by Brian GriffithIn my small Texas city of Corpus Christi, my Dad was the only person I knew with a short-wave radio. He made it himself, because the stores didn’t have short-wave radios. He’d listen to the news from other countries, like radio Moscow, Beijing, or Havana. It seemed like everybody else heard only local American AM or FM stations, or American TV. Back … [Read more...] about Mi vida: Why I write.
Brian Griffith.
CHINESE GODDESSES: Ghostly Teachers.
by Brian GriffithIn longstanding tradition, many Daoists held it necessary, or at least helpful, that spiritual teachers and students should be of the opposite sex. So in Daoist writing, we commonly find female immortals serving as spiritual guides for men, with male immortals teaching women. Some legends say the Yellow Emperor sought wisdom from “the Dark Lady,” on … [Read more...] about CHINESE GODDESSES: Ghostly Teachers.
An Age of the Goddess that Never Died
by Brian GriffithEverybody knows China is a patriarchal country. As a girl, the great Chinese-American novelist Maxine Hong Kingston heard folk sayings about it: “It is more profitable to raise geese than daughters.” “Feeding girls is feeding cowbirds.” “Girls are maggots in the rice” (Snyder, 1980, xv). In dynasties of the past, nomadic … [Read more...] about An Age of the Goddess that Never Died
The Goddess Road: Kuan Yin’s Fighting Daughter.
by Brian GriffithThis is the story of one of China's many immortal woman, the Lady Linshui (originally called Chen Jinggu), who illustrates the constant re-generation of goddess cults, their ancient roots, and their psychological depth. This woman was a Taoist shaman in the ancient mould. According to legend she was also a daughter of Kuan Yin. The following version of her … [Read more...] about The Goddess Road: Kuan Yin’s Fighting Daughter.
The Chinese Golden Age of the Goddess.
by Brian GriffithThe Chinese Dream of Unspoiled Nature and Uncorrupted Human VirtueOf course China is famous for nostalgia concerning the so-called golden age, which both Confucius and Lao-tzu praised so constantly. And no doubt a lot of nostalgia for that lost age involves fantasy and wishful thinking. But fortunately there’s a growing mass of evidence about the … [Read more...] about The Chinese Golden Age of the Goddess.