A Galaxy of Immortal Women: The Yin Side of Chinese Civilization

by Brian Griffith

Overview

Touching on the whole story of China-from Neolithic villages to a globalized Shanghai-this book ties mythology, archaeology, history, religion, folklore, literature, and journalism into a millennia-spanning story about how Chinese women-and their goddess traditions-fostered a counterculture that flourishes and grows stronger every day.

As Brian Griffith charts the stories of China's founding mothers, shamanesses, goddesses, and ordinary heroines, he also explores the largely untold story of women's contributions to cultural life in the world's biggest society. Like Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn's Half the Sky, this book provides inspiration for all global citizens.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781935259145
Publisher:	Exterminating Angel Press
Publication date:	05/08/2012
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 7.40(h) x 1.00(d)
Lexile:	1170L (what's this?)

About the Author

Brian Griffith, who grew up in Texas, studied history at the University of Alberta, and now lives just outside of Toronto, is an independent historian who sees research as a means to finding contemporary solutions for the world’s biggest problems. He has spent twenty five years patiently unraveling the truth behind the stories that make up our cultural history—from who tells them, what purposes they serve, and how they have evolved over time—through his books The Gardens of Their Dreams: Desertification and Culture in World History, Different Visions of Love: The Partnership and Dominator Values in World History, Correcting Jesus: 2000 Years of Changing the Story, and The Fall and Rise of Chinese Goddesses(forthcoming in May 2012).

Table of Contents

1. How a Texan Man Became an Admirer of Chinese Goddesses
2. The Yin Side of Chinese Civilization
3. The Legendary Age of the Goddess
4. The Original Partnership of Sexes
5. Deities of Living Lands and Seas
6. Goddess Realms of Prehistoric China
7. Confucian Myths of the Golden Age
8. The Fall of Chinese Women
9. The Goddesses’ Outlaws
10. Women’s Powers in Popular Daoism
11. How Women Changed Buddhism in China and Tibet
12. Confucianism as a Cult of “Mamas’ Boys”
13. Family Values in the Warlord Age, and Now
14. Goddess Religions of the Modern and Planetary Age

What People are Saying About This

Wang Ping

This is a very ambitious and timely book, a book that many historians, literary theorists and story tellers who care about China and its "Other Half of the Sky" want to write, but Brian Griffith did it first, with such scope, ease and fun. (WANG PING, author of The Last Communist Virgin and Aching for Beauty: Footbinding in China)

Riane Eisler

This book is a most engaging and entertaining read, and the depth of its scholarship is astounding. Griffith vividly describes the counterculture of Chinese goddesses, shows that their fascinating stories are alive and active today, and points us toward a more inclusive and caring partnership future. (RIANE EISLER, author of The Real Wealth of Nations: Creating a Caring Economics and The Chalice and the Blade: Our History, Our Future)

Min Jiayin

It is a great pleasure to read A Galaxy of Immortal Women: The Yin Side of Chinese Civilization—especially to know that our book was its author's inspiration. Now a wonderful book on the same subject appears that should be an added treasure for our audience. I really hope,by virtue of this book, that the yin side of Chinese civilization will be fully known by, and bring blessing to, the world. (MIN JIAYIN, Editor-in-Chief of The Chalice & The Blade in Chinese Culture, by The Chinese Partnership Research Group)

Editorial Reviews

Inspired by a statue of the Chinese goddess of universal compassion, Guanyin, that stands in the author's hometown of Toronto, historian Griffith (Correcting Jesus: 2000 Years of Changing the Story) presents this wide-ranging anthology of Chinese goddesses. For centuries, Guanyin has been an object of devotion for Chinese Buddhists and, as Kannon, to Japanese and Korean followers. Working from the comprehensive history of Chinese gender relations published in 1995 by the Chinese Partnership Studies Group (The Chalice & The Blade in Chinese Culture), the author seeks to prove that goddess-based faiths promote a strong "reverence for life." Written in a readable first person and presented in textbook format with chapter subheads, this catalogue of goddesses ranges from the dawn of creation and the half-snake goddess Nü Wa, to 20th century heroines such as Deng Yingchao, wife of Zhou Enlai. In addition to serving as a valuable historical reference guide, Griffith's study sheds light on the evolution of women's roles in Chinese society, from the early days of matrilineal "womb" clans (a legacy still apparent in Taiwan) to revolutionary female activists of the 20th century. Includes maps, timelines, alphabetical glossary of goddesses and divine couples, and bibliography.
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Publishers Weekly

ForeWord Reviews Mother’s Day Staff Pick: “Books Mom Will Love”

“Written in a readable first person and presented in textbook format with chapter subheads, this catalogue of goddesses ranges from the dawn of creation and the half-snake goddess Nü Wa, to 20th century heroines such as Deng Yingchao, wife of Zhou Enlai. In addition to serving as a valuable historical reference guide, Griffith’s study sheds light on the evolution of women’s roles in Chinese society.” —Publishers Weekly

“To read through this compendium of female icons in the Chinese culture is to appreciate the ebb and flow of the changing Chinese environment across the thousands of years and especially to appreciate the role women have played in such a changing culture.” —New York Journal of Books

ForeWord Reviews Mother’s Day Staff Pick: “Books Mom Will Love”

“Written in a readable first person and presented in textbook format with chapter subheads, this catalogue of goddesses ranges from the dawn of creation and the half-snake goddess Nü Wa, to 20th century heroines such as Deng Yingchao, wife of Zhou Enlai. In addition to serving as a valuable historical reference guide, Griffith’s study sheds light on the evolution of women’s roles in Chinese society.” —Publishers Weekly

“To read through this compendium of female icons in the Chinese culture is to appreciate the ebb and flow of the changing Chinese environment across the thousands of years and especially to appreciate the role women have played in such a changing culture.” —New York Journal of Books

From the Publisher