In The Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea, the Eight Immortals have been making rather too merry and, their minds clouded by wine, they decide to journey forth to discover all the wonders of the undersea realms that are not found at home in Heaven.
Today the expression "Eight Immortals cross the sea" can refer to each member of a group making a distinctive contribution to their collective success, but it can also refer to each of them being left to his own devices, or to each one working to outshine the others.
The carefully composed illustrations, coupled with superb book design, make the book appropriately childlike and whimsical and open this classic tale to new interpretations. Thoughtful students of Chinese folktale will welcome this splendidly artful edition.
The book comes with Chinese characters and the Pinyin (phonetic transcriptions), a great adventure book to enjoy and practice reading Chinese. The high-quality print is nicely produced to capture the vivid color and exceptional detail of the original artwork.
八仙过海
八仙过海是一种流传最广的汉族民间传说。八仙最脍炙人口的故事之一，最早见于杂剧《争玉板八仙过海》中。相传白云仙长有回于蓬莱仙岛牡丹盛开时，邀请八仙及五圣共襄盛举，回程时铁拐李建议不搭船而各自想办法，就是后来“八仙过海、各显神通”或“八仙过海、各凭本事”的起源。后来，人们把这个典故用来比喻那些依靠自己的特别能力而创造奇迹的事。八仙分别为汉钟离、张果老、韩湘子、铁拐李、吕洞宾、何仙姑、蓝采和及曹国舅。
