In ancient Chinese civilization, emperors were revered as the direct descendants of the gods, who ruled all of nature and the heavens. Animal bones were consulted as oracles to answer the great questions of life and death, and ancestral spirits were thought to roam the earth, negotiating with the gods on behalf of the living. From the legends of the Eight Immortals to the teachings of Confucius, "Chinese Mythology A to Z, Second Edition" provides a refreshing, insightful look at the stories and myths that open a window onto this civilization.
This book introduces, explores and clearly explains acupuncture and related techniques used in the treatment of children. The book introduces important concepts of childhood development that integrate conventional theories with the Traditional Chinese Medicine theories presented in the classic texts.
Andrew Robinson tells the fascinating story of the history of writing, shedding light on its development and examining the enormous variety of writing and scripts we use today. Starting with the origins of writing five thousand years ago, with cuneiform and Egyptian hieroglyphs, Robinson explains how these early forms developed into hundreds of scripts, including the Roman alphabet and Chinese characters. He reveals how the modern writing symbols and abbreviations we take for granted today.
For more than 3,000 years, from the ancient Xia dynasty to today's People's Republic of China, China has sustained one of the most advanced and culturally productive civilizations in the world. Renowned for the Great Wall of China, porcelain ceramics, a complex writing system, and philosophles such as Confucianism and Taoism, China is also the source of an impressive tradition of myth and folklore. Many deities, stories, places, and ideas populate Chinese mythology, and Chinese Mythology A to Z offers a readable introduction to these and other related topics.
China to Chinatown examines one of the most notable examples of the globalization of food. J.A.G. Roberts recounts how the West’s attitudes to Chinese food have changed from the time of Marco Polo to now. Early travelers in China too often avoided the local food and chronicled the "disgusting" diet of dogs, cats, and snakes. Others, for example Jesuit mission-aries, were more enthusiastic about Chinese food. In the 20th-century with the spread of Chinatowns in the West, Chinese restaurants, food, and recipe books gradually took off, and in the last 20 years there has been an explosion in their popularity.
