Berkshire publishes the leading academic resources on China past and present—including the 5-volume Berkshire Encyclopedia of China and the 4-volume Berkshire Dictionary of Chinese Biography, the first general work of its kind since 1898. Read about our many and varied activities in China and our work with China experts at the Berkshire China page.
This Is China is almost certainly the shortest introduction to historic and contemporary China. In the revised and updated second edition, China expert Kerry Brown provides insightful answers to today’s questions about the world’s newest superpower and offers an engaging framework for understanding its meteoric rise.
Recipes from the Garden of Contentment is the first English edition of one of the world’s most famous books about food. (It is the big sister edition of Berkshire's English-only popular version of the book, which is published as The Way of Eating.) This famous book is a treatise, a cookbook, and a memoir, written in the late eighteenth century by the Qing dynasty poet Yuan Mei 袁枚. It includes recipes for well-known dishes such as birds nest and sharks fin, and offers modern readers an appealing perspective on Chinese history and culinary culture, and was translated and annotated by Sean J. S. Chen with editorial advice from well-known China scholars E. N. Anderson and Jeffrey Riegel.
The Way of Eating: Yuan Mei`s Manual of Gastronomy (the Suiyuan Shidan) is, remarkably, the first translation into English of one of the world's most famous books about food. It is a treatise, cookbook, and memoir written in the late eighteenth century by the Qing dynasty poet Yuan Mei. It is the little sister edition of Berkshire's bilingual academic version of the book, which is published as Recipes from the Garden of Contentment. It includes recipes for well-known dishes such as birds nest and sharks fin, and offers modern readers an appealing perspective on Chinese history and culinary culture, and was translated and annotated by Sean J. S. Chen with editorial advice from E. N. Anderson and Jeffrey Riegel. This edition is in English only but it includes and explains some important Chinese terms. It's a unique introduction to the true cuisines of China, designed for readers interested in the social history of food as well as in techniques and recipes. The editorial team’s aim was to convey the charm, humor, and erudition of one of China’s greatest writers. Chinese food expert Nicole Mones, author of the novel The Last Chinese Chef, has contributed an engaging introduction to Yuan Mei and his work. “This is far more than a cookbook: "The Way of Eating is food history at its finest, a window into a fascinating and long-lost world.” Ruth Reichl, former editor of Gourmet magazine and author of Save Me the Plums.
Becoming a Dragon: Forty Chinese Proverbs, is a bilingual (English-Chinese) collection of proverbs, popular phrases, and two-part allegorical sayings, designed for self-study and classroom teaching. Each proverb comes with the story behind the proverb and its source in both English and Chinese, a literal translation, the figurative meaning, an English equivalent, a vocabulary list, and examples of how the proverb is used in modern written and spoken Chinese.
This Is China: The First 5,000 Years contains, in brief, everything we need to know about 5,000 years of history, 30 years of “opening,” and a future that promises to shape the 21st century for all of us.
Eminent Chinese of the Qing Period (1644-1911/2) is a revised edition of the 1943 standard reference work edited by Arthur Hummel, including more than 800 Qing dynasty individuals, converted to pinyin and updated for modern users. The introduction by Professor Pamela K. Crossle explains the history of this publication and its continuing relevance.
"Contemporary Chinese Art" (Dāng dài Zhōng guó yì shù 当代中国艺术) by Joan Lebold Cohen. ABSTRACT: From the nineteenth century to the present, Chinese art has undergone drastic changes that mirror earthshaking internal challenges to tradition and reflect as well a myriad of modernizing forces, many foreign, that have penetrated country and culture. Since 2000, Chinese artists have rapidly (if belatedly) garnered kudos (and high prices) in the world art market, a testament to their creativity and innovation. 4,800 words. Citation: XX (last/family name), XX (first/personal name) (2009). XX-Article-Title-XX. In Linsun CHENG et al. (Eds.), Berkshire Encyclopedia of China (pp. XX-XX). Great Barrington, MA: Berkshire Publishing Group.
"Deng Xiaoping" by Ezra Vogel. ABSTRACT: Deng Xiaoping was China’s preeminent leader from 1978 to 1992, a man who guided the transformation of China from a poor, divided, and chaotic country and achieved the dream of Chinese leaders since the Opium War of setting China on a path of enriching the people and becoming a global power. He joined the Communist movement in France in 1923, and became a revolutionary leader and a soldier. From 1952 to 1966 he held key positions implementing Mao Zedong’s policies. He fell from office three times, but as top leader from the late 1970s, he maintained order, developed good relations with major foreign powers, transformed the Communist Party from a revolutionary party to a ruling party, opened markets, and sent tens of thousands abroad to bring in modern technology and management. 7,854 words. Citation: XX (last/family name), XX (first/personal name) (2014). XX-Article-Title-XX. In Kerry Brown (Ed.), Berkshire Dictionary of Chinese Biography (pp. XX-XX). Great Barrington, MA: Berkshire Publishing Group.- Africa-China Relations ABSTRACT: Chinese trade, investment, and aid contribute to growth in Africa, but China?s growing presence on the continent has caused rising international concern as observers debate China?s strategic motivations.
The Internet in China, a Berkshire Essential, provides much-needed context and historical background for the technological development that is transforming Chinese society and creating new conflicts and new opportunities.
The Berkshire Dictionary of Chinese Biography uses the life stories of 135 key individuals, selected from the earliest dynasties to the present day, to tell the story of China itself over the entire span of its history.
The 10-volume Berkshire Encyclopedia of Sustainability is a unified resource that provides a balanced perspective on 21st-century global environmental issues. Six volumes of the are available in Chinese, translated and published by Shanghai Jiao Tong University Press. They can be purchased as a set from Berkshire Publishing.