war book

sun tzu

Sun Tzu was a well-known soldier and thinker in ancient China. He wrote The Art of War around 200 BC during the Han Dynasty. General Sun Tzu wrote about the philosophy of war and analysed the nature of society in depth. The Art of War has been highly influential in many Asian countries, and as well as looking into military strategy it also investigated how to manage the losers and the victors both before
and after periods of war.

red book

mao tse tung

This book, which is a collection of Mao’s quotes and speeches, was published by the government of the People’s Republic of China in April 1964. Although its title is Chairman Mao’s Quotes, it is better known as Chairman Mao’s Little Red Book. This name came from the pocket edition’s red cover, and all Party members and students always carried it everywhere with them. Mao’s assistant, Lin Biao, collected and polished his quotes and speeches and, at one time, all the books and magazines published in China were obliged to include quotes from the Little Red Book. Since its publication, more than 900 million
copies have been sold: after the Bible, it’s the best-selling book in the world.

journey to the west

wu cheng’en

Xiyouji. The Journey to the West. In Wu Cheng’en’s classical, epic novel a monkey born from a rock becomes a student of Taoism and acquires supernatural powers on his way. After he rebels against the sky, Buddha imprisons him under a mountain and there he becomes a disciple of the monk Xuanzang. Later they both travel to India to recover the roots of Buddhism. Do that sound familiar to you? How about if we tell you the monkey’s name was Sun Wukong? Not yet? Okay then, The Journey to the West is the basis for Son Goku’s world and story.

traveling far away

li bai. itzulpena: albert galvany, pello otxoteko.

This poet from the golden age of Chinese literature, the 8th century, was unknown in the west until Ezra Pound discovered him. The passage of time, friendship, nature, love... the poet Li Bai deals with universal themes in his work. Like Chinese painting, Li Bai’s poetry starts in usual countrysides and situations and takes in the smallest details. The poems have a musical rhythm and sound, but that might also be thanks to the translation.