A Galaxy of Immortal Women

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Howard Zinn meets Joseph Campbell and Gloria Steinem in a book written for the omnivorous reader—anyone curious about China, world mythology, and women’s history. 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 one great, evolving story of how Chinese women—and the goddess tradition—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. He presents their history as one of action, not, as it is so often, cheerleading for the powerful. “These aren't just stories,” he says. “These are expressions of what have been a people’s hopes, and a sign of what can be a future world.” Impeccably researched, Griffith’s enlightening, conversational history reveals the female-oriented world view that evolved within Daoism, Confucianism, Buddhism, and Chinese folk religion, and how that venerable counterculture is reshaping modern ideas about nature, power, equality, community, health, and spirituality. Brian Griffith grew up in Texas, studied history at the University of Alberta, and now lives just outside of Toronto, Ontario. He is an independent historian who views historical research as a means to understanding how cultural history influences our lives and can point toward contemporary solutions for the world’s biggest problems.