A Galaxy of Immortal Women by Griffith, Brian -- Read -- Imperial Library of Trantor

Index

Title Page Acknowledgments 1. How a Texan Man Became an Admirer of Chinese Goddesses 2: The Yin Side of Chinese Civilization

The Shadow Religions The Galaxy of Immortal Women The Family of Patriarchs and Goddesses The Journey and Its Goal in Women’s Religions

3: The Legendary Age of the Goddess

The Time of Unspoiled Nature and Uncorrupted Human Virtue The Relevance of Golden Ages and Paradise Myths The Legend Emerges as a Future Dream

4: The Original Partnership of Sexes

The Joint Creators The Founding Culture Heroes The Queen Mother The Female and Male Shamans Spiritual Teachers of the Opposite Sex The Ancient Ways of Family Life

5: Deities of Living Lands and Seas

The Women Behind the World The Community’s Representatives Before Nature Fighting the Forces of Nature The Community of All Creatures The Cause of Natural Conservation The Journey of All Beings Religious Doctrines of Life’s Organic Unity

6: The Goddess Realms of Prehistoric China

The Climate of Prehistoric China The South Sea Goddess Realm The Yangzi River Goddess Realm The Upper Yellow River Goddess Realm The Yellow River Flood Plain Goddess Realm

7: Confucian Myths of the Golden Age

The Legendary Emperors of Perfect Virtue The Selection of Servant Leaders Leadership in the Mythical Flood The Leadership of Those Willing to Learn The Law of the Village The Survival of Traditional Leadership

8: The Fall of Chinese Women

The Historical Defeat of Women, Chinese Style Xia Kings (ca. 2100 to 1700 BCE) The Shang (ca. 1700 to 1050 BCE) The Zhou Lords (ca. 1050 to 221 BCE) The First Emperor’s Dominator Dream The Villagers’ First Taste of Imperial Omnipotence The First Semi-Continental Peasant Revolution

9: The Goddesses’ Outlaws

The Greatest Tradition of Peasant Rebellion in the World The Goddesses of Justice The Good Criminals The Networks of Secret Societies The Return to Equality in Land

10: Women’s Powers in Popular Daoism

A Folklore of Women’s Spiritual Adventures Guanyin’s Fighting Daughter The Queen of the Seas The Possibilities for Deviant Women The Spiritual Journeys of Daoist Women The Dao of Sex Women in Primitive Daoism Female Teachers in the Age of Organized Daoism Daoism in the Dominator Age Realized Women of Institutional Daoism A Tradition Flying Under the Radar

11: How Women Changed Buddhism in China and Tibet

Making Buddhism Chinese The Female World Savior A Proliferation of Bodhisattvas and Dakinis “Right Sexuality” as a Spiritual Practice An Emerging Mythology of Compassion

12: Confucianism as a Cult of “Mamas’ Boys”

Men Who Respected Their Mothers’ Values The Past According to Confucius Turning Confucius into a Dominator Prophet The Battle for Confucianism’s Soul

13: Family Values in the Warlord Age, and Now

The Warlords’ Families Teaching the Villagers Proper Family Values The Warlord Women The Evolution of Family Law Under Barbarian Rulers Rival Traditions of Parenting A Legacy of Strong Women

14: Goddess Religions of the Modern and Planetary Age

Avenging Angels and Iron Girls of the Revolution Battle Lines of Modern Religious Life The War on Superstition Women’s Religion Resumes with a Bang, as Usual Will the Greatest Women’s Counterculture on Earth Please Stand Up

A Fragmentary Glossary of Goddesses and Divine Couples Sources Index Also by BRIAN GRIFFITH Praise Copyright Page