10. Dr. Cheng (1884-1970) was a lawyer, a judge on the International Court of Justice in the Hague and the last ambassador of the Republic of China (i.e. Taiwan) to the United Kingdom. It seems he wrote this book, first published in 1954, to pass the time when he was nearing 70. My copy is dotted with Athenaeum date due stamps up to December 1983, before being given to me as gift in 1985 by Elizabeth Wade, who writes in a covering note that she found it in a library sale. Although Dr. Cheng’s book contains recipes, its intention is to explain Chinese attitudes to food, often pointedly to Westerners uninformed about regional variations and traditional manners. In fact, the large Chinese characters on the title page and jacket mean ‘A Thesis on Living’. Sub-headings in the chapter ‘Hints on Cooking’ hint also at the Chinese approach to the kitchen: ‘Rule of Symmetry’, ‘Secrets in Steaming’, ‘The Three Stages’, ‘The Two Ways’. It could be an introduction to Confucian Philosophy. Ev