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.

Dragon Lady: The Life and Legend of the Last Empress of China

Average customer rating:

Worth picking up
As good as it gets....
the wicked woman as the last empress who caused a bancruptcy
Mr Seagrave shoots himself in the foot.
Comprehensive yet dry.

Dragon Lady: The Life and Legend of the Last Empress of China
Sterling Seagrave
Manufacturer: Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0679402306
Release Date: 1992-05-05

Book Description

The author of The Soong Dynasty gives us our most vivid and reliable biography yet of the Dowager Empress Tzu Hsi, remembered through the exaggeration and falsehood of legend as the ruthless Manchu concubine who seduced and murdered her way to the Chinese throne in 1861.

From the Trade Paperback edition.

Customer Reviews:

Worth picking up.......2007-09-26

Although a large majority of this book is about China during her time and not a complete biography of the Dowager Empress herself, I found this book a very interesting read. It is one view of one of the most trying times in Chinese history.

As good as it gets...........2007-02-20

Like many other reviewers pointed out, this book deals with general 19th century Chinese History instead of being a pure biographical account of Empress Tzu-Hsi.Carefully researched, it explores the events and myths that surounded this utterly mysterious figure.Futhermore, Seagrave explains how The Empress Dowager has been vilified by racist,looting, lying mediocre pseudo "writters"; Edmund Backhouse and George Morrison.They forever destroyed Tzu-Hsi's image with false accounts of her life, influenced by their own ignorance and Victorian hypocrecy.
Very little is known about Tzu-Hsi's actual role in the Chinese government since the English, in their endless stupidity, burned the Manchu Court Archives.Indeed, Seagrave describes the disgraceful and shameful role the British had in China, from the destruction of the priceless Han Libraby,the completely unjustified Opium Wars, the looting and destruction of the Summer Palace, the looting of the Forbiden City, to the killing of thousands of innocent Chinese civilians, victims of racist Imperial bigotry.
Seagrave spends too much time giving biographical information on secondary characters which makes the book tedious at times.Other than that, his book is very interesting and brings light to certain myths about the last years of the Manchu Emperors of China.I wish the Hardcover edition of this book was not out of print, Vintage uses horrible paper quality and this book deserves a better editorial treatment...

the wicked woman as the last empress who caused a bancruptcy.......2006-11-05

she was a great evil woman that had appeared in the last Qing Dynasty.

For instance: Like she still had done and used a "Death by a thousand cuts" for all prisoners for 120 years ago, China is one of the highest cultures and oldest civilizations in the world, but the chinese acted like the Barbarians. China is becoming a top record of human right violation until today.

Iam happy cause I was born in Bali not in China.

Mr Seagrave shoots himself in the foot........2006-07-08

I gather Mr Seagrave is a journalist, and not a trained historian. His sloppiness shows on the cover (She was not China's last Empress) and in the author's note which claims China had three 'reigning empresses'. This last shows clearly that Mr Seagrave doesn't understand the subject. It's difficult to know what exactly he means by the term. Ci Xi was an Empress who had an remarkable degree of influence. Other Empresses had varying degrees of influence. Ci Xi was not a 'reigning empress' if that means she was formally the monarch. Only one woman, Wu Zetian, ever held that position, and she should rightly be called Emperor, not Empress, as there was no concept of 'Empress' in imperial China other than as the consort of an Emperor. Writing a special note in the front of the book to lump these three together and imply that they all held the same position, presumably in order to emphasise the remarkable power that Ci Xi held, irreparably undermines Mr Seagrave's credibility.

Comprehensive yet dry........2006-03-30

I am not a student of Chinese history but love history in general. I am an American who has visit China and have enjoyed the hospitality of the Chinese people. This volume is less a study of Tsu Tsi (spelling is varied), than a good primer for westerners to learn a history of China from 1865ish to 1910ish. It repudiates a lot of the early "comprehensive accounts" that were based on fictuous reporting from westerners on the scene at the time who had their own agendas. It is somewhat dry, voluminous and not a light read, however it is a worthwhile book for westerners looking to learn more about the struggles China experienced in the 19th century before Sung Yat Seng and Kiang Kai Check and the Communists really established themselves. Would I read it again? No. Was it worth reading? Yes, if you want to learn more about what China has experienced.

Average customer rating:

Beautiful Children's Book
kids love it
A Good Read At Any Age
Read to Your Child to Develop Bonding and Intellect!
Magnificent illustrations...

The Moon Lady (Aladdin Picture Books)
Amy Tan
Manufacturer: Aladdin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0689806167

Book Description

A MAGICAL NIGHT WHEN SECRET WISHES CAN COME TRUE

On a rainy afternoon, three sisters wish for the rain to stoop, wish they could play in the puddles, wish for something, anything, to do. So Ying-Ying, their grandmother, tells them a tale from long ago. On the night of the Moon Festival, when Ying-ying was a little girl, she encountered the Moon Lady, who grants the secret wishes of those who ask, and learned from her that the best wishes are those you can make come true yourself. This haunting tale, adapted from Amy Tan's best-seller The Joy Luck Club and enhanced by Gretchen Schields's rich, meticulously detailed art, is a book for all to treasure.

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful Children's Book.......2007-04-05

Beautiful illustrations will entrance children of all ages as Amy Tan shows she can entertain both children and adults.

kids love it.......2007-03-05

Amy has shown she can captivate children as well as adults. Her illustrations are beautiful and wonderful and my 5 yr old daughter loved them as well. Wonderful story.

A Good Read At Any Age.......2003-01-23

In The Moon Lady, Amy Tan author of The Joy Luck Club and The Bonesetter's Daughter, presents a small tale for young children which adults will also enjoy. Focusing on a story set in China, Tan brings her wealth of knowledge about China and its folktales as well as her love for this country and its traditions. In addition, the illustrations by Gretchen Schields add a wonderful dimension to the story since readers can also visualize the tale by viewing these pictures.

On a rainy day as grandchildren whine that they can't play outside their grandmother tells them a tale based on her own experiences as a child. Using this method Tan provides an allegorical tale concerning children and their wishes. Telling the children of her wishes as a young girl, Ying Ying tells the children a story about her own wishes at the times of the Moon Festival. And as all folk tales provide, Tan is adept at providing her readers with an adventurous tale compete with the mysterious Moon Lady and a moral to the story.

This is a good book for young children who cannot only learn about the Chinese culture but the saying "Be careful what you wish for." I also recommend this book at any age since it is also important to remember this as we move on in life.

Read to Your Child to Develop Bonding and Intellect!.......2000-08-19

Researchers constantly find that reading to children is valuable in a variety of ways, not least of which are instilling a love of reading and improved reading skills. With better parent-child bonding from reading, your child will also be more emotionally secure and able to relate better to others. Intellectual performance will expand as well. Spending time together watching television fails as a substitute.

To help other parents apply this advice, as a parent of four I consulted an expert, our youngest child, and asked her to share with me her favorite books that were read to her as a young child. The Moon Lady was one of her picks.

Adapted from Amy Tan's best selling book, The Joy Luck Club, The Moon Lady is a perfect book for encouraging children to read with and talk to their grandmother. The book also very subtly encourages children to take more responsibility for their own lives. The story provides a model for parents and grandparents for how to create their own stories to help children learn important lessons.

The story begins as three girls, Maggie, Lily and June, are bored because they have to stay in on a rainy day and can think of nothing that they want to do. Their grandmother, Nai-nai, is with them. Nai-nai tells them a story about when she was a young girl in China, and she ran and shouted and could not stand still also.

The story is about the day she told the Moon Lady her secret wish. Then unfolds a wonderful story of a young girl's adventure on a special trip to see the Moon Lady. Along the way, she sees many things she has not seen before, falls overboard, is rescued by a fishing family, and finds her family again after meeting the Moon Lady. In the process, she has one of those epiphanies that make all of our lives better -- that she is in charge of creating her own future.

The story is filled with references to family bonding and what is and is not proper behavior. The story also shows what family life was like for a somewhat well-to-do Chinese family in China at the beginning of the 20th century. These references are made all the more realistic by a wonderful series of drawings by Gretchen Schields with bright colors, beautiful detail, and authentic depictions of the China of years ago. It's almost like living a beautiful dream.

Then Nai-nai takes her granddaughters out to dance in the moon after the story is over.

Of all the children's books I have read, I place this one in the top ten for the 4-8 age category.

A central problem for many children today is that too much television, too many structured activities, and too little free time leave them feeling lost when nothing is on the agenda. Our misconception is that they need regimented lives like those that soldiers lead to fulfill their potential. This book will encourage you to readdress that misconception, and focus on how to make your children more competent in thinking about others, being more independent, and designing their own beneficial activities. That is all very important to actually unleashing their full potential. When you are done, think about how perhaps your own life needs a little improvement along these same lines.

Enjoy!

Donald Mitchell (donmitch@2000percentsolution.com)

Magnificent illustrations..........1999-03-05

I was drawn to this book as an Amy Tan fan and found myself fascinated by the illustrations. They are gorgeous and vividly detailed. The story, narrated by a grandmother, of her childhood adventures while growing up in China will give kids a tantalizing glimpse of another time and place.

Average customer rating:

A wonderful cookbook for Armenian food!
Has the main dishes we were looking for
Living in Two worlds
Americans want it the easy way
Best Cook Book Ever

The New Armenian Kitchen
St. Andrew Ladies Society
Manufacturer: G & R Publishing Co.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Spiral-bound

ASIN: 0967838258

Book Description

Inside find a compilation of 450 recipes from scores of Armenian cooks. about 300 of threm are Classic and Updated Armenian recipes. The spiral binding allows the colorful laminated cover and book to stay open, while you cook.This book has a detailed index, and also a glossary of more than 100 words which explain foreign words and cooking terms. Sprinkled liberally throughout the book are Armenian historical facts and proverbs, plus 38 pages of household hints.

Customer Reviews:

A wonderful cookbook for Armenian food!.......2006-01-28

Thank you St. Andrew Ladies Society for providing such delicious and user-friendly recipes. I won't blame you for the weight I am gaining!!!

Has the main dishes we were looking for.......2005-09-26

I bought the book for my wife who was raised on Armenian food, but the recipes that she got from family were of the type, "a little of this, and a bit of that" and she isn't that type of cook. The book contains the typical Aremenian dishes you can find at Middle Eastern restaurants, but they also have those that you only find at Aremenian restaurants. In addition, the more popular dishes often have several variations. Often they have easy, short-cut versions, and then the more complex, traditional approaches. While my wife and I want to make traditional versions we generally don't have time and the short-cuts are appreciated.

Living in Two worlds.......2003-06-28

I enjoy trying the different recipes for the basic dishes because I can always learn something. The recipes bring back memories of my mother's wonderful cooking. It is good to have a source to try my hand at producing food like hers. This cookbook represents me, born in the United States of Armenian heritage. I appreciate the "original" recipes and the "updated" ones to reflect the ingredients (and time) available to produce these dishes. The book is an ambitious effort that is done very well.

Americans want it the easy way.......2001-09-07

I am Greek Italian. Yes, I have two kids, an elderly mother's home to run too, and a job. I welcome anyone to look into my freezer, it contains little else than icecubes. I do make pies from scratch, when normal, not so thin dough can be used; I do use frozen phyllo when only very thin is essential, as well kadajif, because I cannot roll it as thin myself, nor have the patience to bother with difficult kadajif making. And I agree with the only negative voice on this book that ethnic cookbooks should really present a true picture of the local cuisine, with fresh ingredients, because the result is not comparable at all. A compromise would be to put a note at the end, saying "you could also used canned or frozen" etc, for those who are hooked on convenience foods. I also appreciate it when authors don't step in too much to offer their interpretation or re-elaboration and "creative" recipes, (like in so many so-called Greek cookbooks, in which you see Greek ingredients used in a totally non-Greek way, sometimes ingredients that are not even present in the markets together because they belong to different seasons of the year!), and present us the authentic recipes only. Or, if they want, they could clearly state that this is not authentic, but an ethnic-American mix. Surely I don't expect to find marshmallows as an ingredient in a book of Armenian (or Greek, or Indian, or whatever...) recipes. You know, this is the problem of many compilation books. The bona fide compilers just trust the people who send them the recipes and print them as they are, with no editing and/or research to test their originality. They print the name of the contributor, thus passing on any responsibility. Too easy! The people contributing, sometimes second generation or third generation Armenians, often just incorporate ingredients and techniques from the country they are currently living in (the U.S.A.), their recipes therefore being much less authentic than would be the purpose. Of course most of the readers never know the difference, on the contrary, they are even more enthusiastic (as the reviews of the specific book show), because they welcome the sight of their familiar ingredients, which they can conveniently obtain in a supermarket. Not for me, thanks!
I think the solution to the dilemma is clear information, clearly stated principles, on the cover of the book itself. So that one knows BEFORE buying the book to which of the two categories it belongs: authentic recipes or adapted to modern-day American ready-made food lover? This way, everybody would get what they want, and everybody would be happy.

Best Cook Book Ever.......2001-04-05

I purchased this book thinking it was for a good cause and to support the Ladies Society and thier hard work. Little did I know it was to my own advantage!! I thought I knew how to make most Armenian dished but I was surprized on how much more there was to know! This cook book is one of my latest purchases and is the most worn out! I gave one to my sister too but her 17 yr old daughter "relocated" the book to her own room and she is experimenting with the receipes. I get a kick out of the proverbs too!! good job!! great book!!

The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyong: The Autobiographical Writings of a Crown Princess of Eighteenth-Century Korea

Average customer rating:

memoirs of lady hyegyong- interesting
A compelling time travel
Good but somethings could have been better organized
The Korean Hamlet
an interesting view of Court life in ancient Korea

The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyong: The Autobiographical Writings of a Crown Princess of Eighteenth-Century Korea
JaHyun Kim Haboush
Manufacturer: University of California Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0520200551

Book Description

Lady Hyegyong's memoirs, which recount the chilling murder of her husband by his father, is one of the best known and most popular classics of Korean literature. From 1795 until 1805 Lady Hyegyong composed this masterpiece, which depicts a court life whose drama and pathos is of Shakespearean proportions. Presented in its social, cultural, and historical contexts, this first complete English translation opens a door into a world teeming with conflicting passions, political intrigue, and the daily preoccupations of a deeply intelligent and articulate woman.
JaHyun Kim Haboush's accurate, fluid translation captures the intimate and expressive voice of this consummate storyteller. The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyong is a unique exploration of Korean selfhood and of how the genre of autobiography fared in premodern times.

Customer Reviews:

memoirs of lady hyegyong- interesting.......2007-02-23

an interesting book. It makes the writings of a crown princess more informative and intense. I would recommend this book but readers might want to read a simpler version. The book is a little messy and isn't in the form of the beginning of the story to the end. Bits and pieces are told in different chapters.

Overall, an interesting story.

A compelling time travel.......2007-01-23

Beyond the scholarly merit and historical significance of this book, the story is hugely compelling, not merely for the facts of the chilling event, but for several other reasons.

First, the view Lady Hyegyong provides of the court life and the strict Confucian beliefs that hinge on filial piety, loyalty, virtue and honor is evident more in what she doesn't say than what is said. It's a growing subtle presentation of how life unfolded within these confines of faith, and as a result, how tragedy after tragedy continued to compound. One could read the Analects or any Neo-Confucian work, and not understand to the degree shown here the depths of the practice and belief that affected every aspect of life in the late Choson era.

Second, along with JaHyun Kim Haboush's careful introduction, the annotations she has so helpfully added, the glossaries and appendices, the book presents a highly respectful translation that brings forth all the humanity of the players in a way that makes the story unfold like a novel of hope, horror, survival and the desire for inner peace and heavenly redemption.

Third, by providing the historical literary context of these MEMOIRS (in the introduction), we benefit from understanding not only the historical events but the tense cultural climate and the severe limitations that Lady Hyegyong had to challenge and overcome in order to redeem the honor of her family. Almost as a self-reflective postmodern work of existentialism, the book stands as its own redemptive testament to its themes.

To read of this historical event from one who suffered in its aftermath, and who despite the strictures of her sex and position could tell of it with artistry, is an amazing literary experience.

Good but somethings could have been better organized.......2005-03-17

I think Haboush was trying to adhere to the original piece how the Crown prince wrote it but the sequence of events perhaps could have been ordered better? Because they are divided into 4 sections and each memoir tells the same story in different perspective and you have to go back.

Also some of the Korean names and terms I would have liked to have seen them typed both in Korean as well. It was had to make out what it meant.

It clarified, especially the last memoir (1805) how and why Sado seja was killed. History often sites that It was his father's extreme dislike for that drove to it. He could not have been disposed because there would have been factions that would try to put him back up on the throne.

The Korean Hamlet.......2001-01-21

"The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyong" is actually four different works written by one woman, a circumspect, scrupulous, unfortunate 18th Century Korean aristocrat. The memoirs are, successively, a family injunction, a memorial, a biography, and a historiography. At the center of the collection sits Hong Hyegyong and her husband, Crown Prince Sado. "The Memoirs" span the reigns of Yongjo, Chongjo, and Sunjo, and the careers of Lady Hyegyong's father, Hong Ponghan, and her older brothers.

Lady Hong Hyegyong was the wife of Crown Prince Sado, who in 1762, was ordered by his father, King Yongjo, to step into a rice chest, which was susequently bound and covered in sod. Crown Prince Sado had been punished by his father for a series of heinous murders caused by Sado's mental illness. Lady Hyegyong and her family, including her son, the future King Chongjo, then became the focal point of factional quarrels at court, each side using the execution of the Crown Prince, to its own political advantage.

Lady Hyegyong, in the first three memoirs, strives to defend her father and brothers against chages of treason and complicity in Sado's execution. The last memoir is a defense of her husband. All four are addressed to her grandson, King Sunjo, to restore the honor of her family.

Although Lady Hyegyong nor Haboush could ascertain the specific cause of Crown Prince Sado's illness, and Lady Hyegyong's anecdotal evidence is hardly scientific, I would like to offer ''hwabyong'', or, in Korean, ''fire disease'' or ''anger disease''. ''Hwabyong'', as offered by Alford in "Think No Evil: Korean Values In The Age Of Globalization" (see review), is ''...a unique Korean folk syndrome...'' characterized by ''...anxiety, panic,...and the suppression of anger...'' (p. 77). Korean fire disease's ''...symptoms reflect[s] the constraints of the culture: not just on the expression of of emotion, but the lack of opportunity...to change...''(p. 79). Only Crown Prince Sado,and the evidence offered in "The Memoir of 1805", can affirm this conjecture.

The last work, "The Memoir of 1805", is a brilliant psychological portrait of Crown Prince Sado. It is a revealing exercise in historical writing, and also reveals the mind of an extraordinary woman trying to understand some of the most harrowing personal tragedies any spouse or daughter might face.

"The Memoirs" can be compared to Lady Murasaki Shikibu's "The Tale of Genji", "Hamlet", and the lives of the Roman Emperors. One major failing of Haboush's''Introduction'' is, that she does not place the incidents in a broader historical and international context. But she does manage to argue against abridging and collecting each work into a longer historical novel. A broader focus would further aid in understanding Lady Hyegyong's dedication in defense of her brothers and father.

This is not only a valuable history, but it is also another demonstration of the narrative powers of Asian women authors operating in a patriarchical, almost misogynistic, culture.

an interesting view of Court life in ancient Korea.......2000-11-24

Lady Hyegyong was the crown princess of the Korean court in the 18th century. That is until her husband, crown prince Sado was killed at his father's orders.

This book is an excellent translation by the author of Lady Hyegyong's memoirs. They are a unique historical document. They are also the first true autobiographical writings by a woman to come out of Korea.

The translator has used the earliest versions of these memoirs available to base his translation (oddly enough these are found in the USA, not Korea - the koreans must be annoyed over this!)

The memoirs were acutally written in 4 parts and the translator has preserved this breakage. In many ways the first part (written in 1795) and the last part (written in 1805) are the most interesting sections of this book. The first memoir movingly depicts the author being chosen as wife to the crown prince and her distress at her success. The middle memoris of 1801 & 1802 cover much of what is in the 1795 section. These mostly elaborate on themes in the earlier one, and are principly a justification/explantion of her families 'bad luck' over the years and why it is her fault. It also brings home the old saying that "power corrupts - absoult power corrupts absolutly".

The last part, written in 1805 descibes the events leading up to her husbands death. It is written with great character insight and is of great historical value. The writer was obviously a lady of intelligence.

This book only gets 3 stars, because while it is interesting, the middle section of the book is quite slow to get through because it is so repetitive. Parts 1 & 4 offer the real vale here. I'm suprised no-one has written a novel of this ladies life with this great source material.

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sistahs in the struggle, rock onn!

Makes you ponder significant issues

its ok but not as romantic

Dragon Ladies: Asian American Feminists Breathe Fire

Manufacturer: South End Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Feminist Theory | Women's Studies | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0896085759

Amazon.com

Asian American feminism is a political hybrid linking very different cultures. "We all share the same rung on the racial hierarchy and on the gender hierarchy," asserts Sonia Shah, the editor of this appropriately diverse collection of writings. In it, Shamita Das Dasgupta and her daughter, Sayantani Das Dasgupta, comment on both raising and being third-world activists in the American Midwest, teetering outside the approved boundaries of largely white feminist groups and the Indian community. Margarita Alcantara, editor of the zine Bamboo Girl; Leslie Mah, lead guitarist of Tribe 8; and oxymoronic moderator Selena Whang explode model minority images with a freewheeling round robin on issues and events facing self-identified queer, punk Asians. Community activists Bandana Purkayastha, Shyamala Raman, and Kshiteeja Bhide expound on their agency SNEHA, which embodies the contradictions faced by Asian American feminists trying to empower women while respecting cultural traditions. Dragon Ladies: Asian American Feminists Breathe Fire is raw and powerful.

Customer Reviews:

sistahs in the struggle, rock onn!.......2005-03-26

I read selections from this book for a junior tutorial class called "Feminist Political Thought." This compilation broadens the definition of "political" beyond elections and voting, emphasizing radical thought, thinking outside of the liberal/conservative binary, and grassroots social movements. The essays cover a broad range, from the politics within activist circles and how to deal with the inclusion/safe-space vs. staying true to one's values "paradox" to thoughtful discussions on organizing strategies to globalization's effects on Filipina overseas workers. I particularly liked this book because it was not East-Asian (American) centric in a good effort to reflect the complexities embedded in a collective identity, such as Asian American feminist. If you are interested in writing/social justice, the variety of essays also presents lots of methodologies.

Makes you ponder significant issues.......2003-01-13

From Blue Jean Online

by Melisa Gao, Teen Editor

As soon as I picked up Dragon Ladies: Asian American Feminists Breathe Fire, I knew I wanted to read it. The originality of the book's title and its unconventional cover immediately attracted me. And I was curious: just how many Asian-American feminists are there, anyway?

As I began reading, I was caught off guard by the style and complexity of the writing. Dragon Ladies is a collection of essays written by various Asian-American activists-it's no light-hearted novel that you can breeze through. There's plenty of historical information, which can be dry at times (this could easily be used as a reference if you were writing a paper on feminists). But the majority of the essays contain thought-provoking discussions of serious issues that every young woman should reflect upon.

The contributors take different approaches to their subjects, which range from sexuality to domestic violence to the plight of workers, but they share a passion for their cause that is evident in every word of the book. Having little experience in political activism, I enjoyed reading the women's anecdotes depicting their struggles and successes.

The same conviction that makes the book worthwhile, however, may also turn off some of its readers. Even I, a liberal young Asian-American woman, found some of the essays too radical to be realistic. But the point of the book isn't necessarily to propagate these beliefs. As editor Sonia Shah explains in the introduction, "...[This book] provides a set of issues, terms, ideas, and stories for folks to talk about-whether it is to debunk and decry them or to transform them into an agenda for action."

Even if the book doesn't inspire you to become politically active, it will at least make you ponder some significant issues and reexamine your own beliefs. Read Dragon Ladies with an open mind, and you will gain from it.

its ok but not as romantic.......2001-09-16

its ok but not as romantic as the notion, but its not the best written or organized books but the SM is important

The Asian Mystique: Dragon Ladies, Geisha Girls, & Our Fantasies of the Exotic Orient

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Review from "The Japan Times"
Uncomfortable truths
Disappointing; journalism, not scholarship
Prasso attacks her subject with a bone to pick
Finally someone wrote about this fascinating subject!

The Asian Mystique: Dragon Ladies, Geisha Girls, & Our Fantasies of the Exotic Orient
Sheridan Prasso
Manufacturer: PublicAffairs
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Asia | History | Subjects | Books

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 1586482149
Release Date: 2005-04-05

Book Description

A prize-winning journalist and Asia expert issues a provocative critique of the West's eroticized illusions about Asia and how profoundly they color our social, cultural, business, personal, and political interactions.

Few Westerners escape the images, expectations and misperceptions that lead us to see Asia as exotic, sensual, decadent, dangerous, and mysterious. Despite — and because of — centuries of East-West interaction, the stereotypes of Western literature, stage, and screen remain pervasive icons: the tea-pouring, submissive, sexually available geisha girl; the steely cold dragon lady dominatrix; as well as the portrayal of the Asian male as effeminate and asexual. These "Oriental" illusions color our relations and relationships in ways even well-respected professional "Asia hands" and scholars don't necessarily see.

The Asian Mystique lays out a provocative challenge to see Asia and Asians as they really are, with unclouded, deeroticized eyes. It traces the origins of Western stereotypes in history and in Hollywood, examines the phenomenon of `yellow fever,' then goes on a reality tour of Asia's go-go bars, middle-class homes, college campuses, business districts, and corridors of power, providing intimate profiles of women's lives and vivid portraits of the human side of an Asia we usually mythologize too well to really understand. It strips away our misconceptions and stereotypes, revealing instead the fully dimensional human beings beyond our usual perceptions. The Asian Mystique is required reading for anyone with interest in or interaction with Asia or Asian-origin people, as well as any serious student or practicioner of East-West relations.

Customer Reviews:

Review from "The Japan Times".......2007-09-28

Apparently, there are still Western men who believe that the East is an obliging seductress, mass producing an endless line of voluptuous women, whose laconic sexual pliancy is only exceeded by their desire to serve. This, according to Sheridan Prasso's new book, is a delusion that many Asian women are happy to cater to.

Prasso's observations are unsparing, but for anyone who has witnessed the transactions that take place between Western men and Eastern women in cities like Bangkok, even the holy city of Lhasa, will know they are wickedly accurate. On the topic of the hordes of middle-aged Western men who haunt the bars, brothels and matchmaking agencies of Asia, she concludes, " . . . any man can experience feeling attractive again - even loved. Old, fat, or ugly by Western standards, it doesn't matter. Anyone can be the Alpha Male and Lord Jim."

In the distorting mirror of Asian mystique, reserve can be interpreted as weakness, Asian women quickly characterized as submissive, obedient, obliging; Asian men emasculated. Such largely Western fantasies of the Orient are "antiquated, perhaps, but still shockingly influential."

Although Passo reserves a special vitriol for the male sexual adventurer, she deals a fair hand two ways, including both sexes in the collusive act of mystifying and marketing the East. In the chapter 'Screwing, Getting Screwed, And Getting Ahead,' Prasso portrays the alternatively nave and opportunistic behavior of Filipina prostitutes. In Angeles City, a run down flesh market, where solitary men, often victims themselves of failed relationships and expectations, wander the dusty, purgatorial streets "in search of tender rejuvenating skin, hoping that human contact may somehow restore their sensation, vitality, and youth." In this city of relentless transaction, there are women who are "aware of these Western perceptions of Asian Mystique and know how to play them to advantage."

Prasso cites Hollywood and popular musicals as key factors in the dissemination of misleading images of the East, from the early screen performances of the highly successful Chinese-American actress Anna May Wong, the screen adaptation of the novel 'The World of Suzie Wong ,' to the fabulously popular 'Miss Saigon' which, complete with the sacrificial suicide of an Oriental women, is nothing less than a modern day reworking of Madame Butterfly. TV series like M.A.S.H. get a predictable drubbing, along with the limpid images of women in more recent cinematic portrayals like 'The Last Samurai.'

Hollywood and literature have manufactured two enduring, but opposing images of Asian women: the enigmatic but obliging geisha verses the treacherous, but no less sexually alluring Dragon Lady or Martial Arts Mistress. This is done in the most complimentary fashion, a 1943 front cover of 'Time' magazine portraying Madame Chiang Kai-shek as the 'Dragon Lady,' a tribute to her power and charisma. Lucy Liu, known for her various roles as seductress, martial arts specialist, and dominatrix, is the contemporary, beefed up and decidedly more lethal, version of Anna May Wong. Clearly the roles provide a very good living, and neither Wong before her nor Liu now, one notes, refused to play the game of image compliance.

Inevitably, there is a degree of reviewing as Prasso revisits this well-trodden topic. We have the usual references to Pierre Loti, Kipling, to works like 'Shogun,' but Prasso also includes commentary on erotic Asian literature, from the Taoist 'The Art of the Bedchamber,' to 'The Golden Lotus,' allegedly Mao Zedong's favorite leisure reading, works in which the Chinese linked the pleasures of the flesh with physical and spiritual nourishment and longevity, an irresistible combination.

Prasso largely avoids the risk of being seduced by the subject and losing perspective, although the book cover, the upper half offering the cherry lips and white makeup of a geisha, sends an ambiguous message, as does the inside image of the author in full geisha attire , replete with wig and a cosmetic facial. Is this meant to be flirtatious, tongue-in-cheek, or is it just the publishers' idea of selling copies?

Addicted as we are to the narcotic pleasures of the East, to the willing complicity of having our senses pleasantly addled, Prasso's book serves as a kind of detox clinic. Once the mystery, the allure of the Orient has been removed, however, what are we left with? The answer perhaps, is a more mature view of the East, one consonant with our sadly more homogenized world, where many the tints have been leached out. It will require a new maturity to accomplish it, the connoisseur of the finer things of the East in us replacing the voluptuary, the thinker displacing the lotus-eater, but perhaps it is the learning of Asia, its palpable trove of experience and wisdom, that we should venerate above the promise of the exotic and sensual.

In divesting us of our illusions, the author has left us without yearning but with a new perception of the East. A very fair exchange I would say.

STEPHEN MANSFIELD
The Japan Times
Sept. 25, 2005

Uncomfortable truths.......2007-05-07

There is something about Asian women. It is one of those taboo subjects, like why African athletes dominate certain sports, that everyone is aware of but no one wants to talk about, for fear of breaching that all-important barrier of political correctness and possibly finding themselves on the wrong side. It all boils down to uncomfortable truths, things that are even though we don't want them to be. We would like to believe that race is not an issue, in both love and war, even though it often is.

Sheridan Prasso deserves full props for challenging this dangerous subject. In "The Asian Mystique: Dragon Ladies, Geisha Girls & Our Fantasies of the Exotic Orient", she honestly attempted to examine the ideal of the Asian woman as a sexual object, both historically and in modern times. She half-succeeded, and half-failed, but that is only to be expected. The issue is not so easy as to be simply encapsulated in a single book, and we all bring our own viewpoint to such a tense subject, especially those of us who are are Asian ourselves or involved with Asian women, and find ourselves either villains or heroes by Prasso's standards.

The first part of the book is an analysis of Asian women through the lens of Western media and history. She examines the relationship between Asia and sex that has existed since the time of first contact between the two societies. Here she lays out some uncomfortable truths for all of us, demonstrating how Asian women have been portrayed in Western culture for years as a sequence of stereotypes, either the Dragon Lady or the submissive Geisha Girl. Unfortunately, this is the weakest part of the book, as it is clear that Prasso has come to her analysis opinion first and sought only the evidence to support her claim. While she speaks of "Madame Butterfly" and "Full Metal Jacket", she ignores Oliver Stone's "Heaven and Earth". This section is also rife with factual errors, which are so blatant that one is tempted to dismiss her observations out of hand. It would be easy to do. She made a mistake as to who Lady Mariko's husband was in "Shogun", so we don't need to believe anything she says, right?

But then comes the second part of the book, which is a powerhouse. Prasso steps off the stage, and allows the women of Asia to speak for themselves. Here is when you begin to understand that Prasso is a journalist, not a researcher, and her true strength is in giving a voice to others who may not otherwise be heard. She assembles an amazing collection of interviews, from all walks of life. A Japanese woman divorcing her American husband, disillusioned and yet not destroyed. Mineko Iwasaki, the most famous of the Geisha of Gion, who was the basis for the popular story of "Memoirs of a Geisha". Nguyen Thi Hoa, a woman impregnated and abandoned by an American soldier during the Vietnam war. Several Thai and Philippine "bar girls", who see Western men as little more than a good time and walking wallets. These interviews challenge our world view and opinions more than any analysis of "Miss Saigon", because they are real and alive rather than just Hollywood fairy tales.

Unfortunately, Sheridan Prasso was not able to confront the uncomfortable truths that she herself brought to light. She huzzahs the sexual liberation of Asian culture, where women were historically allowed to have multiple partners of their choosing, where coming to your wedding as a virgin was considered an embarrassment, where women were ignorant of the concept of sex as something dirty and shameful. Yet with the same hand, she condemns the White men who indulge in this freedom, who freely offer money for services, as freely as the women offer services for money. The Japanese woman who falls in love with her husband for his Americanism is a hero, free from her social training. The American man who falls in love with his wife for her Japaneseness is a villain, a slave to his social training. A man who brings his wife flowers is generous and kind. A woman who washes her husbands back is docile and dominated. There is no room for understanding, for true appreciation, acceptance and love.

Through her analysis, through her interviews, the answer seems so completely clear. There is a relationship between Asia and the West and sex, and this relationship is reciprocal, and one needs only to connect the dots. This is not, however, a necessarily bad thing. But this truth is, I think, a little bit too uncomfortable for Prasso to go there.

Disappointing; journalism, not scholarship.......2007-05-04

When I first saw "Asian Mystique," I thought I would be reading an extension of Said's "Orientalism." Indeed, Prasso's first few chapters do seem to follow Said's lead: they focus on popular representations of East Asians (and Americans of East-Asian descent) in American film and TV, and how these representations have shaped perceptions of East Asians in American society.
On a whole, though, her work is devoid of substance and full of overarching generalizations. Once she moves outside of popular media, she bases her conclusions on a few personal conversations and on newspaper editorials. Prasso approaches her subject as an outsider, qualified only by having spent many years in East Asia, and she does not even appear to know any East Asian languages.
"Asian Mystique" is particularly harsh on white men who are in relationships with women from East Asia or of East Asian descent; apparently, such men are ill with "Yellow Fever" or guilty of having an "[...]," especially if they have had a string of girlfriends from this particular ethnic group. (It seems that, for Prasso, being attracted to certain physical features should not play a role in choosing a romantic partner.)
Prejudices against East Asians and Asian-Americans are deep rooted and certainly need to be explored further. Prasso's book makes for a light, easy read, but anyone seriously interested in the subject had better look elsewhere.

Prasso attacks her subject with a bone to pick.......2007-03-25

[EDIT: I have deleted the original first sentence at Ms. Prasso's request.] The more you read, the clearer it becomes that Prasso approached her "research" with a pre-formed thesis, and either picks subjects to prop it up or filters their comments appropriately.

The author's condescension is annoying as heck. She's blatantly disdainful of some of her interviewees, like a sniveling Filipina prostitute, a white man living with a Chinese runway model, and a Chinese school administrator who - gasp! - admits she wants to get married and stop chasing promotions. Scoring an interview with the famous retired geisha Mineko Iwasaki is an accomplishment, certainly, but Prasso's self-congratulatory tone ruins it.

Argh I've totally lost patience with this book, I just wrote a review of it for a different website. Full review on my blog here if you're interested: [...]

As a Malaysian Chinese girl in a relationship a white American guy, I have a vested interest in arguing against Prasso's typifying of all Asian/white relationships being based on either unilateral or mutual exploitation. I'm not dating him because I want a green card, he's not dating me because he thinks I'm going to be docile and compliant - quite the opposite, in both cases. We like each other because we're frigging NERDS (science grad students bonding over SG-1 and Firefly).

As one of the young Japanese women interviewed says, "Junin toiro!" - Ten people, ten colours, yet this book tries to paint everyone with the same brush.

Finally someone wrote about this fascinating subject!.......2007-03-17

Everyone knows someone - whether a roommate, a friend, a brother or even himself, who has a particular fondness for Asian women - but no one ever talks about it in public. As an Asian American woman who grew up in the mid-West, I can tell you that I'd be rich if I had a dollar for every time someone like this tried to hit on me just because my face is Asian, and yes I have even dated some of them. This is a constant topic of café talk with all my girlfriends - no matter whether they're Asian American, white, Latina or black. (Even Hollywood has told many tales about this - from the recent Memoirs of a Geisha to the ancient World of Suzie Wong). Yet unless, we're speaking to girlfriends, other Asian Americans or friends-in-the-know, the subject falls on deaf ears. No one has ever written a balanced, truthful and in-depth analysis of this before. Finally! I'm so amazed that this book was written.

Why hasn't anyone written about this before? Perhaps it's a hard concept to grasp - no doubt because as the book says, the Asian Mystique is so captivating that most people don't even know that they've succumbed to it. This may sound complicated. Indeed, whenever my girlfriends and I gossip about those kinds of men who like Asian women, we often cringe. But do we ever stop to think about why? Without burying the reader in obtuse, academic jargon, Prasso finally gives a name to this cultural phenomenon ("the Asian Mystique") that allows room for true discussion (It's much more productive than "yellow fever"). Not to mention the fact that the book is a page-turner and packed with great statistics and interesting data. Like an anthropologist, the author quietly observes all the interesting details without criticizing. Because she does not make judgments about the people involved in Asian-Western cross-cultural relationships, I found myself thinking about it in a new light. Not only that, I feel that she really did her homework in trying to understand the aspects that we in the west misunderstand about Asian culture (yes Asian Americans are guilty of this too). This is not an easy thing to do, especially for someone not raised within Asian culture. Thus, I must also applaud the author for trying to write a book that rises above a particular agenda in order to thoughtfully explore the very complex intersection of race and culture with desire and love. This book this goes a long way in explaining centuries of cultural misunderstanding. For anyone who cannot deny the growing influence of Asia upon the West, this book is a must read. As China moves head on into the world stage and we in the West embrace this with both dread and adoration, it would be wonderful if everyone could read this book that dissects the heart of this cross-cultural conflict - relationships between Asian women and Western men!

Lady White Snake: A Tale From Chinese Opera

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Lady White Snake: A Tale From Chinese Opera
Aaron Shepard
Manufacturer: Pan Asian Publications (USA)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 1572270721

Product Description

What fate awaits a thousand-year-old white snake that travels from its sacred mountain home to the human world, only to fall in love with a mortal? Such is the bizarre beginning of this tragic love story, one of the most popular in all of Chinese opera. Lady White's marriage and loyal devotion to her beloved husband Xu Xian is considered by Fahai--the abbott of a nearby temple--as heresy and an abomination. Fahai attempts to make Xu Xian aware of the apparent danger he faces from his own wife. And in a spectacular battle, the devout monk musters all his powers to get rid of Lady White Snake once and for all. Although our heroine prevails in the end, time is not on her side and there is great loss.

The Divine Woman: Dragon Ladies and Rain Maidens in T'ang Literature

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Ian Myles Slater on: China's Divine Waters

The Divine Woman: Dragon Ladies and Rain Maidens in T'ang Literature
Edward H. Schafer
Manufacturer: Floating World Editions
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Book Description

An important exploration of Chinese mythology that focuses on the diverse and evocative associations between women and water in the literature of the T'ang dynasty.

Customer Reviews:

Ian Myles Slater on: China's Divine Waters .......2005-01-06

This short book, "The Divine Woman," was originally published by the University of California Press in 1973. It is one of a series of studies of T'ang Dynasty China, following the vast "The Golden Peaches of Samarkand: A Study of T'ang Exotics" (1963) and the briefer "The Vermilion Bird: T'ang Images of the South" (1967). Unlike its two predecessors, which concentrated on Chinese contacts with the outside world ("Golden Peaches") and the lands to the south the T'ang Dynasty was attempting to incorporate into the Empire ("Vermilion Bird"), "The Divine Woman" deals mainly with literary developments of Chinese traditions already ancient to the T'ang. It is a book about some of the more obscure corners of Chinese culture, about poetry and short stories, and, incidentally, how foreign influences were assimilated and naturalized to fit Chinese conceptions of the world. The "Dragon Ladies and Rain Maidens" are the stars of a large cast of supernatural beings -- and some not-so-supernatural ones -- male as well as female.

Other works by Schafer concerning China during the T'ang dynasty are similarly specialized: "Pacing the Void: T'ang Approaches to the Stars," "Shore of Pearls: Hainan Island in Early Times," "Mirages on the Sea of Time: The Taoist Poetry of Ts'ao T'ang," and, on a major holy place, the very brief monograph "Mao Shan in T'ang Times" (Society for the Study of Chinese Religions, 1980, 1989). Schafer had a gift for evocative titles (one wonders what he wanted to call the "Mao Shan" study). [See below for possible new editions of these and other books by Schafer.]

Goddesses and other supernatural women, ghosts, and a variety of dragons and water-monsters share the pages with sacred mountains and rivers (Those familiar only with the standard, mostly benevolent, *lung* as "the Chinese dragon" may be in for a shock at the range of creatures Schafer catalogues.) A fair amount of linguistic and ethnographic information is provided, and there are plenty of notes to satisfy Schafer's fellow Sinologists. As often in Chinese studies, much of the secondary literature turns out to be in Japanese -- very, very appropriately, in this case, since it was T'ang China which provided the first great foreign model for Japan (which in turn preserved elements of Chinese culture that were nearly obliterated in China itself -- another story). Some of the themes treated here were fully naturalized in Japan, and now show up in manga and anime.

The North Point Press edition ten years later added a laudatory Foreword by Gary Snyder. Unfortunately, many readers will really need, instead, a brief introduction to the T'ang Dynasty, one of the great periods of Chinese history, roughly equivalent to the High Middle Ages in Europe (but a few centuries earlier in time). Fortunately, there are a number of political and cultural histories of China, and some excellent anthologies of Chinese literature (see below), even though most of those Schafer cites are now dated and often difficult to obtain.

A major theme of "The Divine Woman" is how the Confucian official ethos attempted, with considerable success, to historicize, trivialize, and sentimentalize the ancient goddesses of China, and how versions of them lived on in popular culture, surfacing in literature from time to time. Schafer translates and interprets a selection of poems and summarizes other literature. Despite Schafer's complaints of the tedium of poems loaded with stock images, his descriptions of the best of the poems and stories make one long for an anthology of his favorites. Fortunately, a good selection of this material now can be found, along with much else, in Stephen Owen's huge "An Anthology of Chinese Literature: Beginnings to 1911" (1996).

Although fuller details on the T'ang would have been nice in this context, I have also been impressed by Jacques Gernet's comprehensive "A History of Chinese Civilization" (1972; translated 1982, second edition 1996), with a helpful English-language bibliography, very much including Schafer; another very large book to serve as a companion to the richly packed, but surprisingly brief, "The Divine Woman." Schafer's own "History of China" is available in digital format (missing half a dozen maps), and sometimes used -- but besides being out of date, is no more than a brief introduction to the major political events and social trends.

Note, May 2005: There is now underway a project of reissuing in paperback Schafer's out-of-print works (essentially everything except "The Golden Peaches of Samarkand') by the Antique Collectors' Club and Floating World Editions, beginning with "Pacing the Void" and "Tu Wan's Stone Catalogue of Cloudy Forest: A Commentary and Synopsis" on March 30. The former was originally scheduled for release about a year ago, by Weatherhill Inc. according to the original listing, but is now actually in my hand. See the Amazon pages for these two works for other details. No date has been announced for their edition of "The Divine Woman." (Meanwhile, some of the asking prices for used copies have become more reasonable.)

(Reposted from my "anonymous" review of September 8, 2003)

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The Tale of Genji

Tale of Genji (Tuttle Classics)
Lady Murasaki Shikibu
Manufacturer: Tuttle Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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Japanese | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0804838232

Book Description

Written centuries before the time of Shakespeare and Chaucer, The Tale of Genji marks the birth of the novel-and after more than a millennium, this seminal work about the life and loves of Prince Genji, master poet, dancer, musician and painter, continues to enchant readers throughout the world.

Customer Reviews:

The Tale of Genji.......2007-05-13

This is a beautiful story. You might have trouble getting into it, but it really brings you to understanding the early Japanese culture better and it draws a very good picture of what life would have been like. Not to mention that I am proud to say the author of one of the worlds first 'Novels' was a WOMAN! How cool was that? ;} A good Read!!

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