Taichi: The Story of A Chinese Master

I had the good fortune to be contacted by Marc Meyer, a musician and author regarding his new novel entitled Taichi: The Story of a Chinese Master in America. Although a little hesitant in agreeing to his request for a book review, I am glad I did. The book is Taichi, is ostensibly about a martial artist Kuo Yun San, a former bodyguard to Madam Chiang Kai Shek who comes to New York in the early 1960s and starts teaching Taichi (The reference to the Xingyi practitioner is I believe, not incidental). It is loosely based upon the life of Cheng Man Ching, whose style Marc Has studied in the past. 

The book is written in sparse prose with a minimum of description, leading much to the reader's imagination. Although there is not a great deal of "action" in the book, it does a good job as a coming of age story for the narrator, Paulie - Kuo's nephew and is evocative of Chinatown and New York in the 1960s, as well as the counter-culture of that time.

Indeed the part I liked most were the various students of Kuo, whose colorful personalities provided a great foil to the more straight laced Chinese characters. Broader historical and political issues are deliberately downplayed, and little mention is made of the Great Leap Forward in China, the Second World War or McCarthyism and racism in America. This is a shame as I believe it would have made it a stronger novel. However, Meyer does takes advantage of a number of opportunities to incorporate the history and legends of Tai Chi such as the stories of Yang Lu Chan, Bodhidharma and different schools of Tai Chi and makes this a nice introduction for someone who may not have a great knowledge of the art and younger audiences.  

The few incidences where marital arts are used are generally accurate as in push hands, and general self defence making this a refreshing change from the more fantastical books that seem to abound on the shelves nowadays. Meyer is also to be commended for avoiding the issue of whitewashing. The main protagonists are Chinese and it really is a story about them and their immigrant experience in America, without any "white saviors" that are so common in Hollywood. 

So all in all a book I would recommend as light reading, especially for the reading lists of high schools, as I believe younger adults will identify closely with the main character and gain insight into how martial arts really work, as well as a bit of Chinese history and culture. I spent a number of enjoyable hours with the book and it made for great fall reading. 

P.S. However, due to academic nature of this blog, I must issue the caveat that there are a number of anachronisms in the book that were a little jarring for me, but would probably not be picked up by a casual reader. For instance, references to Tsing Tao Beer - (only introduced into US in 1972), Containerization - (although containerization started in earnest in 1958, smuggling immigrants in containers from China was still relatively rare at this time due to Chinese ports still being very backward), Arthur Fong (a Chinese being a katana master in Japan before coming to USA - not very believable due to the racial animosities before and during the war), eating Kimchee in Chinatown. But all this might come across as griping on my part, and should not detract from my recommendation of the novel. Marc, you should have let me review your draft!