Tag Archives: Bilingual

BOOK: 齐天大圣 by Yinuo Wang

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齐天大圣 Monkey King: A Bilingual Chinese Storybook (Pinyin & English) with HSK Vocabulary (Learn Chinese with Mythology：Bilingual Pinyin Edition 9)齐天大圣 Monkey King: A Bilingual Chinese Storybook (Pinyin & English) with HSK Vocabulary by Yinuo Wang
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Amazon Page

This book collects episodes from the classic Chinese novel, Journey to the West, and condenses each into a page or two. Specifically, these are episodes from early in the story of Journey to the West, before the protagonist (a.k.a. Sun Wu Kong / the Monkey King / the Great Sage Equal to Heaven) actually departs on his journey to the west with a monk to get Buddhist scriptures. It is Sun Wu Kong’s origin story in a highly condensed form.

The illustrations of the book are aesthetically pleasing and are colorful and non-threatening (i.e. suitable for young readers.) Also, the book has quizzes and vocabulary building exercises at the back.

My biggest criticism of the book would be that it bites off more than it can chew. With single pages for major events and no room for transitions, the plates are a bit incongruous and don’t feel like a story as much as like viewing someone’s scrapbook. A lesser criticism would be that with a loose translation style (which is fine,) it sometimes translates the same characters in two different ways. (As it does with the title card which it translates quite literally as “The Great Sage Equal to Heaven” and the opening page where it translates the same four-character phrase quite loosely as “The Great Monkey King.”) This would not be an issue if the book were not a book for learning to read.

As I said, this is more like Sun Wu Kong’s scrapbook than his life story, but it is a nice way to practice beginner level reading. I’d recommend it for those beginning to read Chinese, particularly if one already knows the Journey to the West story.

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BOOKS: “Know Yourself and Your Enemy” by Qixia Yu

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Know Yourself and Your Enemy 知己知彼百战不殆 (Bilingual Chinese Idiom Stories)Know Yourself and Your Enemy 知己知彼百战不殆 by Qixia Yu
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Author Amazon Site

This illustrated bilingual book tells a story out of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. It’s a popular tale of strategy in which the renowned strategist (and then Prime Minister) Zhuge Liang outfoxed the (also) renowned General Sima Yi as the latter brought a large army to the walls of the capital where Zhuge Liang was residing. The city was only weakly guarded because the bulk of forces were on campaign and they could not be recalled in time to be of service. Were it not for Zhuge Liang’s insightful stratagem, the capital would have been lost.

This is a great book for those learning Chinese for a few reasons. First, it contains pinyin and English translation. Secondly, it’s illustrated in a way that is not only aesthetically pleasing but which also helps a learner follow events – despite gaps in language understanding. Third, it’s an interesting story, and a nice break from the usual (re: dreadfully boring) beginner level reading fare. Finally, it’s a nice bite-sized chunk of writing for someone who still has to think out words and sentences. I don’t know that the author restricted themselves to any particular HSK level. It seemed to have some language beyond what was in HSK 3 / 4 readers I’ve read but is still relatively simple and straightforward in its language. Restricting to a simple level might be an issue with any historical work because there are going to be terms that are important but certainly aren’t among the most common words today (e.g. halberd.)

If you’re learning Chinese and are interested in strategy, martial arts, history, or Chinese literary classics, I’d highly recommend reading this book.

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“Drinking Wine, no. 5” [饮酒·其五] by Tao Qian [陶潜] (a.k.a. Tao Yuanming [陶渊明])

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Taken in Hartwell, Georgia.
I live amid a busy town,
   But traffic sounds are never heard.
 
How can this possibly be true?

Deep in the mind, all is remote.

Picking 'mums by the eastern fence,
   I peer at distant South Mountains.
 Sunset flares in garish color.
   Birds flock home in lines and clusters. 
 The scene conveys some great meaning,
   But words to express it fail me.

NOTES: “Drinking Wine, no. 5” [饮酒·其五] is one of Tao Qian’s [陶潜] “Twenty Poems on Drinking Wine” [饮酒二十首.] It is the best-known piece from the collection. The original poem in Simplified Chinese script is:

结 庐 在 人 境,
而 无 车 马 喧.
问 君 何 能 尔?
心 远 地 自 偏.
采 菊 东 篱 下,
悠 然 见 南 山.
山 气 日 夕 佳,
飞 鸟 相 与 还.
此 中 有 真 意,
欲 辨 已 忘 言.

I’ve started reading a review copy of Arthur Sze’s Transient Worlds (from Copper Canyon Press, due out April 14, 2026.) The first chapter discusses this poem and various translations of it, encouraging readers to make their own translation. This is mine. For more information about the book, see: https://www.coppercanyonpress.org/books/transient-worlds-arthur-sze/

BOOK: “The Emperor in Hell” [Book 5 of the “Journey to the West” Series] ed. by Jeff Pepper; trans. by Xiao Hui Wang

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The Emperor in Hell: A Story in Simplified Chinese and Pinyin, 600 Word Vocabulary LevelThe Emperor in Hell: A Story in Simplified Chinese and Pinyin, 600 Word Vocabulary Level by Jeff Pepper
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Publisher Site – Imagin8 Press

This is the fifth volume in a series that abridges and simplifies the classic Chinese novel, Journey to the West, so that it can be read by a language learner with about a HSK 3 grasp of Chinese. It tells the story from Chapters 10 and 11 of the original novel. Like the preceding volume, this one doesn’t deal with Sun Wu Kong (i.e. the Monkey King — protagonist of the novel overall,) and doesn’t even deal with the monk Xuanzang — the protagonist of the true story on which the novel was based.) These chapters tell a story that feels like a diversion, though it will be involved in the segue back to the actions of the main cast.

In this book, the Jing River Dragon King gets in trouble when he makes a bet with a fortune-teller. The Dragon King has to cheat to save his pride, but this runs him afoul of the Jade Emperor. The Dragon King appeals to the human Emperor, Taizong, who agrees to help. When wires get crossed, Taizong ends up in the underworld for judgement. With the help of others and with promises made, Taizong is allowed to return to earth.

It’s an interesting story and gives some insight into Chinese mythology. As is always the case with a book such as this, events of the story must be cut or rushed. Readers may vary in their views about whether the right material was cut or thinned.

I continue to enjoy this series. This book was a little more challenging to read than earlier volumes, not because the vocabulary was harder. I think it was more that contextual cues were fewer, owing to it not being so tightly tied to the overall story.

If you’re just learning to read Chinese, I’d recommend this series as an interesting story made readable to a language learner.

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BOOK: “The Ruins” by Ye Hui [Trans. by Dong Li]

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The Ruins: PoemsThe Ruins: Poems by Hui Ye
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher Site — Deep Vellum

This is a Chinese-English bilingual edition of Ye Hui’s first poetry collection. The poems use stark imagery with occasional instances of philosophizing and surreal statements to create a vivid and provocative set of poems.

As I’m learning Chinese, it was nice to have the original poems in Simplified Chinese script next to the English translations. While I’m not up to a reading level sufficient to taking on Modern Poetry (any poetry for that matter,) it was useful to peruse the Chinese text. I did appreciate how much vibrance the author wrings out of a relatively simple vocabulary.

I’d highly recommend this collection for poetry readers.

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BOOK: “Trouble in Heaven” [Vol. 2 “Journey to the West” (西游记) Series] ed. by Jeff Pepper / trans. by Xiao Hui Wang

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Trouble in Heaven: A Story in Simplified Chinese and Pinyin, 600 Word Vocabulary Level (Journey to the West in Simplified Chinese)Trouble in Heaven: A Story in Simplified Chinese and Pinyin, 600 Word Vocabulary Level by Jeff Pepper
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher Site – Imagin8

This is an abridged and linguistically simplified telling of the story of chapters three and four of the Chinese classic novel, Journey to the West. It is written and organized for learners of Chinese who would like to start reading in Chinese.

The events covered in this volume are Monkey King’s (a.k.a. Sun Wukong’s) acquisition of weapons for himself and his companions, his discovery that his name is on the registry of the underworld (and, thus, he’s not as immortal as he’d believed at the end of Vol. 1,) his ascension to heaven where he is given the job of stable manager (a life and job he is happy with until his discovery that it is the lowest level job in heaven,) and his skirmishes with the forces of heaven when he takes on the title “Great Sage Equal to Heaven.”

The story is conveyed in Simplified Chinese script, and has pinyin interspersed at the paragraph level. I like this arrangement because one has access to the pinyin as needed, but it’s not immediately adjacent (as it is with many starter readers,) such that it’s not possible to “cheat” by seeing the pinyin in one’s peripheral vision. It also offers an English language telling of the story, but after the entirety of the Chinese. The book also has three glossaries that collectively define all the terms used in the book. The first contains all the proper nouns, the second is all the basic words, and the last is all the words that are a little outside the most basic reading level. (The latter are also footnoted throughout the text.)

I’m enjoying this series. It’s a gripping story, it’s arranged in a way that encourages one read by the Chinese characters alone, and it is readable by the most beginning level student. That’s a combination that isn’t readily found. I’d highly recommend this series for those learning to read Chinese.


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“Spring Thoughts” by Li Bai [w/ Audio]

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Yan grass shimmers like silken jade.
 Qin mulberry trees' green leaves droop.
 Your homecoming is now at hand
 As heartbreak has me thin and stooped.
 Spring Winds and I are strangers --
 Why, past my curtains, the inward swoop?

Chinese Title: 春思; Original poem in Simplified Chinese:

燕草如碧丝， 秦桑低绿枝；
当君怀归日， 是妾断肠时。 
春风不相识， 何事入罗帏？

Note: this is poem #7 in “300 Tang Poems” [唐诗三百首]

BOOKS: “Tai-Chi Chuan in Theory and Practice” by Kuo Lien-Ying [ed. Simmone Kuo]

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Tai-Chi Chuan in Theory and PracticeTai-Chi Chuan in Theory and Practice by Kuo Lien-Ying
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Publisher Site

This brief book discusses Taijiquan primarily from a philosophical perspective. Though a significant amount of the book’s page-count consists of full-page pictures of various taijiquan movements, it isn’t so much a how-to book. Readers who enjoy an eclectic book that’s short and sweet but also kind of all over the place have a good chance of liking this book and gaining from its varied tidbits of wisdom. Readers who favor books with a clear organization and internal logic will probably find this to be an odd stew of short writings (essays, guides, poems, scriptural excerpts, etc.) It should be noted that not all of the writings are from Kuo Lien-Ying, himself. It includes a translation of a manual by Wang Tsung-Yue (13th Century) as well as an appendix consisting of writings from the Daodejing, Tang Dynasty poetry, and quotes from Mencius and Confucius. It also features a chapter on the I-Ching and Taiji philosophy by Kuo’s wife, Simmone Kuo. Besides the Wang manual, which is right up the alley of Kuo’s writings, it’s not clear why the other pieces were selected (not that they aren’t beneficial, but that they seem random.)

One thing I really liked about this book is that a lot of it is presented in bilingual format. For someone learning Chinese, this is quite beneficial. (Especially, given that it consists of short pieces that can be more easily consumed by a new reader.) That said, those who don’t read Chinese may see the translations as further indication of padding a pamphlet up to book scale. The monochrome photos are well-done and could definitely be of use to someone who practices taijiquan (though would not be of much use to someone new to it.)

This book is an insightful mess, make of that what you will.

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BOOKS: “The Story of Chinese Characters” by Fang Zeng

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Languages - The Story Of Chinese Characters: 汉字的故事 (Bilingual Chinese with Pinyin and English - Simplified Chinese Version) - Preschool, Kindergarten (Educational ... Books For Smart Kids: 聪明宝宝益智成长绘本 Book 2)Languages – The Story Of Chinese Characters: 汉字的故事 (Bilingual Chinese with Pinyin and English – Simplified Chinese Version) – Preschool, Kindergarten by Elite Panda book
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher’s YouTube Channel

This story book is apparently perfect for preschoolers and definitely is for someone newly learning Chinese. It is the tale of a man who goes hunting and his mild trials and successes. It’s not a gripping tale, but that’s perfect for those new to the language as it allows simple language and concepts. The language is grammatically and semantically straightforward. This bilingual book presents Chinese characters, pinyin with tone markers, and the English translation all on the same page.

The story teaches a few rudimentary Chinese characters (person, mountain, boat, bird, etc.,) particularly ones that are either pictographic or lend themselves to pictographic memory tricks. (For those unfamiliar with Chinese, it is a common misconception that all the characters are pictographic. In fact, about eighty percent of characters appear as they do because of their spoken sound quality [i.e. they appear similar to another character with the same sound, but often with an entirely unrelated meaning.]) The illustrations not only tell the story but invokes the shape of the character that is under study.

I found this book useful for learning to read in Chinese. A little more separation of the pinyin and characters might be nice so one could cover it up to focus on reading characters, but I was clearly not the intended demographic. I don’t see any reason why the book couldn’t work either way, i.e. for English learning Chinese speakers as well as English speaking Chinese learners.

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BOOKS: “Chinese Folktales for Language Learners” by Vivian Ling and Peng Wang

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Chinese Folktales for Language Learners: Famous Folk Stories in Chinese and English (Free online Audio Recordings)Chinese Folktales for Language Learners: Famous Folk Stories in Chinese and English by Vivian Ling
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher Website

As the title suggests, this is a collection of fifteen Chinese folktales presented bilingually in a manner optimized to language learners. To clarify the “optimized for language learners” comment, these stories are paced differently than they would be if the central objective was to entertain. That old writerly chestnut of “show don’t tell” is often violated and the stories are kept short and sweet in a way that can feel like they sprint through critical moments. This is not criticism. I think it is the best way to give individuals learning Mandarin (or presumably Mandarin speakers learning English) a user-friendly book that doesn’t feature dense blocks of text and overly complicated language. (Note: it’s also not bad for those who just want the quick and dirty version of these tales.)

Each of the stories includes a section with some background information on the history and cultural elements behind the stories (stories which display a range of realism and are from distant times,) a list of terms and phrases in English and Chinese, and a brief set of questions to help the reader develop deeper insight into the stories. These ancillary features are all quite useful to the student of language.

As stories, some of these folktales are more compelling than others. A number of them are dry, but what they lack in intrigue they make up for in insight into the history and culture of China. And some of the stories, e.g. “Judge Bao Takes on the Emperor’s Son-in-Law,” are fascinating.

I’d highly recommend this book for those who are trying to learn Mandarin, but it would also serve those who wish to learn some Chinese folklore in a condensed and readable format.

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