Arts & Expression, East Asian, Literature

Contributed by the Richmond Public Library

Memoirs of the Formosa Incident: George Leslie MacKay’s Memoirs of Taiwan

Review of Lin Wan Sheng’s new translation of MacKay’s “From Far Formosa: the Island, its People and Missions.” MacKay’s book covers his stay in Taiwan, including why he went there, the geography and history of Taiwan, missionary work among the Han people, the civilized and native indigenous people, and the results of missionary work there.

The Good Chinese Women

A review of Yan Yin’s book. The author was the host of a radio program on the emotional life of women. Based on her interviews and the calls from the audience, she knows many stories about Chinese women. The book picks 15 of these stories, showing Chinese women as daughters, mistresses, wives and mothers. When searching for family relations and love, they were hurt and twisted by fate. However, they survive bravely, fully showing their fragility and strength.

The Four Sisters of He Fei

The book traces the lives of the four daughters of the Zhang family born between 1907 and 1914. Through showing the ancestry and the plight of these women’s family, the changes of the Chinese society in the century striding across the nineteenth and twentieth centuries were shown. The changes made by the nobility in the modern era were also traced.

An Appreciation of Indigenous Culture

Written by an Indigenous youth from Taiwan, the book introduced Indigenous culture in Taiwan. The topics include dance, music, costume, indigenous life and their lesser known humour, surnames, oral literature, cartoon and history of their ideas.

Chinese Architecture

Written in 1933, the book was the earliest book on Chinese architecture. The author spent decades searching for subjects. The collected information on historical records, books, pictures and related materials.

The following articles are in Chinese:

Appreciation of Aboriginal Culture
Chinese Archeology
Chinese Architecture
Chinese Arts Collection
Biographies
Business Fiction
Chinese Characters
Stories from the Court
On Chinese Medicine
Jiangnan
Stories from Nutmeg
History of the Qing Dynasty
The Story of Four Sisters
Travelling in Taiwan
Tea Path
Tombs of Emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties
Wolf Totem
Making Kung Fu Films