The Cat and the Tao
The hitherto separate realms of Chinese philosophy and cat-fancying are finally bridged in this winsome little tome. Shan, a painter and calligrapher, assembles an intriguing collection of ancient Chinese proverbs, poems and teachings of the sages, ranging from fortune-cookie aphorisms ("A friend who truly knows you is always with you") to Confucius's shrewd condemnation of nostalgia  ("The contemporary man who wants to re-create the past indiscriminately," he writes, will just "bring trouble" on himself) and Gao Bagong's advice ("Do not take it to heart when you lose,/ Do not show it on your face when you win"). But the book's raison d'etre is the accompanying reproductions of Shan's portraits of cats as they doze, glare and stalk through a variety of landscapes and interiors. Done in a traditional Chinese style, festooned with traditional seals and calligraphic characters and featuring delicate lines and washes of muted color, her paintings eschew the lush, throbbing adorableness of the typical kitten calendar in favor of a more restrained-but still very cute-aesthetic, with nary a ball of yarn in sight. Illus.Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.