The Wu-Tang Manual
Enter the 36 Chambers, Volume 1
by The RZA
Riverhead Books

Long awaited and much anticipated, THE WU-TANG MANUAL (Riverhead Freestyle Trade Paperback Original; February 2005; $16.00) is finally here. Delayed in the final stages of production by the tragic death of Ol’ Dirty Bastard, THE WU-TANG MANUAL — which has been referred to repeatedly on Wu-Tang albums, from “Bells of War” (Wu-Tang Forever) to GZA’s Liquid Swords— is RZA’s first written introduction to the philosophy and history of the Wu-Tang Clan.

Since the release of the revolutionary Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) — over the course of four seminal group albums and a multitude of ambitious side projects — the Wu-Tang Clan has constantly redefined what hip-hop can do and where hip-hop can go. Now, after a decade of dark beats and mysterious lyrics hinting at a larger whole, the RZA, the abbot of the legendary Staten Island hip-hop collective, fully reveals, for the first time, the complex, multilayered Wu-Tang Universe in THE WU-TANG MANUAL.

At the creative forefront of music for the past decade, the Wu-Tang Clan are hip-hop’s true artists, shrouded in a fascinating self-made mythology. Taking their name from a mythical kung-fu sword wielded by a congregation of invincible warriors, rechristening their native island after the legendary Shaolin, and performing under a variety of pseudonyms, the nine members of the Wu-Tang Clan have, from the start, surrounded their public identities with an elaborate Wu-Tang Mythology and Cosmology that forms the foundation for all their work. Written in a style that is at once personal and philosophical, THE WU-TANG MANUAL unravels the intricate web of personalities (and alter egos), warrior codes, numerological systems, and Eastern spiritual ethics that define the Wu-Tang dynasty.

Packed with information that reflects the breadth and depth of the RZA’s — and rest of the Clan’s — intellectual interests and passions, THE WU-TANG MANUAL is divided into four books of nine chambers each, for a total of 36 chambers. All together, the book provides the breakdown of essential Wu-Tang components.