This book incorporates classics from The Book of Songs. Notes and appreciations are added to each poem. Readers can also listen to the recordings by scanning the QR code on the page.
This book incorporates classics from Yuefu Songs of the Han Dynasty. Notes and appreciations are added to each poem. Readers can also listen to the recordings by scanning the QR code on the page.
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This book incorporates classic poems from the Yuan Dynasty. Notes and appreciations are added to each poem. Readers can also listen to the recordings by scanning the QR code on the page.
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Capoeira, an original Afro-Brazilian discipline, is not so easily defined due to its numerous facets, as a deadly martial art, an exotic dancing discipline, inspired by an ancient far-away culture. Nearly four hundred years of slave trade brought to Brazil an envyingly cultural heritage, composed of a continuous influx of different ethnic groups, which, concomitant with the different native, African and European regional expressions and its rich constant geopolitical changes, has produced a singular, colorful and vibrant multicultural and multiethnic society engaged in their new Brazilian identity. From the XVIII to the XIX century, the harsh conditions with which black slaves were treated led to increasing numbers of slave revolts in the Americas, where escaped slaves forming independent Maroon communities in French, Hispanic, British and the Netherlands Antilles, and the Quilombola communities in Brazil, organized fighting guerrilla wars against the plantation masters and owners, giving rise to campaigns against slavery in Europe and the abolition of slavery in the Americas. Capoeira became the result of Brazil’s own diasporic experience, a branch of a large tree which grew into a unique and complex social art that cannot be dissociated from its historical and anthropological perspectives. The Amazing History of Capoeira, written by expert Brazilian capoeira Mestre Ricardo Cachorro, unveils the Age of Exploration and the resulted Atlantic slave trade, unfolding African slavery in Europe as early as in the 15th century, much before black slaves were taken to the New World. The enchanting saga of the Akindele family from the beautiful Yoruba kingdom of Adágún L}wá will take you deeply into pre-colonial Africa and to the lands of newly explored Bahia de Todos os Santos in 1531, where the almost sacred history of capoeira began. From the new findings in Africa to the discoveries in Brazil, this captivating book navigates through the Feitorias and Capitanias – the sugarcane mills of the 17th century – the real and virtually unknown cradle of capoeira. It brings to surface beautiful historic and cultural aspects of the colonial periods with its arts, music and religion, the African melting pot which was formed from the blend of ancient African cultures and the new Afro-Brazilian rural and urban settings and, finally, the old and the modern founders of capoeira. The Amazing History of Capoeira is a delicious treat for all Capoeira's lovers, practitioners, and instructors who want to know more about this original Afro-Brazilian discipline, as well as students of history, anthropology, art, music, theatre, and related fields – all the way from the academic researcher to the curious history & culture lover. An English-language edition was published in fall 2012. 224 pages, 16.5X24 cm with full-color photographs& B/W illustrations. And if it also makes you desire to actually practice the art of capoeira in the roda, you will be most welcome then to read: UNKNOWN CAPOEIRA: Secret Techniques of the Original Brazilian Martial Art
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In this book, Mr. Yongxin Zhu selects to interpret the celebrated dictums of Montessori which are related to family education. Some of the celebrated dictums point out the importance of children education, some of them reveal the laws of children’s development, and more of them care how to educate children better. This book is of significance to the development of Chinese family education.
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As the hostess of Travel Channel, Linzi wrote down all the beautiful and mystical places around the world she has been which witness her thoughts and growing-up.
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All books have either writing, pictures or both in it, but the book that Ellen got as a gift has neither. It does, however, have extraordinary recording powers. Like in so many of Sandro’s stories, in The Strange Book it is completely natural for dreams to merge with reality. Through the matter-of-fact occurrence of unlikely events, The Strange Book tells a story of growing up without abandoning the inner child.
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In search of a better life, the ancient Greek family travels from Miletus to Tyras, distant Black Sea regions, where there are already several Greek settlements. His grandmother stayed in Miletus and gave him a bag of olives for the journey. In the new place, the ancient culture is intertwined with the local one, the steppe culture. What is it like to travel for a long time in the sea into the unknown? Which part of home can be brought with you? What will remain only a poignant memory? This life-affirming story will give parents support to help their children experience complex emotions: homesickness, anxiety, boredom.
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In recent years there has been a growth in both the practice and research of dark tourism; the phenomenon of visiting sites of tragedy or disaster. Expanding on this trend, this book examines dark tourism through the new lens of pilgrimage. It focuses on dark tourism sites as pilgrimage destinations, dark tourists as pilgrims, and pilgrimage as a form of dark tourism. Taking a broad definition of pilgrimage so as to consider aspects of both religious and non-religious travel that might be considered pilgrimage-like, it covers theories and histories of dark tourism and pilgrimage, pilgrimage to dark tourism sites, and experience design. A key resource for researchers and students of heritage, tourism and pilgrimage, this book will also be of great interest to those studying anthropology, religious studies and related social science subjects.
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It was work for Mike Sullivan–a flying job like the ones he'd done most of his life in many parts of the world–ferrying people, medicine, crops, supplies and almost anything else you can think of among the isolated jungle villages of Guatemala. Life in the farming co-ops there was simple, peaceful, and good, based on bedrocks of family, community, and faith.Then the repression began. A failed attempt at a coup had led to continued fighting between rebels and government, though in areas far from the almost-utopian Ixcan region. U.S. military and CIA intervention helped defeat the insurgency, but the social inequalities that had led to the movement remained, and the revolution went underground. The Guatemalan army, searching everywhere for those who opposed it, increased its control over the isolated jungle area. Co-op directors, teachers, catechists, and then anyone suspected of being one of or assisting the guerrillas was selectively "disappeared." The army turned to a scorched-earth policy, killing animals, burning crops, uprooting fruit trees, destroying towns, massacring their people. Throughout the Ixcan, those who survived fled. Some returned to their original mountain villages, others crossed the border into Mexico, and a third group survived for sixteen years hiding in the jungle–men, women, and children. Primeval growth took over the land as the war with the guerrilla movement raged on to encompass the entire nation.When finally peace accords were signed, the people of the Ixcan returned. Homes were rebuilt, land reclaimed, the area thrived again. But sixteen years were lost, along with countless lives. For Mike Sullivan, who had returned there when his help was needed, the story of those years–of how the people of the Ixcan survived, and of the many who didn't–was one that had to be told. In three visits, he conducted the interviews that form this book, talking with the villagers he'd known long before. At first, they spoke hesitantly, then with the flood force of vivid memory, telling of their first arrival at the Ixcan, the lives they'd made, and the years of the repression and worse. Their stories are gripping, fascinating, painful–but most of all, deeply human as we witness their struggle to survive and feel the force of the simple values that ultimately carried them through to a new and better life.
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Capoeira is a martial art developed by African slaves in Brazil from the 16th century, as a result of the fusion of several ethnic groups that originally brought with them to South America their cultural identity, as well as their seeds of liberty. Despite the strong evidence of influence from a plurality of other forms of ancient African martial arts, capoeira is essentially an original Brazilian expression with many practitioners and enthusiasts in every continent. Although capoeira values much of its cultural and historical aspects, no one should be misled - it is an efficient and deadly fighting system! As a result of its development throughout the years, capoeira became the richest and the most spectacular and beautiful martial art on the planet. However, what even most capoeiristas do not know is that this fascinating martial art can turn into a gracefully athletic and also lethal weapon at the hands (and feet) of any disciplined, serious practitioner. In this book you will learn unique secrets of capoeira as performed in the roda or in actual combat. Moves, ground fighting and aerial techniques are fully described to the level of perfection, with the help of hundreds of pictures. Diagrams explain special maneuvers never before published in the world of martial arts. Additionally, readers will have free access to exciting animated GIF files for the numerous moves presented in the book. Mestre Ricardo, a.k.a. Cachorro, a graduate of Mestre Adilson’s Grupo Bantus de Capoeira at Morro do Pavão e Pavãozinho – poverty-stricken slums in the midst of the rich suburbs of Rio de Janeiro – was the first Mestre of the YMCA Capoeira Group in Governor’s Island, achieving this honor in 1975. The following year, he became a certified Mestre from the first federation of capoeira of Rio de Janeiro, the FCP, and in the same year he introduced capoeira in a live TV show filmed in North Carolina, sponsored by the local YMCA. In the 1970’s Mestre Ricardo was a member of the Olympic gymnastics team of Rio de Janeiro’s Fluminense Football Club, where he specialized in floor exercises. During his professional career as a capoeira practitioner, Ricardo learned and practiced boxing, Shotokan karate and judo as a means to better understand the body mechanics of motion involved in different martial arts. An English-language edition was publlished in fall 2009, 288 pages, two colors, 16.5X24 cm, 200-plus illustrated practical moves. Further new title in the Capoeira series: The Amazing History of Capoeira
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The years 2021 to 2030 have been designated as "The United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration". Ecological restoration and biodiversity conservation efforts face unprecedented challenges, especially in developing countries and areas, such as the Hindu Kush-Himalayan (HKH) region. This huge HKH region, which includes areas in eight separate countries (Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, India, China, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Bhutan), is a biodiversity hotspot with a vast array of ecosystems, landscapes, peoples and cultures. It is known as one of 'the pulses of the world'. However, the HKH is also the world's largest and poorest mountain region, where landscapes and environments have been severely damaged as a result of climate change and human activities. Coordinating conservation and restoration policies, sharing knowledge and funds, and maintaining livelihoods are major challenges and are in urgent need of improvement. This book details the past and current ecological problems in the HKH region, and the threats and challenges that ecosystems and local people face. It pays special attention to developments of transformative adaptations and presents examples of sustainable conservation and ecological restoration management practices. Three primary questions are addressed: (1) Do the existing conservation strategies of international organizations and government policies really protect ecosystems and solve biodiversity problems? (2) Can these management measures be one-time solutions? and (3) What is the strategic framework and scenario prognosis for the future based on the historical trajectory of ecological conservation and restoration in the region? This book is essential reading for ecologists and conservation biologists involved in large-scale ecological restoration projects, along with practitioners, graduate students, policy makers and international development workers.
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Hank and Norm were living the good life: two friends with plenty of money, homes in a lovely California retirement town, and no problems―except for the boredom that felt almost fatal. Then Mai came into the picture, the love of Hank's life during his CIA days in Saigon, desperately needing his help to save the son he'd never known he had.Boredom was over, as Hank and Norm hit the road, following the few clues Mai could give them in search of a man who desperately wants not to be found. What they find is a slew of lies and hidden truths, strange characters, improbable danger that has them fighting to survive, and the happy lesson that their lives are far from over.
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A crazed professor is on a rampage to prove that horrible crimes were committed by the ancient ancestors of today's Pueblo Indians. His murderous accusations stir the community into anger and violence.Vacationing nearby, Mogi Franklin and his family are suddenly caught up in the turmoil roiling the countryside. In this third book of the exciting Mogi Franklin Mysteries, the young hero must find a sacred object hidden by the ancient people of Acoma Pueblo somewhere in the vast, forbidding lava beds of western New Mexico.To those who lived on the stark, high mesa four hundred years ago, it held a magic that could defeat the Spanish conquistadors despite their steel and steeds. To Mogi, it was an ancient mystery he must solve to stem the rising tide of bloodshed. But the clock is ticking, and his deranged adversary traps Mogi, Jennifer, and their friends in the absolute darkness of an underground cavern, with little hope of escape.
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Gift of the Dark Mother Earth, the latest novel by Can Xue, is a profound metaphor of her hometown. It follows her usual magical style in the sense that it vividly unfolds the complex and delicate inner world of the characters. The story takes place in the remote Wuliqu School, with such distinctive characters as Teacher Meiyong, Zhang Danzhi, Yutian, Xiao Man, Uncle Yun and Sha Men presented one after another. The personality and human nature exposed through unique dialogues enable the readers to feel a return to simplicity so that they want to explore human soul and nature and start in-depth reading and thinking. The book depicts petty matters in a great age. The author’s ambition is to create a feeling for the pattern of the whole universe through the structure of an ordinary tree leaf, and to unify the arbitrarily split world through the narration of various folk sundries so that different characters can all become the center of this unity and their performance can have a universality. As the only Chinese writer who has won the Best Translated Book Award in the United States, Can Xue was nominated for the foreign novel prize of The Independent of the UK and shortlisted in the Neustadt International Prize for Literature of the US. As the Chinese woman writer, whose works have been translated and published the most abroad, Can Xue has been called the most creative Chinese writer by overseas critics.
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Apfelbäume, so weit das Auge reicht, idyllische Fachwerkdörfer hinter dem Deich und am Horizont die Elbe: Das Alte Land ist eine uralte Kulturlandschaft am Wasser, die ihren eigenen Charakter bewahrt hat. Prächtige Bauernhöfe und Backsteinkirchen mit kostbaren Barockorgeln zeugen noch heute vom frühen Wohlstand der Altländer. Birgit Haustedt erzählt von den Anfängen im Mittelalter, von Deichbau und Sturmfluten, vom Alltag der kleinen Leute und von großer Handwerkskunst, von stolzen Bauern und mutigen Schiffern. Dazu ein Exkurs, welche Rolle das Alte Land in Lessings Leben und Goethes Faust spielte.
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From children's book author Emily House comes a wonderful story that re-connects us with our planet. A modern fable inspired by recent events, Earth Takes a Break is a touching picture book jam-packed with fun illustrations and woven together with a message of hope. When Earth feels unwell, she goes to the doctor to ask for help. What the doctor prescribes seems impossible to Earth, until she wakes the next day to find a surprising change!
