Books in English - Imagin8 Press

China Time: How the Ancient Chinese Kept Track of Hours, Days, Years and Epochs

May 20, 2026

From oracle bones and simple sundials to towering clockwork machines that rang gongs across imperial capitals, from time intervals ranging from a tenth of a second to over four thousand years, China has been measuring time since before the dawn of history. But the story of Chinese timekeeping is far more than a tale of ancient gadgets. It is a story about how a civilization understood the universe, and its place within it. In China…

Sun Wukong: The Journey to the West (in English)

December 18, 2024

Sun Wukong is one of the most famous characters in Chinese literature and culture. His legendary bravery, his foolish mistakes, his sharp-tongued commentary and his yearning for immortality and spiritual knowledge have inspired hundreds of books, television shows, graphic novels, video games and films. The full story of Sun Wukong’s adventures is told in Journey to the West, an epic 2,000-page novel written in the 16th century by Wu Cheng’en. Journey to the West is probably the most…

The Last King of Shang (English only)

October 21, 2024

This contains the complete contents, in English, of the entire Last King of Shang series by Jeff Pepper and Xiao Hui Wang. The Last King of Shang is a gripping story set in ancient China, weaving together mythology, magic, and heroism. It is a story of the rise and fall of powerful gods and mortals amidst a backdrop of political intrigue and celestial conflict. Seduced by Daji, his beautiful fox demon concubine, the Shang king brings…

The Investiture of the Gods, Part 2

August 24, 2024

This book, in English, contains the second half of the Last King of Shang series by Jeff Pepper and Xiao Hui Wang. In the epic conclusion to this legendary story, the forces of good and evil clash in a series of monumental battles for the fate of the world. As the Shang king’s tyranny reaches its peak, Jiang Ziya leads the Zhou army, calling upon divine powers and ancient heroes. Betrayals, alliances, and epic duels…

The Investiture of the Gods, Part 1

November 24, 2023

This book, in English, contains the second half of the Last King of Shang series by Jeff Pepper and Xiao Hui Wang. In the beginning, the King of Shang was a good man… China, 1057 B.C. The well-meaning but foolish king of the Shang Dynasty has gravely insulted a goddess. In revenge, the angry goddess sends a thousand-year-old fox demon to extinguish the soul of the beautiful young Daji, inhabit her body, and seduce the…

The Journey to the West (English only)

June 12, 2023

A long, long time ago, in a magical version of ancient China, an island called Aolai stood in the sea like a king in his palace. In the center of the island was Flower Fruit Mountain, and at the very top of the mountain was a large stone, as tall as six men. The stone was made pregnant by heaven and earth, and one day the wind blew over the egg and it cracked open.…

Dao De Jing in Clear English (Pocket Edition) (道德经)

April 16, 2020

The Dao De Jing (also called the Tao Te Ching) was written more than 2,500 years ago and is considered one of the most important books in world literature. Coming in at only 5,000 Chinese characters, its timeless wisdom has inspired millions of people around the world and serves as one of the cornerstones of the Taoist religion. This new translation, by the best-selling writing team of Jeff Pepper and Xiao Hui Wang, expresses the…

The Art of War: A Step-by-Step Translation (孙子兵法)

April 16, 2020

The Art of War is the most disruptive and revolutionary book ever written about human conflict. Written in the fifth century BC during the Warring States period of ancient China and attributed to the legendary Master Sun (Sunzi), the book turned traditional thinking about warfare on its head. It advocates a radical new way of viewing warfare, replacing the traditional view of war as a form of ritualized sacrifice with a purely practical and modern…

Dao De Jing in Clear English, With Step-by-Step Translation from Simplified and Traditional Chinese (道德经)

April 9, 2020

The Dao De Jing (also called the Tao Te Ching) was written more than 2,500 years ago and is considered one of the most important books in world literature. Coming in at only 5,000 Chinese characters, its timeless wisdom has inspired millions of people around the world and serves as one of the cornerstones of the Taoist religion. It has been translated into English many, many times, but this new work by the best-selling writing…