in court intrigue. Tsai states that there is an (p. 126 note 104) "editor's bias in favor of the famous and influential." As in other collections of biographies covering centuries, the older ones include miraculous stories and events (hagiography) while the later ones are more biographical. The chapters are arranged chronologically here. High esteem was given to these nuns by royalty-- p. 1: "Although many of the Buddhist texts, both Disciples Vehicle and Mahayana, or Great Vehicle, contain virulent misogynistic sections, there were in fact no doctrinal reasons that denied enlightenment and, later, Buddhahood to women." It is interesting to see an old Chinese view since many recent books address present conditions in SE Asia, Sri Lanka, and Tibet (e.g. Tsomo & Findly). Such books often cite the Buddha's cousin & attendant Ananda as a feminist hero. Tsai states: p. 134 note 92: "Because Ananda is often contrasted unfavorably with another of the Buddha's disciples, one must suspect sectarian rivalries among followers of the Buddha." Religious works are generally compiled long after the avatar has died, allowing the followers to insert their own biases or desires. Most interestingly p. 140 note 41: "The indigenous tradition underlies much of this Buddhist material." These include the intimate relationship (at the time) between Taoism and Buddhism, self-immolation (e.g. 3 nuns did it together) as a religious act, and the nature of meditation-similar to Taoism and other ancient texts wherein the meditator appears dead or unfeeling. The latter culminated (according to Tibetan books) in a debate between Indian and Chinese Buddhists (with the Indian winning, based on meditation method). Unfortunately, this book does not address doctrinal, philosophical, or methodological aspects of Buddhism except at a surface level (e.g. vegetarianism). But even this shows cultural differences-since Tibetan Buddhists eat meat and the Buddha permitted it under most circumstances even to monastics.

An interesting glimpse into an underdescribed time and place.......2000-04-30

Tsai's Lives of the Nuns gives a rare opprotunity to look into the lives of Chinese nuns living approximately 1500 years ago. In addition to the translation of the biographies, there is a brief, but worthwhile introduction which provides a useful context for understanding the biographies which follow. This is not a book for people who want to learn more general information about women in Buddhism (Diana Paul's Women in Buddhism would be more appropriate for an historical angle and the books presenting contemporary perspectives are many and varied), but for those with the very specific interest in historical Chinese Buddhist nuns, this is a worthwhile read.

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