| Looking East
东西文丛
金子的历史 The Story of Gold
The history of gold is as ancient as that of mankind. Gold affects human life deeply as an icon. From the very start, the quality of people’s life or a culture seems to have been closely linked with the glamour of gold.Panning for gold has been practiced throughout China's history to the present day, representing the arduous and complicated formation of the history of its people. Placer gold is obtained only after the sand is pan-washed again and again, just like a person’s growth or the process of the formation of a culture. Traditional Chinese culture has undergone a similar long and arduous process. Ancient gold mines and streams where gold was panned remind us of the wells and flows of history.
English
ISBN 7-119-04521-0
￥69.80
134PP
17x23cm
All rights available
木头里的东方 The Story of Wood
Furniture and utensils for daily life, as well as buildings and gardens can be regarded as “entrances” to Chinese civilization. And when entering the long passageway of Chinese civilization, it was very likely that wood, like a language, played an important mediatory role. Compared with the hardness, heaviness, sturdiness and tidiness of stone buildings, wooden buildings are soft, natural, simple, affectionate, friendly, and have a more natural life taste and human appeal. Westerners use stone and make it rational and systematic, but the Chinese have wedged something called the “character of wood” deeply into their culture and lives. If one has a good understanding of this, one can have a better understanding of the Chinese tradition.
English
ISBN 7-119-04458-3
￥69.80
178PP
17x23cm
All rights available
青铜的历史 The Story of Bronze
In every nation’s history of development, there is, without exception, an invaluable “bronze age.” Bronze relics, no matter what their use or degree of ornamentation, are “envoys” dispatched from that remote age. In China, the bronze age refers especially to the period covering the Xia Dynasty (2070-1600 B.C.) to the end of the Warring States Period (770-476 B.C.) — over 1,500 years. It is mainly in the bronze wares which they handed down that the forefathers of the Chinese nation give us a glimpse of their lives — their glories and sorrows, dreams and hardships, and even their thoughts and ideas. Perhaps, much of the spirit embodied in bronze ware has melted into our blood without our being fully aware of it. Moreover, a foreigner who wishes to understand this ancient land of the East may find inspiration from the inner world of ancient Chinese bronze ware, so as to have a fuller understanding of China and its people today.
English
ISBN 7-119-04637-3
￥69.80
160PP
17x23cm
All rights available
丝绸的历史 The Story of Silk
Silk, one of earliest inventions in Chinese history, made China famous worldwide at a very early date through the “Silk Road.”Sericulture and silk weaving were a basic part of China’s agriculture and a major source both of livelihood for farmers and townsfolk and of taxes for their rulers. Before the 20th century, sericulture and silk production were the main occupations of rural women in China. Raising silkworms and weaving silk fabrics were done by women, while men were involved in the transportation and trading of silk products. Indeed, there is a tradition that silkworms were originally raised by Lei Zu, the consort of the Yellow Emperor, the legendary ancestor of the Chinese nation, indicating how closely silk is related to Chinese culture.
English
ISBN 7-119-04459-1
￥69.80
161PP
17x23cm
All rights available
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