Kuan-Yin

by Yu, Chun-Fang

• ISBN13: 9780231120296
• ISBN10: 023112029X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-07-01
• Publisher: Columbia Univ Pr

Summary

By far one of the most important objects of worship in the Buddhist traditions, the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara is regarded as the embodiment of compassion. He has been widely revered throughout the Buddhist countries of Asia since the early centuries of the Common Era. While he was closely identified with the royalty in South and Southeast Asia, and the Tibetans continue to this day to view the Dalai Lamas as his incarnations, in China hebecame a she-- Kuan-yin, the "Goddess of Mercy" -- and has a very different history. The causes and processes of this metamorphosis have perplexed Buddhist scholars for centuries.In this groundbreaking, comprehensive study, Chün-fang Yü discusses this dramatic transformation of the (male) Indian bodhisattva Avalokitesvara into the (female) Chinese Kuan-yin -- from a relatively minor figure in the Buddha's retinue to a universal savior and one of the most popular deities in Chinese religion.Focusing on the various media through which the feminine Kuan-yin became constructed and domesticated in China, Yü thoroughly examines Buddhist scriptures, miracle stories, pilgrimages, popular literature, and monastic and local gazetteers -- as well as the changing iconography reflected in Kuan-yin's images and artistic representations -- to determine the role this material played in this amazing transformation. The book eloquently depicts the domestication of Kuan-yin as a case study of the indigenization of Buddhism in China and illuminates the ways this beloved deity has affected the lives of all Chinese people down the ages.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Maps	28
Introduction	1	(30)
Scriptural Sources for the Cult of Kuan-yin	31	(62)
Indigenous Chinese Scriptures and the Cult of Kuan-yin	93	(58)
Miracle Tales and the Domestication of Kuan-yin	151	(44)
Divine Monks and the Domestication of Kuan-yin	195	(28)
Indigenous Inconographies and the Domestication of Kuan-yin	223	(40)
The Ritual of Great Compassion Repentance and the Domestication of the Thousand-handed and Thousand-eyed Kuan-yin in the Sung	263	(30)
Princess Miao-shan and the Feminization of Kuan-yin	293	(60)
P'u-t'o Shan: Pilgrimage and the Creation of the Chinese Potalaka	353	(54)
Feminine Forms of Kuan-yin in Late Imperial China	407	(42)
Venerable Mother: Kuan-yin and Sectarian Religions in Late Imperial China	449	(38)
Conclusion	487	(24)
Appendixes
A. Stele Text of the ``Life of the Great Compassionate One''	495	(10)
B. Chinese Women Pilgrims' Songs Glorifying Kuan-yin	505	(6)
Notes	511	(44)
Bibliography	555	(40)
Index and Glossary	595