Tag Archives: Chinese

BOOKS: “Chinese Grammar Wiki BOOK: Intermediate” ed. by John Pasden, et. al.

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Chinese Grammar Wiki BOOK: IntermediateChinese Grammar Wiki BOOK: Intermediate by John Pasden
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher Site – AllSet

I’ve found this series helpful in offering a basic guide to grammar for learning Mandarin through Simplified Characters and pinyin. It provides plenty of examples and is not dense with explanation and elaboration but rather focuses on the core principles as well as demonstrations of common pitfalls. It covers the B1 grammar points which is a designation used by, but not original to, the series. (As far as I can tell, it’s a European standard that has been applied across languages to organize the concepts one should be able to express at a given level of language learning.

This is the second book of the series that I’ve worked through (the third if one counts the “Just the Basics” level which is a subset of the Beginner level book,) and I intend to continue on to the “Upper Intermediate” guide.

This may not be the series you want if you’re a linguist looking for nuanced insight into Chinese grammar, but it’s excellent for your average language learner. [It also seems to be quite affordable compared to many competing grammar books and series.]

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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: 道德经 by 老子 [a.k.a. Daodejing by Laozi]

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老子道德经校释（简体中文版）: 中华传世珍藏古典文库 (Chinese Edition)老子道德经校释（简体中文版）: 中华传世珍藏古典文库 by 王弼
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Available in Traditional & Simplified Chinese [w/ multiple translations] at YellowBridge

Packed into the 81 brief chapters of this book is the core Taoist philosophy on life, human relationships, governance, and war. Most often, it offers a wisdom that turns conventional wisdom on its head, advocating for inaction over action, less over more, simplicity over complication, and for recognizing the usefulness of what isn’t.

Some of the book’s central ideas are captured in these quotes:

上善若水。水善利万物而不争. “The greatest good is like water. It benefits all without fighting.” [Ch. 8]
金玉满堂，莫之能守 “A house full of jade and gold cannot be guarded.” [Ch. 9]
知人者智，自知者明。胜人者有力，自胜者强。“He who knows others is smart; he who knows himself is enlightened. He who conquers others has power; he who conquers himself is mighty.” [Ch. 33]
柔胜刚，弱胜强。“Softness overcomes hardness; weakness overcomes strength.” [Ch. 36]
道常无为而无不为。“The Dao is constant inaction, yet nothing is left undone.” [Ch. 37]
善者，吾善之；不善者，吾亦善之；德善。“The good, I treat well; the bad, I also treat well. Yeah Virtue!” [Ch. 49]
知者不言，言者不知。“He who knows does not speak; he who speaks does not know.” [Ch. 56]
千里之行，始于足下。“The journey of a thousand li (“miles”) begins with a single step.” [Ch. 64]
天之道，不争而善胜 “The way of heaven is to win without fighting.” [Ch. 73]
信言不美，美言不信。“True words aren’t pleasing; pleasing words aren’t true.” [Ch. 81]

I think this is one of those works that should be read and reread. It may help rewire your brain in useful ways.

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BOOKS: “Buddha Jumps Over the Wall” by Ying Chang Compestine

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Buddha Jumps over the Wall, and Other Curiously Named Classic Chinese Dishes: A Graphic Cookbook—26 Recipes & StoriesBuddha Jumps over the Wall, and Other Curiously Named Classic Chinese Dishes: A Graphic Cookbook—26 Recipes & Stories by Ying Chang Compestine
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher’s Site – Chronicle Books

Cookbooks don’t get more interesting than this. As the title suggests, the author selected dishes that have colorful names (and often histories or folklore to match) and presents lessons in culinary history as well as teaching the reader how to make each dish. The graphic novel format conveys these stories compactly and with a bit of added liveliness. The graphic novel approach is also used to “demonstrate” the preparation process — in lieu of photographs.

In addition to the twenty-six recipes (5 appetizers, 16 main course, and 5 desserts,) the book has five appendices and some front matter to both help readers who are entirely new to Chinese cooking as well as those who’d like a bit more depth of culinary cultural insight. (I should point out that the book looks at Chinese food broadly, including items like Chop Suey and Fortune Cookies that developed outside of China, and either don’t exist within China or have subsequently been introduced from foreign lands.)

If you are interested in learning to cook Chinese food, or are interested in Chinese culinary history and culture, I’d highly recommend this book.

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BOOKS: “Chinese Grammar Wiki BOOK: Elementary” ed. by John Pasden

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Chinese Grammar Wiki BOOK: ElementaryChinese Grammar Wiki BOOK: Elementary by John Pasden
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher Site

Confronted with a vast sea of Chinese grammar texts, this is the series I chose, and I’ve been happy with my decision. This, the beginner level grammar guide, is reasonably priced, logically organized, easy to use, and has all one needs without time-wasting excesses.

The core of the book consists of 135 grammar points (40 “A1” level and 95 “A2” level.) For each point there is a clear but simple explanation of the rule, a formulaic statement of said rule [an easy to find timesaver when reviewing,] a number of examples (with Chinese characters, pinyin, and an English translation) and any cautions to consider (i.e. common mistakes, ways Chinese grammar differs from English, and common exceptions to the rule.) The examples used simple and common words and phrases to drill basic and useful vocabulary.

This book is organized to put bite-sized chunks of learning at hand so that one can do more or less, depending upon one’s schedule.

I’d recommend this book for anyone looking for a basic Chinese Grammar text.

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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: “Handbooks for Daoist Practice: Scriptural Statutes of Lord Lao” by Louis Komjathy [and Lord Lao]

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Handbooks for Daoist Practice: Scriptural Statutes of Lord LaoHandbooks for Daoist Practice: Scriptural Statutes of Lord Lao by Louis Komjathy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Author Site

This paper presents exposition on, and translation of, an important Taoist work. Like many collections of sutras and other epigrams of wisdom, the “Scriptural Statutes of Lord Lao” are only a couple pages of sayings. To be more specific, they consist of nine practices (九行) and twenty-seven moral precepts. The bulk of the twenty-five-ish pages of this work are a scholarly background on the nine practices and twenty-seven precepts, plus back matter including references and the original (Chinese) “statutes.”

I read this because the nine practices seem like a concise statement of what it means to be Taoist (a topic that can be tremendously complicated given the varied sects, beliefs, and practices that all fall under the heading of “Taoist” — some religious, some philosophical, and some mystical.) Those nine practices are: non-action (which is much more complicated than just sitting on one’s bum,) softness, guarding the feminine, namelessness, stillness, adeptness, desirelessness, contentment, and knowing how and when to yield. The text offers some insight into where these practices come from (e.g. the points in the Dao De Jing that reverence them,) but the scope of the work is far to limited to gain a deep understanding of them (for that one will have to go elsewhere.)

I found reading this short work to be quite beneficial and insightful, despite its thin profile. I’m glad it includes the original text as well as provides citations, as therein much of its value lies.

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DAILY PHOTO: Santichon Village

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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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