Malaysian history inspired author Carol Jones' ‘The Concubine’s Child’

Four years ago, Australian author Carol Jones was visiting a Buddhist temple in Guangzhou, China. There, she came across an unusual sight: An old woman cursing loudly as she angrily tossed moon blocks (jiaobei blocks), which are wooden divination tools used to ask Chinese deities questions.

“She was really, really angry. She was speaking in Hokkien or some other dialect, so I asked a guide, and he told me that she was angry with (the goddess) Guan Yin for not giving her the right answer she wanted about her son and his future,” recalls Jones, 61.