In 240 pages and more than one hundred full-color images, this volume traces China through its tales and stories, plays and poetry, paintings and objects -- from ancient divinations incised on bovine scapula to modern "people's literature" spawned from revolution; from Song dynasty silk scrolls depicting sublime mountain valleys to government-commissioned propaganda posters. Art and lliterature are juxtaposed in eight thematic chapters: Birth & Life, Nature & Environment, Love & Family, Mind & Memory, Food & Drink, War & Politics, Religion & Spirituality, Death & Afterlife. Among the literary selections are the famous Book of Songs, the epic Dream of Red Towers, the complex dramatic masterpiece Romance of the Western Chamber, and pieces from Confucius, Laozi, Du Fu, and Su Shi. More than a hundred works of art from the ancient to the contemporary accompany the text, by artists including Li Cheng, Liang Kai, Qiu Ying, and Xu Bing.  (CHN517, $60.00)