The only English translation of John Blofeld’s memoirs as a Westerner living in China prior to the Communist Revolution
• Paints an intimate portrait of the grace and refinement of ancient Chinese civilization
• Originally written in Chinese for Chinese readers, revealing a rare glimpse of Blofeld’s private Chinese side and uncensored views
• The last book by the great English sinologist, translator of the I Ching and author of
Taoist Mystery and Magic The reveries and remembrances contained in the travel diaries of John Blofeld cover every aspect of his life in China--from visits to opium dens and sing-song houses to sojourns in the Buddhist monasteries and Taoist hermitages of China’s sacred mountains. Here is a vivid glimpse of “old” China as it existed in elegance and grace for three thousand years before China’s Communist Revolution. Originally written in Chinese for a Chinese audience, Blofeld’s travel diary reveals a rare, uncensored view of pre-communist China to which few westerners have been exposed.
This translation of John Blofeld's memoirs as a Westerner living in pre-Communist Revolution China paints an intimate portrait of ancient Chinese civilization. Originally written in Chinese for Chinese readers, Blofeld's travel diary reveals a rare uncensored view of the culture of "old" China.
"The book reads like a charming account from a long-forgotten era, and that is precisely what it is. Blofeld gives a detailed and scintillating portrait of ancient China, still extant when he lived there--a culture that was highly stratified and regimented, and included the virtues of always welcoming 'guests from afar' such as Blofeld himself, who made a comfortable niche for himself by being the perfect visitor."
