Book Report and Review:The Book of Five Rings

这是一篇关于The Book of Five Rings (五輪書 Go Rin No Sho)的读后感和书评摘要 
As illustrated in the book the travels of a T-shirt in the global economy, U.S. cotton industry predominates the world for over 200 years. Disputable government subsidies can contribute to some cost advantages, while American growers’ entrepreneurial innovation plays the major part. The author emphasizes more the advantages U.S. has over poorer countries. But we know America is second to china in cotton production in recent years. So what factors are there making America lag behind China in cotton production since their cotton growers can get coveted subsidies from the government and their cotton growers are so entrepreneurial creative in their innovation bound culture? 
In this book also, we notice that Lubbock, Texas is called as the “cottonest city in the world”, of which the surrounding farmland is the major place to which the world’s T-shirts trace back. In the analysis of the success of Lubbock, Texas, the author holds the view that at the bottom of its success lie the people like Nelson and Ruth Reinsch. We know from the author’s account of these two people that they are innovative, entrepreneurially creative and always ready for the market. It is clear that Nelson and Ruth Reinsch play the key role in the success of this “the cottonest city in the world”. And their characters can find its root in American culture, which cultivates and shapes all Americans. But why Lubbock Texas is the cottoest city, yet not some other city in America?
In response to readers’ reservations about whether our author Pietra Rivoli really sees the truth of factories in China where freedom of the press and expression is significantly restricted, our author mentions his identity as a professor and a nobody, Chinese people’s hospitality and their deep respect for education all together help access to the realities of the textile industry in China. Here comes another question worth discussing, not an economic one, but a cultural one. Illustrative of China nowadays is its pragmatism pervading all-around in people’s life. Why Chinese on one hand criticize the uselessness of college education, yet on the other hand spare no effort to send their children to top universities at home and abroad? In china, there is a very well-known technical school called “Lan Xiang Technical School”, from which the graduates can find a better-paid job than those graduating from higher-lever universities. Many students joke about quitting their schooling and going to Lan Xiang to be trained with some specific skills. But few of them are really willing to go there even if they can be better paid after graduation, since the majority Chinese youngsters’ goal is about money. 

As is stated in the book A Book of Five Rings, the author tells us that we have archers, spearmen, marksmen and halberdiers, but we do not have companionswordsmen or longswordsmen, which is a bit confusing to me. From my perspective, I think along with bows, guns, spears and halberds, swords are also supposed to be warrior’s equipment. However, the author apparently attaches far more importance to swords, holding the view that long sword is the basis of strategy and to master the virtue of the long sword is to govern the world and oneself, a statement that I cannot truly comprehend. As we know, The Book of Five Rings is a book generally on martial arts and it is written by a Japanese swordsman in 1645. So here comes my question: why are swords so important in martial arts or even anything else? Does it have anything to do with the Japanese cultural background? 

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