IN THE
REALM
OF THE
GODS
LANDS, MYTHS, AND LEGENDS OF CHINA
Victoria
Cass
It has been
said that one cannot know the
direction in which a country is
headed without first knowing
where it came from. With a cloud
of chatter as thick as that
currently surrounding China, it
is easy to lose site of the
complexity and vibrant history
that form the cultural fabric of
this great nation.
In her new book In The Realm
of the Gods: Lands, Myths, and
Legends of China, Victoria
Cass provides readers with a
primer of Chinese myth that
enhances their knowledge of
Chinese history through an
extensive review of the myth and
folklore that has been shared by
countless generations of
storytellers. Cass’s beautiful
new book is broken into four
sections with myths that have
defined the cultural history of
each major region of China, from
the fertile Yangtze Delta to the
Himalayas at the nation’s
Southern barrier.
Cass augments the power of each
tale with vibrant photographs
taken from throughout the region
in which each myth originated.
While conducting research for
the book, Cass traveled
extensively in China to meet
with photographers to gather the
stunning photographs for this
book. The combination of
photography and stories in In
The Realm of the Gods allows
readers to glimpse back through
Chinese history and understand
how the physical and cultural
geography of China are at the
root of its most popular legends
of the natural and supernatural.
Reviews:
"Cass brings China’s mythic
landscape to life. These stories
draw the reader into a
quintessentially Chinese dimension
that hovers over a magical landscape
where ordinary mortals confront
extraordinary powers. This is a
journey into the psyche of eternal
China."
-- Christine Mathieu,
Co-Author of
Leaving Mother Lake: A
Girlhood a the Edge of the Worldly
"Cass has created a near perfect
marriage of image and text in her
delightful retelling of Chinese
myths and folklore, situated in
their places of origin…A true
pleasure to read."
-- Howard Goldblatt and Sylvia
Li-chun Lin, Translators of
Alai, Red Poppies
About the Author:
Victoria Cass
is a scholar specializing in the
religions and literature of China.
She received her Masters in Far
Eastern Languages and Literatures
from Yale University and her
Doctorate from the University of
California, Berkeley. She has
published and lectured on the
vernacular literatures of China, on
women in Chinese myth and religion
and on popular micro-cultures of
traditional China. Her book
Dangerous Women, Warriors, Grannies
and Geishas of the Ming was
published in 1999. Victoria Cass has
studied and worked in China since
1963, when she first studied
Mandarin Chinese at the Mandarin
Language Institute and lived with a
Chinese family. Since then she has
completed additional language
studies, graduate work, research
projects and employment in China.
For this project she traveled to
Shanghai, Beijing, Suzhou and
Chongqing to meet with photographers
to gather images for the book.
