In these richly illustrated pages, Chinese gardens unfold as cosmic diagrams, revealing a profound and ancient view of the world and of humanity's place in it. First sensuous impressions give way to more cerebral delights, and forms conjure unending, increasingly esoteric and mystical layers of meaning for the initiate. Keswick conducts us through the art and architecture, the principles and techniques of Chinese gardens, showing us their long history as the background for a civilization--the settings for China's great poets and painters, the scenes of ribald parties and peaceful contemplation, political intrigues and family festivals.
Updated and expanded in this third edition, with an introduction by Alison Hardie, many new illustrations, and an updated list of gardens in China accessible to visitors, Keswick's engaging work remains unparalleled as an introduction to the Chinese garden.
>is a helpful tourguide take you a preview.
Acutely Perceptive, Informative, Profound.......2003-05-05
A superb study that is as engrossing as it is elegantly written and lavishly illustrated, and a sensitive inquiry into the aesthetics, the history and the philosophy that underpin an ancient and majestic civilization's view of mankinds's place within the cosmos. Both unique and profound. An essential work.
Book Description
Gardens are sites that can be at one and the same time admired works of art and valuable pieces of real estate. As the first account in English to be wholly based on contemporary Chinese sources, this innovative, beautifully illustrated book grounds the practices of garden-making in Ming dynasty China (1368–1644) firmly in the social and cultural history of the day.
Who owned Ming gardens? Who visited them? How were they represented in words, in paintings, and in visual culture generally, and what meanings did these representations hold at different levels of Chinese society? How did the discourse of gardens intersect with other discourses such as those of aesthetics, agronomy, geomancy, and botany? By examining the gardens of the city of Suzhou from a number of different angles, Craig Clunas provides a rich picture of a complex cultural phenomenonâone that was of crucial importance to the self-fashioning of the Ming elite.
Drawing on a wide range of recent work in cultural theory, the author provides for the first time a historical and materialist account of Chinese garden culture, and replaces broad generalizations and orientalist fantasy with a convincing picture of the garden’s role in social life. Fruitful Sites will appeal to all students of China’s cultural history, to students of garden history from any part of the world, to art historians, and to readers engaged in Asian and cultural studies.
Average customer rating:
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Gardens of Longevity In China & Japan
Rizzoli
Manufacturer: Rizzoli
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ASIN: 0847808378
Release Date: 1987-09-15 |
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Chinese Landscapes: The Village As Place
Manufacturer: University of Hawaii Press
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House Home Family: Living and Being Chinese
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Chinese Houses: The Architectural Heritage Of A Nation
ASIN: 0824814134 |
Book Description
In the mid-1930s, the man who made his fortune with Tiger Balm (a popular "cure-all" medicine even today) decided to build these gardens for overseas Chinese to educate them about their culture. This book documents, with over 300 photos and supporting text, these unusual gardens and the medicine that paid for them.
Customer Reviews:
Tiger Balm Gardens: A Chinese Billionaire's Fantasy Environm.......2004-07-02
This is an incredible book..For someone who loves mythology and Chinese culture or just fascinated by the art, the whole entire information on Haw Par Villa Singapore, the history ..all can be found in this book..In fact, it is the only book available on the 67 year old mythology theme park in Singapore.
I searched and chanced upon this book when i was interested in knowing more about Haw Par Villa, before it may just be torn down in the next decade, and the book certainly left a deep sense of love for this almost forgotten place..
Defintely a great book..
Average customer rating:
- The title maybe Ugly Vegetables, but it's beautiful story
- The Ugly Vegetables
- Enjoyable
- An awesome book and receipe included, how great is that!
- Should Be in Every Library!
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The Ugly Vegetables
Grace Lin
Manufacturer: Charlesbridge Publishing
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Dim Sum for Everyone!
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Kite Flying
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Fortune Cookie Fortunes
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The Seven Chinese Sisters
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Round is a Mooncake: A Book of Shapes
ASIN: 0881063363 |
Book Description
It's easy to appreciate a garden exploding with colorful flowers and fragrances, but what do you do with a patch of ugly vegetables? Author/illustrator Grace Lin recalls such a garden in this charming and eloquent story.
The neighbors' gardens look so much prettier and so much more inviting to the young gardener than the garden of “black-purple-green vines, fuzzy wrinkled leaves, prickly stems, and a few little yellow flowers” that she and her mother grow. Nevertheless, mother assures her that “these are better than flowers.” Come harvest time, everyone agrees as those ugly Chinese vegetables become the tastiest, most aromatic soup they have ever known. As the neighborhood comes together to share flowers and ugly vegetable soup, the young gardener learns that regardless of appearances, everything has its own beauty and purpose.
The Ugly Vegetables springs forth with the bright and cheerful colors of blooming flowers and bumpy, ugly vegetables. Grace Lin's colorful, playful illustrations pour forth with abundant treasures. Complete with a guide to the Chinese pronunciation of the vegetables and the recipe for ugly vegetable soup! Try it . . . you'll love it, too!
Customer Reviews:
The title maybe Ugly Vegetables, but it's beautiful story.......2007-05-13
I was drawn to this book for several reasons. First off, I have a child born in and adopted from China and am naturally drawn to books relating to Chinese people. As much as I want her to understand her birth culture I am also learning at the same time. We have several Grace Lin books in our library at home and have loved everyone of them. What I love about this book is that it illustrates how we all have something to teach one another and that through our sharing and teaching we actually become comfortable with ourselves. This isn't just a book about some unusual vegetables, it's a story about people and what we each have to offer the world.
The Ugly Vegetables.......2006-03-15
One of my two year olds favorite books. Beautiful illustrations and a fun story, especially if coming from a gardening background. My daughter also loves trying to say the Chinese words for the vegetables at the end of the book.
Enjoyable.......2005-10-04
I bought this book for my 3 year old, but I think it's a bit too complicated for her. The story is lovely, and I bought this based on our enjoyment together of several other books illustrated and/or written by Ms. Lin. However, her attention span at 3 is too short to get through all of the narrative, so we just looked at the pictures while I summarized. The pictures, as usual, were colorful and intriguing, but we put this book aside for next Summer, when she'll be closer to 4, and we can read it together as we plan our own "ugly" vegetable garden.
An awesome book and receipe included, how great is that!.......2004-08-22
Each Grace Lin book I get, I am just so impressed by her talent! Every child loves to get their hands into dirt and growing flowers or vegetables is always fun and gives the child great pride to show everyone their hard work and or beautiful flowers!
Every child wants to be just the same as their friends, especially those in the neighborhood. Mom and daughter start in the spring to plant their garden and while everyone else in the neighborhood each have their own way of tending their gardens totally different from how her and her mom garden. When their plants appear they look like grass, where other neighbors' appear they look like normal plants.
The little girl constantly asks questions as all children do, why mommy, why mommy and her mommy patiently answers each of her daughters questions. When others in the neighborhood have beautiful flowersthat smell so good, the little girls garden has what she sees as ugly plants with no beautiful scents. Once the vegetables are ready to be harvested the little girl and mother gather their wheelbarrow with their vegetables. Later that afternoon the daughter is out playing in the yard and smells a wonderful smell and it's coming from her house! Her mom has made soup using their harvest and her mom gives her a bowl..... it tastes so good! Then there comes knocking at their door and it's the little girls neighbors wanting to trade their beautiful flowers for a bowl of soup. The Mom tells the neighbors about each vegetables and the next spring the little girl notices her neighbors growing " Ugly Vegetables" too!
I love that Lin includes a receipe to make using these so called "ugly vegetables" and that she included their names and even sounded them out. Keep up the good work Mrs. Lin and I'll keep on buying your books and singing praises to anyone who'll read my reviews!
Should Be in Every Library!.......2001-06-29
This was a wonderful story that my husband and children just loved. We learned about some new vegetables in the process. As a kid I wasn't fond of bitter melon, but I'm willing to give it a second try after reading the book! My 5 and 6 year old boys are clamoring for us to go out, buy some ugly vegetables, and make the soup! This book appeals to every member of the family and the illustrations are beautiful.
Book Description
Originally published as Volume 2 of The Tao of Painting, this is the first English translation of the famous Chinese handbook, the "Chieh Tzu Yüan Hua Chuan" (original, 1679-1701). Mai-mai Sze has translated and annotated the texts of instructions, discussions of the fundamentals of painting, notes on the preparation of colors, and chief editorial prefaces.
Customer Reviews:
Wonderful resource.......2007-03-08
I am a student of Chinese painting and this book was recommended by our teacher as the most reliable reference book for Chinese painting. I am very pleased with this purchase since it is everything that I expected.
Essential textbook for sumi-e and Chinese brush painters.......2005-09-27
This manual has been used for centuries in China and Japan and illustrates all the basics needed to paint in oriental style, with helpful written pointers. Be aware that the black ink illustrations were originally wood-block prints so grey tones do not translate. Particularly useful for compositional study and models of outlline figures, animals and architectural elements. For more up-to-date and in-depth instruction in the Four Gentlemen, including stroke-by-stroke illustrations, try the "Book of Bamboo", "Book of Plum", "Book of Orchid" and "Book of Chrysanthemum" by Prof I-Hsiung Ju.
The Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting.......2005-08-16
Excellent book to understand how to work with Sumi brush.
A must.......2005-02-01
Thanks to the Amazon:" look inside this book" I purchased the The Mustard Seed Garden Manual Of Painting. It is amazing how didatic and philosophical can be a text written three hundred years ago ! I could not stop reading since opened the first page: for those who paints or admires chinese pictures (or even calligraphy ) - it is really a must. I recommend to read carefully the : "look inside" because when you receive the book it will surprise you: it is much, much more than that. And, being a 640 pages book and in an almost squared form, it is also delightful to hold those messages that came from the past and is still valid today. Buy now, because if it goes out of print, for sure , you will repent to miss a Classic.
Great reference.......2004-01-02
The illustrations are a wonderful source of reference and inspiration for the beginning and intermediate painter. There are plenty of examples to get you started if you're thinking of trying something new and aren't quite sure how to approach it. The sections I find myself using all the time are trees and human elements.
I learned from a teacher when I was living in Japan, so the bad translation doesn't bother me. I use this book for the images, which is what you really should buy it for. If you want something more of step-by-step instruction for the very beginner, this book isn't it.
Customer Reviews:
Ancient Chinese Secrets.......2006-01-11
The opium poppy is a potent plant that has been cultivated and used for thousands of years to alleviate suffering. The use of plant substances as alternatives to synthetic medicines is resurging due to their beneficial properties and less-toxic side effects. For example, many cancer and HIV sufferers are growing opium for personal use.
Opium Poppy Garden is the only book available that describes the cultivation, harvest, and pharmacology of opium in a format that combines literary and instructional writing. The heart of the book is a tale of Che'ien, a young Chinese man who travels from Costa Rica to Columbia to grow an opium garden in the manner his Taoist grandfather taught him. The story, in conjuction with "The Cultivator's Diary" and the techniccal appendix, provide the reader with a working knowledge of this plant,
A young man's opium adventure........2002-07-08
I really liked the mix of a story of a young man's first adventure away from country and family, and the technical information needed to cultivate the opium poppy. It gave me a sense of tranquility to his endeavor, not as if it were a clandestine operation. It spoke of the roots his and other families had in this way of life. Of course, it gives you all the information you need for your own adventure. I hope there is a sequel.
Way of an ornamentalist.......2000-02-10
A lovely tale of a young Chinese immigrant in South America offeres some insight to the "way of a Chinese Grower" and what the culture is like... The second half of the book goes into considerable detail as to how to cultivate the poppy, albeit on a quasi large-scale endeavor- not really for the ornamental grower. Excellent depth into pharmacologic properties, particularly chemical structure of medicinal components and traditional harvesting methods and tools.
Product Description
The Chinese Sailing Rig: Design and Build Your Own Junk Rig is a stem-to-stern guide for the Western sailor who wants to junk rig any hull. Words and drawings clearly explain in detail concepts that have been successfully used for millenia in the Orient. Using Western materials and techniques, Derek walks the amateur designer/builder through all the steps to successfully junk rig their hull of choice.The emphasis is on adaptation of the Chinese rig to Western hulls.Clear and concise, The Chinese Sailing Rig does in a small book what others have attempted in much larger volumes. This edition is an update of the original that has been selling worldwide since 1981.
Customer Reviews:
Yep, a hammer in one hand and a nail in the other.......2007-04-17
I bought this book as soon as it came back into print. I was eager to read it because I have seen a lot of references to it, but was never able to find it anywhere. I own Hassler's 'Practical Junk Rig' as well. Hassler and McLeod are a bit overly meticulous in their description of the rig. Darek Van Loan greatly simplifies the matter. The methodical approach of Hassler and McLeod can intimidate. Derek Van Loan approaches it from a 'just do it' perspective. He makes it clear that your effort might not produce a perfect Junk sail on your first effort, but it will almost certainly work. Perfection comes with being persistent.
Jen
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