This is well-illustrated compilation includes fascinating Chinese myths about gods, stars, water, fire, plus tales about the goddess of mercy, the guardian of the gate of heaven, and many other legends. Features 32 lovely illustrations.
The author is a an old school orientalist, writing in the days when the Chinese Empire still had an emperor and was thoroughly infilitrated by colonial powers (fyi, thats before WWII). To a modern reader Werner seems condescending, but you can tell he has a genuine love for Chinese culture and people even when he is moralizing about the failures of their society at the time. In any event, the depth and breadth of the compilation of myths and tales is excellent, as is the historical context that the author provides. The only flaw is that the order and index is not quite as clear as you might like - several tales are told together in a single chapter, and references to characters in other tales are not always clear due to the numerous names used for some mythological figures.
