China

Red Dust

“Honest, raw, insightful. . . . The Chinese equivalent of On the Road.” - Time

“[Ma’s] powers of description make every page buzz with life. . . . Someone who could rank among the great travel writers.” –The NY Times Book Review

“A tour de force, a powerfully picaresque cross between the sort of travel book any Western author would give his eye-teeth to write, and a disturbing confession.” - The Independent

“Ma captures the feel of wandering off China’s beaten track, which is to say most of the country, far from the tour buses and souvenir stands.” –Los Angeles Times

In 1983, at the age of thirty, dissident artist Ma Jian finds himself divorced by his wife, separated from his daughter, betrayed by his girlfriend, facing arrest for ‘Spiritual Pollution,’ and severely disillusioned with the confines of life in Beijing. So with little more than a change of clothes and two bars of soap, Ma takes off to immerse himself in the remotest parts of China.

His journey would last three years and take him through smog-choked cities and mountain villages, from scenes of barbarity to havens of tranquility.

Remarkably written and subtly moving, the result is an insight into the teeming contradictions of China that only a man who was both insider and outsider in his own country could have written.”

(A special thank you to book club member, Judy Tanguay for the suggestion.)

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Red Sorghum

“Mo Yan . . . brilliantly and fondly re-creates life with visceral writing that reeks of gunpowder, blood, and death.” - The NY Times Book Review

“Yan tempers his brutal tale with a powerfully evocative lyricism . . . A powerful new voice on the brutal unrest of rural China.” - Kirkus Reviews

“The acclaimed novel of love and resistance during late 1930s China by Mo Yan, winner of the 2012 Nobel Prize in Literature

Spanning three generations, this novel of family and myth is told through a series of flashbacks that depict events of staggering horror set against a landscape of gemlike beauty, as the Chinese battle both Japanese invaders and each other in the turbulent 1930s.

A legend in China, where it won major literary awards and inspired an Oscar-nominated film directed by Zhang Yimou, Red Sorghum is a book in which fable and history collide to produce fiction that is entirely new—and unforgettable.”

(A special thank you to book club members, Carol Weldon & Sena Karataşlı for the suggestion.)

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The Three Kingdoms

“This exciting new translation with footnotes is more readable than past versions and will appeal to modern readers.

The Three Kingdoms is an epic Chinese novel written over six centuries ago. It recounts in vivid historical detail the turbulent years at the close of the Han Dynasty when China broke into three competing kingdoms and over half the population were either killed or driven from their homes. Part myth, part fact, readers will experience the loyalty and treachery, the brotherhood and rivalry of China's legendary heroes and villains during the most tumultuous period in Chinese history.

Considered the greatest work in classic Chinese literature, The Three Kingdoms is read by millions throughout Asia today. Seen not just as a great work of art, many Chinese view it as a guide to success in life and business as well as a work that offers great moral clarity—while many foreigners read it to gain insights into Chinese society and culture. From the saga of The Three Kingdoms, readers will learn how great warriors motivate their troops and enhance their influence while disguising their weaknesses and turning the strengths of others against them.

This first volume in a trilogy introduces Liu Bei and his sworn brothers-in-arms Zhang Fei and Guan Yu, whose allegiance is sorely tested in a society that is in flux where each group is fighting for its survival against the other.”

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Chronicle of a Blood Merchant

“From the acclaimed author of Brothers and China in Ten Words: here is Yu Hua’s unflinching portrait of life under Chairman Mao.

A cart-pusher in a silk mill, Xu Sanguan augments his meager salary with regular visits to the local blood chief. His visits become lethally frequent as he struggles to provide for his wife and three sons at the height of the Cultural Revolution. Shattered to discover that his favorite son was actually born of a liaison between his wife and a neighbor, he suffers his greatest indignity, while his wife is publicly scorned as a prostitute. Although the poverty and betrayals of Mao’s regime have drained him, Xu Sanguan ultimately finds strength in the blood ties of his family.

With rare emotional intensity, grippingly raw descriptions of place and time, and clear-eyed compassion, Yu Hua gives us a stunning tapestry of human life in the grave particulars of one man’s days.”

(A special thank you to book club member, Elke Richelsen for the suggestion.)

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Mao

“A triumph. It is a mesmerising portrait of tyranny, degeneracy, mass murder and promiscuity, a barrage of revisionist bombshells, and a superb piece of research.” - The Sunday Times

“The detail and documentation are awesome. The story told, mesmerising in its horror, is the most powerful, compelling, and revealing political biography of modern times. Few books are destined to change history, but this one will.” - Daily Mail

“The most authoritative life of the Chinese leader every written, Mao: The Unknown Story is based on a decade of research, and on interviews with many of Mao’s close circle in China who have never talked before—and with virtually everyone outside China who had significant dealings with him. It is full of startling revelations, exploding the myth of the Long March, and showing a completely unknown Mao: he was not driven by idealism or ideology; his intimate and intricate relationship with Stalin went back to the 1920s, ultimately bringing him to power; he welcomed Japanese occupation of much of China; and he schemed, poisoned, and blackmailed to get his way. After Mao conquered China in 1949, his secret goal was to dominate the world. In chasing this dream he caused the deaths of 38 million people in the greatest famine in history. In all, well over 70 million Chinese perished under Mao’s rule—in peacetime.”

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Death of a Red Heroine

“Xiaolong knows that words can save your soul and in his pungent, poignant mystery, he proves it on every page.” - Chicago Tribune

“A marvelously assured debut . . . Engrossing, immensely readable.” - The Wall Street Journal

“Qiu Xiaolong's award-winning debut introduces Inspector Chen of the Shanghai Police.

A young ‘national model worker,’ renowned for her adherence to the principles of the Communist Party, turns up dead in a Shanghai canal. As Inspector Chen Cao of the Shanghai Special Cases Bureau struggles to trace the hidden threads of her past, he finds himself challenging the very political forces that have guided his life since birth. Chen must tiptoe around his superiors if he wants to get to the bottom of this crime, and risk his career—perhaps even his life—to see justice done.”

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Wild Swans

“The story of three generations in twentieth-century China that blends the intimacy of memoir and the panoramic sweep of eyewitness history—a bestselling classic in thirty languages with more than ten million copies sold around the world, now with a new introduction from the author.

An engrossing record of Mao’s impact on China, an unusual window on the female experience in the modern world, and an inspiring tale of courage and love, Jung Chang describes the extraordinary lives and experiences of her family members: her grandmother, a warlord’s concubine; her mother’s struggles as a young idealistic Communist; and her parents’ experience as members of the Communist elite and their ordeal during the Cultural Revolution. Chang was a Red Guard briefly at the age of fourteen, then worked as a peasant, a “barefoot doctor,” a steelworker, and an electrician. As the story of each generation unfolds, Chang captures in gripping, moving—and ultimately uplifting—detail the cycles of violent drama visited on her own family and millions of others caught in the whirlwind of history.”

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Red Azalea

“The book sings. It is a small masterpiece. . . [No one] has written more honestly and poignantly than Min about the desert of solitude and human alienation at the center of the Chinese Communist revolution.” —Vogue

”Gripping. . . .reads like raw testimony. . .epic drama, and. . .poetic incantation. . . . It was passion and despair that made [Min] fearless; it was fearlessness that made her a writer.” —The NY Times

“A revelatory and disturbing portrait of China, this is Anchee Min’s celebrated memoir of growing up in the last years of Mao’s China. As a child, Min was asked to publicly humiliate a teacher; at seventeen, she was sent to work at a labor collective. Forbidden to speak, dress, read, write, or love as she pleased, she found a lifeline in a secret love affair with another woman. Miraculously selected for the film version of one of Madame Mao’s political operas, Min’s life changed overnight. Then Chairman Mao suddenly died, taking with him an entire world. This national bestseller and New York Times Notable Book is exceptional for its candor, its poignancy, its courage, and for its prose which Newsweek calls “as delicate and evocative as a traditional Chinese brush painting.”

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The Girl Who Played Go

“Breathtaking. . . . While exploring epic themes like the loss of innocence and the meaning of honor, it lingers on the tiny, exquisite details of life.” - Vogue

“Dreamy . . . powerful. . . . This unlikely love story . . . is beautiful, shocking, and sad.” - Entertainment Weekly

“As the Japanese military invades 1930s Manchuria, a young girl approaches her own sexual coming of age. Drawn into a complex triangle with two boys, she distracts herself from the onslaught of adulthood by playing the game of go with strangers in a public square—and yet the force of desire, like the occupation, proves inevitable.

Unbeknownst to the girl who plays go, her most worthy and frequent opponent is a Japanese soldier in disguise. Captivated by her beauty as much as by her bold, unpredictable approach to the strategy game, the soldier finds his loyalties challenged. Is there room on the path to war for that most revolutionary of acts: falling in love?”

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Water Margin

“Based upon the historical bandit Song Jiang and his companions, this Chinese equivalent of the English classic Robin Hood and His Merry Men is an epic tale of rebellion against tyranny and has been thrilling and inspiring readers for hundreds of years.

First translated into English by Pearl S. Buck in 1933 as All Men Are Brothers, the original edition of the J.H. Jackson translation appeared under the title The Water Margin in 1937. In this updated edition, Edwin Lowe addresses many of the shortcomings found in the original J.H. Jackson translation, and replaces the original grit and flavor of Shuihui Zhuan found in Chinese versions, including the sexual seduction, explicit descriptions of brutality and barbarity, and the profane voices of the thieving, scheming, drinking, fighting, pimping lower classes of Song Dynasty China. Similarly, the Chinese deities, Bodhisattvas, gods and demons have reclaimed their true names, as has the lecherous, over-sexed and ill-fated Ximen Qing. All of which was sanitized out when first published in 1937.

While Chinese in origin, the themes of The Water Margin are universal enough that it has served as a source of inspiration for numerous movies, television shows and video games up to the present day.”

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Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking

There are a vast number of Chinese cookbooks out there, but none that surpass this authentic book written by an author from China known to many as the “Chinese godmother” of cookery.

This new masterwork of Chinese cuisine showcases acclaimed chef Eileen Yin-Fei Lo's decades of culinary virtuosity. A series of lessons build skill, knowledge, and confidence as Lo guides the home cook step by step through the techniques, ingredients, and equipment that define Chinese cuisine.

With more than 100 classic recipes and technique illustrations throughout, Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking makes the glories of this ancient cuisine utterly accessible. Stunning color photography reveals the treasures of old and new China, from the zigzagging alleys of historical Guangzhou to the bustle of city centers and faraway Chinatowns, as well as wonderful ingredients and gorgeous finished dishes. Step-by-step brush drawings illustrate Chinese cooking techniques. This lavish volume takes its place as the Chinese cookbook of choice in the cook's library.

“The only thing better than having Eileen Lo cook for you is having her teach you how. She takes you on an incredible journey…carefully explaining the steps of every important Chinese cooking technique, while also communicating a profound respect for flavors. She is the Chinese godmother every chef wishes he had.” - Daniel Boulud, world-renowned chef

Note: Some Amazon reviews note that there are issues with the ebook version of this cookbook. These have all been corrected.

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The Three-Body Problem

"Wildly imaginative, really interesting." - President Barack Obama

“A breakthrough book. A unique blend of scientific and philosophical speculation, politics and history, conspiracy theory and cosmology.” - George R. R. Martin

“The Three-Body Problem is the first chance for English-speaking readers to experience the Hugo Award-winning phenomenon from China.

Set against the backdrop of China's Cultural Revolution, a secret military project sends signals into space to establish contact with aliens. An alien civilization on the brink of destruction captures the signal and plans to invade Earth. Meanwhile, on Earth, different camps start forming, planning to either welcome the superior beings and help them take over a world seen as corrupt, or to fight against the invasion. The result is a science fiction masterpiece of enormous scope and vision.”

(A special thank you to book club member, Caity Greig for the group read suggestion.)

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The Art of War

“2,500 years ago, Sun Tzu wrote this classic book of military strategy based on Chinese warfare and military thought. Since then, all levels of the military around the world have continued to use the teachings of Sun Tzu. Much of the text notes how to outsmart one's opponent—fighting and winning wars without actually having to do battle.

In recent years, this text has become the essential strategy guide for use in business, politics, law, and everyday life. The Art of War is a book which should be used to gain advantage of opponents in the boardroom and battlefield alike.”

Note: We recommend this translation by Gagliardi. It’s not only a multi-award winner, but a complete version with what appears to be more accurate (& readable) translation.

Don’t think the translation makes that much of a difference?

Here’s a good example we compiled which compares the same 3 lines:

Gagliardi translation—the version we recommend
Do not entice the enemy when their ranks are orderly.
You must not attack when their formations are solid.
This is how you master adaptation.

Ames translation
Do not intercept an enemy that is perfectly uniform in its array of banners;
do not launch the attack on an enemy that is full and disciplined in its formations. This is the way to manage changing conditions.

Clavell/Giles translation
To refrain from intercepting an enemy whose banners are in perfect order,
to refrain from attacking an army drawn up in calm and confident array—
this is the art of studying circumstances.

Cleary translation
Avoiding confrontation with orderly ranks
and not attacking great formations
is mastering adaptation.

Griffith translation
They do not engage an enemy that is advancing with well-ordered banners,
nor whose formations are in impressive army.
This is control of the factor of changing circumstances.

Kaufman translation
Never attack if you see the enemy in prime condition
and his appearance is strong and steady.
His organization may be stronger than yours and you will need to replan your strategy. Note: This version seems to be incomplete skipping over & leaving out many lines!

Sawyer translation
Do not intercept well-ordered flags;
do not attack well-ordered formations.
This is the way to control changes.

What a huge difference & you can clearly see why we recommend the Gagliardi translation!

(A special thank you to book club member, Sena Karataşlı for the group read suggestion.)

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The Chilli Bean Paste Clan

“Chilli bean paste was big business, had been for Gran’s family for four or five generations. Sichuan peppers, on the other hand, were the sort of thing any small trader could sell. All they needed was a place to set up their stall. But, humble though the trade was, the Sichuan pepper was as essential as chilli bean paste at all Pingle Town dinner tables.

Dad had kicked around the chilli bean paste factory for over 20 years, learning the ins and outs of his trade under the tutelage of his shifu, Chen, and if it had taught him one thing, it was that people were born to sweat. You ate chilli bean paste, and Sichuan peppers, and ma-la spicy hotpot, to work up a good sweat, and screwing a girl made you sweat even more. The more you sweated, the happier you felt, Dad reckoned. He remembered the fiery heat that the sweat-soaked bed-sheets in Baby Girl’s house gave off.”

“Set in a fictional town in West China, this is the story of the Duan-Xue family, owners of the lucrative chilli bean paste factory, and their formidable matriarch. As Gran’s 80th birthday approaches, her middle-aged children get together to make preparations. Family secrets are revealed and long-time sibling rivalries flare up with renewed vigour. As Shengqiang struggles unsuccessfully to juggle the demands of his mistress and his wife, the biggest surprises of all come from Gran herself.”

“Yan Ge’s writing is outstandingly imaginative… The Chilli Bean Paste Clan delves deep into the pettiness and shortcomings of family relationships, dissecting them with remarkable insight and humour.... Yan Ge is not just a talented story-teller, she is also a versatile stylist, able to put her mastery of the local dialect to excellent use.” - China Literature Media Award judging panel, 2013

(Group read suggestion from Mia DeGiovine Chaveco, book club co-founder.)

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Empress Dowager Cixi

“Empress Dowager Cixi (1835–1908) is the most important woman in Chinese history. She ruled for decades and brought a medieval empire into the modern age.

At the age of 16, in a nationwide selection for royal consorts, Cixi was chosen as one of the emperor’s numerous concubines. When he died, their five-year-old son succeeded to the throne. Cixi at once launched a palace coup against the regents appointed by her husband and made herself the real ruler of China—behind the throne, literally, with a silk screen separating her from her officials who were all male.

In this groundbreaking biography, Jung Chang vividly describes how Cixi fought against monumental obstacles to change China. Under her, the ancient country attained virtually all the attributes of a modern state: industries, railways, electricity, the telegraph, and an army and navy with up-to-date weaponry. It was she who abolished gruesome punishments like ‘death by a thousand cuts’ and put an end to foot-binding. She inaugurated women’s liberation and embarked on the path to introduce parliamentary elections to China. Chang comprehensively overturns the conventional view of Cixi as a diehard conservative and cruel despot.

Cixi reigned during extraordinary times and had to deal with a host of major national crises: the Taiping and Boxer rebellions, wars with France and Japan—and an invasion by 8 allied powers including Britain, Germany, Russia, and the US.

Based on newly available (mostly Chinese) historical documents such as court records, official and private correspondence, diaries and eyewitness accounts, this biography will revolutionize historical thinking about a crucial period in China’s history. Packed with drama, fast paced and gripping, it is both a panoramic depiction of the birth of modern China and an intimate portrait of a woman: as the concubine to a monarch, as the absolute ruler of a third of the world’s population, and as a unique stateswoman.”

(Group read suggestion from Beth McCrea, book club co-founder.)

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A Hero Born

“The epic Chinese classic and phenomenon published in the US for the first time!

Set in ancient China, in a world where kung fu is magic, kingdoms vie for power and the battle to become the ultimate kung fu master unfolds, an unlikely hero is born.

After his father—a devoted Song Dynasty patriot—is murdered by the Jin empire, Guo Jing and his mother flee to the plains of Ghengis Khan and his people for refuge. For one day, he must face his mortal enemy in battle in the Garden of the Drunken Immortals. Under the tutelage of Genghis Khan and the Seven Heroes of the South, Guo Jing hones his kung fu skills. Humble, loyal and perhaps not always wise, Guo Jing faces a destiny both great and terrible.

However, in a land divided—and a future largely unknown—Guo Jing must navigate love and war, honor, and betrayal before he can face his own fate and become the hero he’s meant to be.”

This book is included in a distinctive genre that few Western readers are familiar with—wuxia which literally means “martial arts chivalry” in Chinese. It’s a unique blend of the Ancient Chinese martial arts philosophy of xia (chivalry) & the long history of wushu (Chinese kung fu). While deeply reflective of Chinese culture, with deep roots in Chinese history, language, & nuance, with culturally-specific plots which will appeal to historical fiction aficionados, wuxia also fuses in elements of martial arts fantasy. In this ancient Chinese world full of noble heroes & pitched battles, fantastical kung fu swordsmen who can fly & walk on water are woven into dramatic historical events making this an original genre which will appeal to those who love fantasy or those who love historical fiction.

Note: If you’re looking for the paperback in Amazon US, it appears as if there are 2 different versions—one that’s not out till March. I can’t tell the difference between the two (maybe a new publisher or a new translator). Amazon is doing funny things so if you want the paperback version or are having an issue seeing the paperback version that’s available now, use this link: https://amzn.to/2R0lmPp.

(Group read suggestion from Beth McCrea, book club co-founder.)

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Love in a Fallen City

“Masterful short works about passion, family, and human relationships.

These six stories, most available in English for the first time, were published to acclaim in China and Hong Kong in the '40s; they explore, bewitchingly, the myriad ways love overcomes (or doesn't) the intense social constraints of time and place.

Eileen Chang is one of the great writers of 20th century China, where she enjoys a passionate following both on the mainland and in Taiwan. At the heart of Chang’s achievement is her short fiction—tales of love, longing, and the shifting and endlessly treacherous shoals of family life. Written when Chang was still in her twenties, these extraordinary stories combine an unsettled, probing, utterly contemporary sensibility, keenly alert to sexual politics and psychological ambiguity, with an intense lyricism that echoes the classics of Chinese literature. Love in a Fallen City, the first collection in English of this dazzling body of work, introduces American readers to the stark and glamorous vision of a modern master.”

“With language as sharp as a knife edge, Eileen Chang cut open a huge divide in Chinese culture, between the classical patriarchy and our troubled modernity. She was one of the very few able truly to connect that divide, just as her heroines often disappeared inside it. She is the fallen angel of Chinese literature, and now, with these excellent new translations, English readers can discover why she is so revered by Chinese readers everywhere." – Ang Lee

(Group read suggestion from Mia DeGiovine Chaveco, book club co-founder.)

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