Monday, December 05, 2011

Armed Buddhists and Warrior Women (quotes); Mexican Gun Laws

"T'ang was the high point of much poetry, and of Ch'an [Zen] Buddhist creativity, but it must be remembered that it was not peopled by effete scholars in flowing robes who detested violence. It was a time of hardy Northern derived gentry who were skilled horsepersons and archers and falconers, hard drinkers and fighters. Women were much freer then, and the custom of bound feet was yet to come."-- Gary Snyder, "'Wild' in China" (in The Gary Snyder Reader)

"Both my husband and I had revolvers, and wore them. All the Mexicans in the wilder parts of Mexico wear revolvers, and it is but the part of safety to do likewise."-- Mrs C William Beebe in Beebe's Two bird Lovers in Mexico (1905)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Nowadays in the wilder parts of Mexico (notably the Sinaloa-Durango border if one were out looking for Imperial woodpeckers) it would be the part of safety to carry an FN-D and bring along a company of Marines.