The tale of a devout Buddhist girl who separates from her family and through suffering and death finally achieves divine status is a myth of religious celibacy, of filial piety, and of ritual salvation of the dead. It also presents a major symbol of the tension in women's lives between individual spiritual fulfillment and the imperatives of family duty. This is a new edition of the first full study of this important and influential Chinese legend.
Myths and legends are deeply rooted in the world's literature, language, and history. But what does the phrase "Achilles heel" refer to, and what did Oedipus or Beowulf actually do? Gather round for enthralling stories of gods, danger, heroes, and great cosmic events. With over 1000 illustrations, Myths and Legends explores epic global stories, bringing to life the greatest creation myths of all time, such as that of Brahma and Vishnu, and the Inca god Viracocha. It brings you monstrous creatures and terrifying people including the witch Baba Yaga, as well as epic adventures such as King Arthur's search for the Holy Grail and Jason's capture of the Golden Fleece. It tells how the Masai first got their cattle, or how the Greeks discovered fire and shares legends that explain death, including the story of the Maori god Tane. Originally passed down from one generation to the next, these sagas from all over the world are part of our heritage and touch our hearts. Myths and Legends provides context and meaning to each one, and is a treasure trove for everyone interested in their cultural legacy.
The phrase “The Black Legend” was coined in 1912 by a Spanish journalist in protest of the characterization of Spain by other Europeans as a backward country defined by ignorance, superstition, and religious fanaticism, whose history could never recover from the black mark of its violent conquest of the Americas. Challenging this stereotype, Rereading the Black Legend contextualizes Spain’s uniquely tarnished reputation by exposing the colonial efforts of other nations whose interests were served by propagating the “Black Legend.” A distinguished group of contributors here examine early modern imperialisms including the Ottomans in Eastern Europe, the Portuguese in East India, and the cases of Mughal India and China, to historicize the charge of unique Spanish brutality in encounters with indigenous peoples during the Age of Exploration. The geographic reach and linguistic breadth of this ambitious collection will make it a valuable resource for any discussion of race, national identity, and religious belief in the European Renaissance.
The Legend of Queen Cāma ( Cāmadevīvaṃsa), an early fifteenth-century Pali chronicle written by Mahathera Bodhiraṃsi, recounts the story of the founding of the kingdom of Haripuñjaya in the Chiang Mai valley of Northern Thailand in the seventh century C.E. Similar to other Theravāda Pali chronicles, the legend integrates religious and political stories, namely, Queen Cāma's founding of a dynastic lineage and the fortunes of Buddhism within it. The Legend of Queen Cāma offers revealing insights into the nature of Buddhism as a living tradition during one of the greatest periods in the history of Thai Buddhism. These insights include the symbolic structure of Buddhist cosmology, the close association of Buddhism and the founding of city states, the interrelationship of popular Buddhist ethical teachings and devotional religion, and the inherently syncretic nature of Buddhism as presented in a text indebted to the folkloric traditions of Northern Thailand. One of the most striking features of the book is the parallelism between the text's dominant narratives--the Buddha's journey to Northern Thailand and his prediction of the discovery of a Buddha relic by King Adittaraja (eleventh century C.E.), and the founding by Queen Cāma of a lineage destined to govern Haripunjaya for five hundred years. The Buddha and Queen Cāma are equal partners in this creative, cosmically significant act. Both plant the seeds that mature into a Mon Buddhist politico-cultural center that predates the advent of Thai suzerainty in Northern Thailand by five hundred years.
