Customer Reviews

Confucius Speaks: Words to Live By

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book was wonderful! While I especially recommended it for beginners who are new to the teachings of Confucius, I know this book will surely be interesting to anyone. The first time I picked this comic book up, I read through 60 pages without putting it down again. The first section of the book is about the events in Confucius' life, while the second section deals with the Analects. Although I'm just a beginner to the teachings of Confucius, these comics have definitely captured my interest, and left me wanting to know more about Confucius' wisdom and philosophy. The cartoons give you various little snippets of Confucius' ideology, and leave you highly interested in learning more on each topic. I'm glad I started off with this book. Now I'm reading more comprehensive books on Confucianism; however, I will always have this little comic book to pull of the shelf and flip through.... time and time again.

Don't let your prejudices against "comic books" deter you from getting this book. It is a comic that needs no qualifiers or apologies for it is an extremely intelligently written book encapsulating in an economical and elegant way the profound teachings of Confuscius. The art work is simple, exquisit and charming. A book not to be breezed through but savoured and re-read again & again.

One of the best things about this book is it puts a face on Confucius and, more importantly, his disciples. It's difficult to read The Analects (which this book uses a few sayings from) and keep straight who's who; this book helps a lot. The last section with a brief bio on a few of the disciples is fantastic. I can find no other source to compare to this. Now when I read The Analect I see the faces from this book when different people are mentioned. My only complaint is that different translations of Confucius' work seem to use slightly different names then those used in this book. It can be a bit confusing when this book is the first one you read, but I would still HIGHLY recommend it.

The Cartoon Chinese Philosophy books of this series interest me for two reasons: I like Chinese History and I have to teach it to high school kids.

On a personal level I enjoy reading through these books and find it much more useful than some of the straight translations even though they may be more complete and more pleasing to academics. In addition to the Confucius book, I have enjoyed both Daoist books and the version of the Art of War.

As a teacher, I like this book even better. New York State requires high school kids to have 2 years of world history. In this new political correct world, world history is no longer dominated by Europe. In fact, must of the New York State exam is about Asia and Africa. Thus Confucianism is a very important concept to teach.

Filial Piety, the concept of order and relationships, and the 5 Confucianian relationships are extremely important. But they are not fun things to the average teenager. There are many lessons we can get from Confucius as adults, for kids its a bit harder. However, these comic books make teaching Confucius so much easier and effective. The kids like to read them and they get so much more from them.

So in short, yes this is not the complete Confucius. But for anyone who wants to read a visually pleasing edition or teaches this is quite good.

Just getting started on your desire to understand eastern philosophies? Have you stood at the bookstore for hours pouring over where to start and what to buy?

Any of this authors books are a wonderful place to start. The reason? Because these books are all about the title subject in a nutshell, easy to read as a comic book, the story lines and illustrations are wonderful, and after you read this as well as all the other books by Tsai, you will have a great, well rounded start on your path and will know what you want to study more deeply!

To add, when others ask you about your interest in eastern philosophy, you can get them started here as well, because these books are fun, consise, and you know they will enjoy them over and over again!

The wisdom of Confucius could easily be presented in a dry boring fashion. However, this comic-book style collection makes for enjoyable and enlightening reading. While suitable for adolescents, it is a compelling read for adults as well. Beginning with a brief biography of the Chinese sage, the artwork enhances the author's straight-forward narrative. The remainder of the text offers highlights from Confucius' vast sapient teachings. His profound insights are as valid today as they were the day he spoke them, and the book does them justice by offering them in such a way that will surely gain them exposure to a whole new audience.

A broad selection of excerpts from the Analects illustrated in cartoon form. A great overview of Confucian philosophy for total novices and younger readers. Contemporary language. Pinyin romanization.

Easy to read and understand. For those who like to know more about Confucious philosophy but dont know where to start, pick this book.
This book contains all the basic philosophy of the great master.

Chih Chung Tsai presents the intricacies of Confucianism in a wonderful, aesthetically pleasing format in his book "Confucius Speaks: Words to Live By". The book presents the events of Confucius' life and his teachings in a comic-book type fashion. Yet I am hesitant to call it a comic-book fashion, for this description does not do justice to the educational level in which the text is presented. One can truly learn the Confucian way, or reemphasize what one has learned, through this marvelous book!

A great explination of Confucius and his life and times through China. Explains great guide-lines for life, and also includes very good and/or funny drawings to take the edge of the incredibly deep theme