The Secret Life of a Taoist Master
Publisher: HarperOne, 1993
ISBN-10: 0062502190
ISBN-13: 978-0062502193
Synopsis
Chronicles of Tao is a compilation and revision of my first three books: The Wandering Taoist (1983), Seven Bamboo Tablets of the Cloudy Satchel (1987), and Gateway to a Vast World (1989). Together, the three books form a biographical novel based on the stories told by Master Kwan Saihung. During the years I studied with him, these stories inspired everyone who heard them.
Chronicles of Tao tells how a young boy, born into a wealthy martial arts family, became the thirteenth and last disciple of the grand master of the sacred mountain known as Huashan. Saihung grew into a young Taoist and martial artist, and he faced the conflicts of being a religious person during World War II and the Chinese revolution. After the People’s Republic of China had been established and the temples of Huashan were closed, the Grand Master sent Saihung out of the country on a special quest.
Reviews
An intriguing story … evokes both a China that no longer exists and its headlong clash with modern times. — San Francisco Chronicle
Transcends the tangible and points to the mysteries we can imagine and all we cannot.
—Los Angeles Times