China Books

In 2001, I graduated college and decided to go teach English in China. I decided that the best way to prepare would be to read some books, both fiction and non-fiction, on China. Here is a list of some of the books I read to prepare for my first visit to China and the books I have read since.

Wild Swans by Jung Chang is one of the best memoirs out there on China. This is usually the first book people read about China, and for good reason, it is a truly engrossing story.

Red Azalea by Anchee Min is a little bit racy, but it is by far the best memoir on the Cultural Revolution. Min is a great writer, and I also enjoyed reading Becoming Madam Mao , The Last Empress , and Katherine.
I kind of thought that my teaching life in China would be similar to the main character (Katherine) in this book, but I was wrong. The area of China where I lived my first year was a big city, and I barely saw grass for a year!

The Good Earth
by Pearl S. Buck is a great book for a perspective on Chinese life from someone who lived there a long time ago. This book will tell you nothing about current China, but it was still a good read. (By the way, when did Oprah start running out of material for her book club and have to revert to classics?)

River Town
by Peter Hessler is another good one. Peter Hessler is a good writer who really knows China. He learned Mandarin really well within two years, and the book was pretty interesting. He also wrote Oracle Bones which wasn't nearly as good, in my opinion. Peter Hessler's wife wrote a book I read recently and love, Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China . I thought this book was a good read, and it is an in-depth view on a group of people you may not meet if you visit China, migrant workers.

Ha Jin is my favorite Chinese fiction writer. Most of his books are really great. I especially like Waiting and his most recent book A Free Life is really good too. A Free Life is interesting because it talks about the everyday life of a Chinese immigrant. I know a lot of first-generation Chinese immigrants, and this book rang true to what I know of how hard it is to come here, less so now, but it must have been really hard 30 years ago.

Beijing Doll is a really interesting read, because it's pretty trashy, and the writer is like the Amy Winehouse of China. Chinese Chic Lit.

The Rape of Nanking and The Chinese in America by Iris Chang are both really good books. Iris Chang unfortunately committed suicide in 2004, possibly because of the images brought up by writing The Rape of Nanking. There are also accounts that Chang was threatened after writing The Rape of Nanking . Many people have disputed the accuracy of Chang's book, but I personally believe that the events took place. It's like landing on the moon, and some people don't believe that the Nanking Massacre even happened. I also think we landed on the moon.

Red China Blues: My Long March From Mao to Now by Jan Wong wasn't that great for me. By the point that I read it, I had already read a lot of Chinese memoirs on the Cultural Revolution. After a while those books are like, 'my life was good, and then the Cultural Revolution happened and things got bad.' Not that the time period wasn't terrible and each story has a right to be told, but Anchee Min told her story in such a poignant manner, that everyone who comes after her must keep up.

There are some older books that I didn't care for that much either, they are China Men and The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston, and Legacies: A Chinese Mosaic by Bette Bao Lord.

Shanghai : The Rise and Fall of a Decadent City... by Stella Dong was interesting non-fiction, as was The Lost Daughters of China: Adopted Girls, Their Journey to America, and the Search for a Missing Past by Karin Evans.

I also really liked Hungry Ghosts: Mao's Secret Famine by Jasper Becker. It is about the Great Leap Forward, from 1958-1962, the period when Mao tried to reform China's agricultural system, and the chaos and famine that followed.

This list definitely isn't everything you should read if you want to learn more about China, and it probably isn't everything I have read, but it should be a good start!

Tibetan Buddhist Meditation

The History of Meditation

Tibetan Buddhist meditation has a long history, but not as long as the history of meditation itself. Buddhism was a branch of Hinduism and so meditation was practiced in Hinduism before it was practiced in Buddhism. Buddhist thought is that there are three things one must accomplish before enlightenment. Virtue, Wisdom, and Meditation. Meditation is practiced in many of the eastern religions, and even in western religions. But I will focus this article on Hinduism and Tibetan Buddhism meditation practices.

Hinduism is the oldest living religion that practiced meditation. Meditation in Hinduism is thought to have developed out of man's need to find Brahman (God's) true nature. Hindu practitioners would sit and think about who God really was, and by sitting for hours like this they began to have moments of clarity. These moments of clarity are what many practitioners even today are trying to achieve through meditation.

The difference in meditation in Buddhism and in Hinduism is that Buddhist practitioners did not believe that meditation is a means by which to be closer with God, but that it is instead a way for those meditating to become closer with everything on earth. It is said that Buddha (Siddhartha) found enlightenment by meditation underneath a Bodhi tree.

Meditation in yoga

In yoga, meditation is practiced after breathing exercises, or pranayama. The original philosphy of yoga was that is was important to meditate after practicing asanas, or the physical aspect of yoga, because the body would be prepared to relax and loose enough that sitting on the floor would be comfortable. Breathing before any type of meditation is a good practice, because slow breathing slows down your heart rate and calms the mind so that the body is able to move into a tranquil place.

Meditation in Tibetan Buddhism

Tibetan Buddhism was formed out of the principles of yoga and of Buddhism, which arrived in Tibet from India beginning in the eighth century. Meditation in Tibetan Buddhism is focused on tantric principles, and another name for Tibetan Buddhism is Tantrayana Buddhism. One purpose of tantra is to help turn the base human desires such as greed and envy into something good, like love and compassion. There are many steps in tantric Buddhism, these include lamrim (things that should be reflected on and meditative activities), preliminary practices, contemplation, Dzogchen (an advanced step which is the last step on the Tantrayana Buddhist practitioner's path).

Ways to Meditate

In Tibetan Buddhism many forms of meditation are comprised of thinking about certain things in order to clear your mind and help make the path to enlightenment open. Some topics to meditate on include being charitable to others, seeing yourself and those around you as equal, and developing compassion.

In yoga and Hinduism, meditation is the path and the goal. There are many different forms that yogic meditation can take. Because meditation in yoga often starts with pranayama, or breathing exercises, meditation can also start with the breath. There are also forms of meditation where you meditate on a mantra, or prayer. There is meditation through kirtan, singing. There is also meditation on sound that can occur with music or in a kirtan session. And in both Hinduism and in Tibetan Buddhism there is meditation on an object, such as a Buddhist statue or a Buddhist thangka.

The Singing Bowl Shop provides instruments for your meditative practice, including Tibetan prayer beads, (that can be used while meditating on a mantra), Tibetan thangkas, (that can be used as an object of meditation), and Tibetan singing bowls, (that can be used to meditate on sound).

There are many different forms of meditation in both Hindusim (yoga) and Tibetan Buddhism. Whichever path one chooses in meditation, it is important to first find a spiritual guide. A spiritual guide can help you understand how to meditate and help guide your meditation path in ways that we cannot do on our own. Remember, even your spiritual guide started with a spiritual guide of their own at some point.

Om Symbol Tibetan Jewelry

The Om symbol is a very important symbol in Tibetan jewelry and accessories. The word 'Om,' Aum is the primordial symbol, the first sound ever heard, and the sound that the earth was created by. The sound, om, starts with an opening of the lips and ends with a closing. This represents pulling all things into the body while making the sound, 'om.' The Om sound is similar to the Greek Logos, and in Christianity Om could be linked to the Christian Amen. Everything in the world both begins and ends with the Om.

The Om symbol is found in both Hinduism and Buddhism, and began in Hinduism, but I will first discuss the sound om and its cosmology in the context of Tibetan Buddhism. In Tibetan Buddhism, the most used mantra is 'om mani padme hum.' This phrase means 'hail to the jewel in the lotus.' This mantra is the mantra of the bodhisattva of compassion, Avalokiteshvara.

When Buddhist practioners recite this mantra they are striving to attain a Buddha-like mind and spirit. This means a mind and spirit free from earthly evils such as attachment, jealousy, and greed. And the Buddhist practitioner wants to find more love, peaceful bliss, and contentment. "Om Mani Padme Hum" is also the Bija mantra in Tibetan Buddhism. This means that it is the seed, or original mantra.

The Tibetan Om symbol is different than the Hindu Om in appearance. The first character of both om symbols, from a western perspective, looks like a backwards three. But the second symbol of the sanskrit om looks like a circle, while the second symbol of the Tibetan om looks like a V. The earrings pictured above represent the Tibetan om symbol. On our website we also offer purses and other items with the sanskrit om symbol. But regardless of whether the symbol is a Tibetan Buddhist or Hindu symbol, the om symbol is always recognizable as om.

In Hinduism the om symbol is the first symbol of all of the mantras, and each of the mantras in the Upanishads begins with om. Yoga classes in the west are traditionally started and ended with the om sound, or with an entire mantra. By starting and ending a yoga class with om, the teacher brings a sense of opening and closing to each class, almost as if she ended each class with a 'the end.' In The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, which are where much of the philosophy in modern-day yoga classes comes from, in verse 1:27 states, "God's voice is Aum." Meaning that not only is om the beginning and ending of all things, it is also from God, and to go further it is God.

Om jewelry is very popular in Tibet, India, and Nepal, and it is gradually becoming more and more popular in the west as well. To wear om symbol jewelry means that the person wearing it is interested in Buddhism, or Hunduism, or that they understand what the 'om' symbol means. If you are interested in purchasing Tibetan om jewelry, or jewelry with the om symbol, please go to our Tibetan jewelry section. We also have the om symbol on items in our Handmade Bags section, which feature bags from Nepal in the Tibetan style. There are also Tibetan om symbols on other items in sections throughout our site, including Tibetan prayer flags, Tibetan prayer wheels, and our Lokta Paper Journals.

Prayer Beads

Tibetan Buddhist prayer beads have a wide and varied history. Prayer beads are not unique to Buddhism, believers in Catholicism use prayer beads in the form of a rosary, and they say the rosary as they move their hands over each bead. Prayer beads were first used in Hinduism, in Hinduism they are called japa mala. Prayer beads are also used by Muslims. Believers in the Bahai faith also use prayer beads in their practices. Tibetan Buddhist prayer beads are also known as the Buddhist rosary or by the word mala. The word mala literally means a garland or strand and represents the unity of all things in Tibetan Buddhism.

A typical strand of Tibetan Buddhist prayer beads contains 108 beads. This practice of putting 108 beads on a strand of Tibetan Buddhist prayer beads came from Hinduism. Hindus began putting 108 beads onto each strand of prayer beads because there are 108 Hindu deities. Krishna also danced with 108 cow-herd girls and he is rumored to have had 16,108 wives. In Tibetan Buddhism, 108 prayer beads on a Tibetan Buddhist mala are important because there are 108 sins.

Tibetan Buddhist prayer beads come in other numbers besides 108. There are Tibetan prayer beads with 111 beads. In Catholicism some prayer beads have 10 beads on the strand, and other beads have 50 beads on the strand.

In Chinese and Japanese Buddhism practitioners also use malas with 27 beads. Malas with 27 beads, wrist malas, are typically used for prostration. Prostration is a means for a Buddhist practitioner to rid himself of evil such as anger, envy, and greed and fill himself with compassion, peace, and love.

Tibetan Buddhist prayer beads are made from many different materials including jade, wood, sandalwood, turquoise, etc. In Tibetan Buddhism and Hinduism Bodhi seeds are also used for prayer beads.

To use prayer beads you pass your fingers over each bead as you say a mantra. You should say the mantra as you count through each bead until you reach where you started. Prayer beads have a larger bead in the middle so you will know when you have reached the end.

Once you begin using your prayer beads, they become sacred. You should not let other people handle your prayer beads. Store your prayer beads in a special place and do not lie them on the ground. There are special prayer bead bags to hold your prayer beads so they will not be harmed. If you are interested in purchasing a strand of prayer beads please click here.

Tibetan Buddhist Prayer Flags, Uses and Meanings

Tibetan prayer flags were originally used as talismans to protect Tibetans during times of war. Originally the Bon people used prayer flags for protection, and put symbols such as the snow lion, the dragon, or a tiger on each flag. Tibetan prayer flags were eventually adopted into Tibetan Buddhism with prayers or messages of hope and peace written on each flag.

The colors of Tibetan prayer flags are significant because they symbolize each of the five elements. Blue stands for the ether, or wind element. The white flag symbolizes air, and the red flag stands for fire. The green and yellow flags symbolize water and earth, respectively. The five colors of Tibetan prayer flags represent the five directions, (North, south, east west, and center). The five prayer flags also represent the five meditation Buddhas, and the five wisdoms. The five wisdoms are compassion, harmony, wisdom of sight, kindness, and perfect wisdom.

Symbols on prayer flags include prayers for wealth, wisdom, and health, or the eight auspicious signs. Many prayer flags also depict mantras, such as the Tibetan Buddhist mantra, Om Mani Padme Hum.Prayer flags can be placed inside of a room in your house, and traditionally they were placed outside of houses as well. Around the frame of a doorway is a lovely place to display your prayer flags. The most auspicious time to hang prayer flags is during the Chinese New Year season. Prayer flags are also hung during times of great happiness, such as a birth, or times of great sadness.

Prayer flags should always be placed in a high part of your house, such as near the ceiling or between flag poles outside. Prayer flags should be hung in the right order, starting with blue from left to right. The actual hanging of your prayer flags should be a momentous occasion, and you can invite family and friends over and hang the prayer flags together. Tibetan Prayer flags above all symbolize peace and harmony with our friends and family, and with the greater universe. If you would like to learn more about prayer flags, or purchase some to hang in your special place, you can do so here.

Chinese Calligraphy and Writing

Chinese is one of the most beautiful and complex writing systems in the world and it's also the oldest form of writing that has kept so close to the original. Chinese writing dates back 3,000 years. The first Chinese writing ever discovered dates back to the Shang Dynasty (1500-950 BC) and was found on a fragment of a bone.

Chinese writing originated from pictures (hieroglyphs) that people drew of the sun, the moon, plants, animals, and anything else they saw that connected them to the world. Modern Chinese characters bare little relation to the pictures they came from, and many characters are combinations of two or more symbols. Although Chinese characters have undergone many changes over the years, the symbols still provide keys for learning how to read Chinese.

Spoken Chinese includes seven to ten different groups, including Mandarin, Cantonese, and Shanghainese. There are also many local dialects and accents particular to different areas of China. A person born in Northern China who speaks Mandarin, and someone born in Southern China who speaks Cantonese, will both write the same way.

There are over 59,000 characters in the Chinese dictionary, but only 5,000 of these are regularly used. In order to read a newspaper, you must be able to read 3,000 characters.

The known history of writing in China began with the oracle bones, writing on either turtle shells or bones. These bones were used as a means of telling the future, healers would heat the bone and then tell someone's fate based on which way the bone cracked.

The next known form of writing came from vessels in bronze that were inscribed with writing. These examples come from the Shang and the Zhou Dynasty (1150-771 BC). Around the 5th century BC people began writing on pieces of bamboo, wood, and silk cloth.

The invention of paper greatly changed the form of Chinese writing. Paper was invented in AD 105 by Ts'ai Lun, although archeologists say it was about 300 years earlier. Early paper was made from hemp, bamboo, and other fibers until the invention spread throughout the world in the 10th century.

Chinese writing has undergone many different changes in style. But the greatest change has come about in this century, with the invention of simplified characters. Most Chinese learned writing by using the traditional characters, until the formation of the People's Republic of China led to a change in the Chinese way of writing. The simplified characters were designed to aid literacy in China. But Hong Kong and Taiwan still use the traditional characters, and most educated Chinese people can read traditional characters as well as simplified characters.

Chinese writing has undergone much criticism for its difficulty, and there have been alphabetized forms of Chinese writing such as the Wade-Gilles system and Pinyin. Although there have been some who advocate doing away with Chinese characters and using Pinyin instead, Chinese writing is still around. And I, for one, wouldn't have it any other way.

If you would like to learn more about Chinese writing, or have your name or anything else translated into Chinese, please click here.

Chinese Go, Weiqi

The game of Chinese Go is called Weiqi in Mandarin. There a couple of different theories on the history of the game Go and how it was originated. One theory is that it was invented by an Emperor who wanted to increase his son's mental faculties and so devised a game to do so. Another theory is that it was developed by court astrologers during the Chou dynasty (1045-255 BC).

Chinese Go is the world's oldest board game, and is at least 3,000 to 4,000 years old. Weiqi was called Go when it was imported to Japan roughly 1200 years ago. Playing the game Go improves your strategy and your memory skills, much like Chess. Some schools in Asia even teach Go to help their students improve their thinking and strategizing skills.

The Go board is composed of 19 parallel lines and 19 vertical lines. There are 361 intersections on the board. Of these, the most important intersections are known as star points. Each Go set comes with a flat playing board or mat and 180 stones in both black and white. The black stones always make the first move. The stones move between the points on the board, rather than staying within the colored squares as in checkers or chess. The stones can only be moved one time.

Each player is free to move the stones around on the board unless the other player moves vertically or horizontally close to them. When this happens, the other stone loses the freedom to move around the board. When a stone loses its freedom to move around the board in any direction, then that stone is moved from the board. The game of Go ends when both players agree that there are no further moves left on the board, or when one of the players forfeits the game.

If you would like to learn more about purchasing the game of Chinese Go, please click here.

Chinese Fans

Fans have been used by many different cultures including the Egyptians, Assyrians, Greeks, Romans, and the Mayas and Incans in the Americas. The first fan used in China was in the 2nd Century BC, and the first written reference to the fan was in AD121. Flat fans became popular during the Han Dynasty, between 202 BC and AD 204.

The Chinese character for fan is an ideograph of feathers under a roof, and it is true that many of the first fans used in China were made from feathers. Early fans were also made from palm leaves, bamboo, plant fibers, and even animal hair. Fans were first used by members of the court and the upper-class, and they were used for decoration as well as utility.

The every day fan is called pien shan, and the flat fan is called wan shan. Flat fans were often used by court dancers in the 7th Century, and the feathers used for these fans made the dancers look like phoenixes in flight. Another name for the feather fan is yu shan.

Folding paper fans were first invented in Japan during the 8th Century, and were introduced to China in the 9th century. The folding fan was first manufactured in China during the Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD) and became popular during the Ming Dynasty.

The folding fan was soon made from fine materials such as silk and satin, and the spokes of the fan were made from materials as inexpensive as bamboo or as delicate as jade. Many early fans were manufactured in Hangzhou, and Hangzhou and Suzhou are still known as the best towns to buy fans in China.

Fans have always held a strong place in Chinese literature. Fans are mentioned in great works such as The Dream of Red Mansions. A fan is even the centerpiece of the story in 'The Peach-Blossom Fan.'

Most recently, fans have paintings and designs written on them, and can be made from textile material, silk, paper, and even sandalwood. Sandalwood fans are especially popular because of their delicate scent.

Come check out our selection of Chinese fans! Just click on this link... Chinese Fans

Singing Bowls in Meditation

Tibetan singing bowls originated in the Himalayan regions of Tibet, Northern China, India, Bhutan, and Nepal. Historians are unable to pinpoint exactly when singing bowls came into being, but the technique to build similar instruments existed in Asia as long as 2,500 years ago. Some sources believe that singing bowls were first used in India 3,000 years ago, and in Tibet 1,000 years ago. It is believed that the "Bon" sect of shamans often used singing bowls in their rituals.


Singing bowls were originally comprised of five, seven, or nine different metals including gold, silver, mercury, copper, tin, and iron. Some also believe that meteorite was used in making the original bowls. But most bowls were made using five metals or less. Today, singing bowls are often made by pouring metal into a cast. These singing bowls are smoother and are generally easier to play. There are also hand-hammered singing bowls on the market. Hand-hammered bowls are more difficult to play, and even though they are often passed off as old or antique, few of them are. Antique bowls are still around, but they are very rare and high-priced. Playing a singing bowl is very simple, and you will be able to play most bowls in less than five minutes. Simply circle the stick around the outside of the bowl very slowly in a steady rhythm. You might have to circle for a while before you actually hear anything. You will begin to hear a slight hum, and this hum will increase as you continue circling the stick around the bowl.

Singing bowls are often used for meditation, and you can play your bowl while meditating yourself. You can also ask someone else to play the bowl while you are meditating. Singing bowls are often used in yoga classes as well. In a yoga class someone would sit in the class to play the bowl while the students go through the asanas. This is a nice addition to any yoga class, and is more soothing than the recorded music that many yoga classes use.

Singing bowls are wonderful to use in outside environments and for yourself at home. They are becoming more and more popular in the west, along with yoga and Buddhism. When you are not playing your singing bowl, it still serves as a beautiful decoration for your home. In Tibet singing bowls are often used for other purposes, such as offering bowls, as well as for playing.

How to play a singing bowl?

Singing bowls are very useful in meditation, healing, and as instruments. Singing bowls can be played alone at home, in yoga classes, or in concerts. Like anything, learning how to play a singing bowl takes a bit of practice, but once you learn how to play one singing bowl you will be able to play other singing bowls as well.

Singing Bowl Playing Environment

Find a calm environment where you can be alone and make your body comfortable. You might find it comfortable to sit in the floor on a pillow or to sit in a chair. Close your eyes for a moment just before playing your singing bowl so that you bring your body and mind to a calm, quiet space.

Holding The Singing Bowl

Please make sure you put the
singing bowl on the front of your palm.

A common mistake in learning how to play singing bowls is to place the singing bowl in your fingers.

Striking the Singing Bowl

You can strike the singing bowl with a singing bowl mallet before you begin playing the bowl if you would like to, it is not required to do so for the singing bowl to play. Strike the singing bowl near the rim or the side of the bowl and the sound will make the singing bowl resonate for a while after.

Playing the Singing Bowl

Singing bowls make their sound, or sing, by rubbing the striker around the rim of the singing bowl. Wooden singing bowl strikers give the singing bowl a low tone. Leather wrapped singing bowl mallets give the singing bowl a lower tone. But different singing bowls make different sounds based on the shape of the bowl. Singing bowls can be curved inward, outward, or straight up and down. Each of these different shapes makes a different sound. We have included recordings of each singing bowl listed on our site so that when you shop for a singing bowl you can choose the sound you would like to purchase, as well as the color, size, and style.

Be sure to press the wooden singing bowl striker firmly against the rim of the singing bowl. The striker must remain in constant contact with your singing bowl. Move the striker slowly around the outside rim of the singing bowl and you will soon hear the singing bowl hum, or sing. Slowly run the mallet around the bowl with constant even pressure. If the hum of the singing bowl sounds inconstant, or choppy, slow down and continue to move the striker slowly along the outside of the singing bowl.

If you let the striker stray away from the side of the bowl, the singing may stop, in which case you start over, slowly increasing the speed without ever going too fast. Some bowls come to full volume in a couple of seconds, others take ten or more seconds. If you have trouble making your singing bowl sing, see the 'tips to remember' section below.

By adjusting the speed and angle of the mallet, the sound will change accordingly. Practice to find the speed and pressure that allows you to make the singing bowl hum, or sing. Find the proper balance of angle, speed, and pressure in order to make your singing bowl sing continuously for as long as you would like to play.