The Ancient Chinese Super State of Primary Societies: Taoist Philosophy for the 21st Century - Softcover

Li, You-Sheng

Softcover

ISBN 10: 145202541X ISBN 13: 9781452025414

Publisher: Authorhouse, 2010

Synopsis

Kevin Brown                    SAN FRANCISCO BOOK REVIEW 
Amazon Star Rating: 5 out of 5: ★★★★★
          Has the world shrunk? Airlines can get us to places quicker than a dog can get fleas. Phones and computers make connecting to our neighbors faster and more reliable. Even with advancements like this, society and culture, as shared ideals, lag behind. Even moving to a new state in this country has certain social aspects that take time to learn. This book, The Ancient Chinese Super State of Primary Societies, is a deep personal discussion about the ramifications of Old World philosophy and New World modernism. The book is composed of 14 different essays, all centering on the topic of Chinese and European societies. The point, I feel, is not only to help people understand and respect Chinese philosophies more, but to explain why these concepts are still valid in our modern world.


          The book mainly consists of a compare and contrast of opinions that help prove You-Sheng Li's theses. One part talks about how the Chinese were more of a land-based people and Europeans were more oceanic; therefore Europeans were the explorers. There are interesting little nuggets inside each essay and it's a treat to read them all. Each essay is incredibly well cited, with notes and references listed at the end. It is always wonderful to see where a book gets its ideas. You-Sheng Li displays that he is one of the most certifiable person to write on this subject. With the writing style as direct as a surgeon, he is able to craft an engaging and thoughtful experience. The short essay also gives the book a quick and fun pace to the read. Each essay many be different, but each is as enjoyable as the next. With a wealth of information, this is one of the must-read books on this topic.

 
         
Product Description:

The world has entered a new era that humans have never experienced before. Scholars predict that different cultures will replace nations to compete with each other to find a better way of life for humans. The modern world with a powerless United Nations as a platform for countries to work out their difference at various levels in pretty much like the ancient Chinese super state of primary societies from 2200 BC to 476 BC when Taoist lifestyle was popular. If all human societies are divided into the genetically coded primary society and the man-made secondary society, Western civilization started with secondary societies while Chinese civilization started with primary societies. Taoist philosophy summarizes the lifestyle in the ancient primary society. Taoism emphasizes the value of naturalness and simplicity, which is well complimentary to the modern philosophy of materialism. This book contains 14 essays: The first one presents an outline and the remaining ones explore various aspects of Taoist philosophy in modern terms. The author has made every effort to accommodate both academic and general readers. There are four academic essays that all start with a summary, which allows general readers to know the main content if they decide to skip over the main part of the essay. The remaining essays provide a much lighter reading from the author's own experience to the lives his mother and grandmother had lived.

About this title

About the Author:

You-Sheng Li graduated from the best medical school in China and received his Ph. D. from University of Cambridge, England. He came from a family of Chinese traditional medicine and spent his childhood in a relatively isolated countryside, which helped him to get familiar with Taoist thought and life style, since both Chinese medicine and the life in the Chinese countryside are deeply influenced by Taoism.
You-Sheng Li published two short stories in the late 1950s and early 1960s, which were remarkable achievements for a young student, since there were very few publications under the strict Communist rule in China. As a physician and a researcher in the field of medicine, You-Sheng Li published more than 30 papers in medical journals and received two awards for his research but kept a life-long interest in social science and literature.
Since 1999, You-Sheng Li has been pursuing his interest in social science and literary by joining writing groups and taking related courses. He published A New Interpretation Chinese Taoist Philosophy in 2005 and first introduced the concept of genetically coded primary society and man-made secondary society. It provides a powerful new perspective to understand Chinese culture and understand the cultural difference between the East and the West. The Chinese version of the same book was published in February 2009 by Xianzhuang Book House, Beijing. He also published in some English magazines such as Empty Vessel and Humanist Perspective. In 2008 and 2009, he published a series of Chinese essays in an electronic academic journal Xuedeng, exploring the extensive implications of the genetically coded primary society in sinology and related areas.  His website: taoism21cen.com.

Review:

Kevin Brown                    SAN FRANCISCO BOOK REVIEW 
Star Rating: ★★★★★

 ...With the writing style as direct as a surgeon, he is able to craft an engaging and thoughtful experience...Each essay... is as enjoyable as the next. With a wealth of information, this is one of the must-read books on this topic.

About this edition

• Publisher: Authorhouse
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 145202541X
• ISBN 13: 9781452025414
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 316