Cover of the new Donald Tsang biography

On the general non-fiction list, a biography of Hong Kong's Donald Tsang is this week's new entry (at #7), knocking out Jolin Tsai's English Diary Book. Subtitled "From Salesman to Chief Executive of the SAR", the bio's a rush-job put out by Unity Press to take advantage of Tsang's recent elevation. The other biography on the list is Lawrence Kuhn's The Man Who Changed China (#2), the authorized portrait of Jiang Zemin. This book sells well in pirated editions, too; will Donald have the same draw?

Two of the entries are religious in nature. Li Shutong Talks About Buddhism collects the wisdom of Buddhist Master Hongyi, who died in 1942. And the public's recent fascination with Zen anecdotes and their application to business and life continues with Read Zen, Learn How to Live. This is something of a counterpart to the collection of classical anecdotes Small Stories, Great Truths that currently inhabits the list of overall bestsellers.

Readers are also drawn to historical anecdotes. Extraordinary Paths, subtitled "Stories from China, 1840-1999," emulates the storytelling style of the ancient classic, New Account of Tales of the World, which collects anecdotes about notable figures during the Jin Dynasty. The new book tells stories about Chinese heroes during the last century-and-a-half, from Zeng Guofan, to Sun Yat-sen, to Qian Zhongshu. The Chinese title comes from the first line of the Daodejing: "extraodinary paths" can also be interpreted as "not the eternal way."

Another collection of historical stories is Gold Letters on a Crimson Field, a memoir about growing up in Beijing in the 60s and 70s. According to The Beijing News, it is not selling nearly as well in other parts of the country.

The general non-fiction list for the week of 6/25--7/1:

1. (1) About Going to Work by Zhu Deyong: See Overall List. (朱德庸,《关于上班这件事》)
2. (2) The Man Who Changed China by Lawrence Kuhn: The authorized bio of Jiang Zemin. (库恩,《他改变了中国》)
3. (3) True Stories of the 12 Qing Emperors by Yan Chongnian: Popular history. (阎崇年,《正说清朝十二帝》)
4. (4) Li Shutong Talks About Buddhism by Li Shutong: Early 20th century scholar, poet, oil painter, and musician. He lived in Tianjin, and became a Buddhist monk in 1918. (李叔同, 《李叔同说佛》)
5. (5) Gold Letters on a Crimson Field by Liu Yangdong. (刘仰东,《红底金字》)
6. (6) Read Zen, Learn How to Live edited by Jin Yuejun. (金跃军,《读禅学做人》)
7. (-) Donald Tsang: a Biography by Dou Yingtai: Subtitled "From Salesman to Chief Executive of the SAR". Instant bio, rushed to press. (窦应泰,《曾荫权传》)
8. (7) Everything is Happening by Zhu Deyong: More cartoons, but a departure from four-panel skits. Samples on Sina. (朱德庸,《什么事都在发生》)
9. (-) Looking at the Moon From Honglou by Liu Xinwu: Essays on Dream of the Red Mansions. Serialized on Sina. (刘心武,《红楼望月》)
10. (-) Extraordinary Paths edited by Yu Shicun. (余世存,《非常道》)

The overall bestseller list for the week of 6/25--7/1:

1. (1) Modern and Contemporary History of Three East Asian Countries: The new textbook jointly edited by scholars from China, South Korea, and Japan. Danwei recently reviewed the book. (《东亚三国的近现代史》)
2. (3) About Going to Work by Zhu Deyong: The author is a cartoonist from Taiwan whose earlier work was the inspiration for the incredibly popular television series Pink Ladies. A sample of Work is available on Sina. (朱德庸,《关于上班这件事》)
3. (2) The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown: For the past few months this novel has been a best-seller shared by the mainland, Taiwan, and the United States. Digital Fortress is a perennial on the fiction list, too. (丹·布郎,《达·芬奇密码》)
4. (4) Wolf Totem by Jiang Rong: Another long-running best-seller, this loosely-plotted novel is being made into a movie (mentioned earlier on Danwei). (姜戎,《狼图腾》)
5. (9) Detail is the Key of Success by Wang Zhongqiu: Business-related self-help book which has expanded into a lecture series available on VCD. The English title on the most common pirated version, ironically, is misspelled. (汪中求,《细节决定成败》)
6. (7) Short Stories, Great Truths edited by Ya Qin: 500 classic parables. (雅琴,《小故事，大道理》)
7. (-) Angels and Demons by Dan Brown (丹·布郎,《天使与魔鬼》)
8. (5) Tell the World, I Can Do It! by Lu Qin: Educator writes from a child's perspective about problems they might face while growing up. (卢勤,《告诉世界，我能行》)
9. (-) 1995-2005 Not Yet Summer Solstice by Guo Jingming: Young writer is still hot despite losing a plagiarism case. Novel is serialized on Sina. Danwei has previous stories on Guo Jingming. (郭敬明,《1995-2005夏至未至》)
10. (-) Winning by Jack Welch. (韦尔奇,《赢》)

Bestseller rankings are taken from the Friday Book Review section in The Beijing News, which compiles its data from the city's major online and brick & mortar bookstores.