Kuan-yin: The Chinese Transformation of Avalokitesvara / Edition 1

by Chün-fang Yü

Overview

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 he became 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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780231120296
Publisher:	Columbia University Press
Publication date:	03/22/2001
Series:	Iaswr Series
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	688
Product dimensions:	9.00(w) x 6.10(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Chün-fang Yü is professor and chair of the Department of Religion at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. She is the author of The Renewal of Buddhism in China: Chu-hung and the Late Ming Synthesis (Columbia) and coeditor of Pilgrims and Sacred Sites in China.

Table of Contents

Preface
Appendixes
A. Stele Text of the "Life of the Great Compassionate One"
B. Chinese Women Pilgrims' Songs Glorifying Kuan-yin
Notes
Glossary and Index
1. Introduction
2. Scriptural Sources for the Cult of Kuan-yin
3. Indigenous Scriptures and the Cult of Kuan-yin
4.Miracle Tales and the Domestication of Kuan-yin
5. Divine Monks and the Domestication of Kuan-yin
6. Indigenous Iconographies and the Domestication of Kuan-yin
7. The Ritual of Great Compassion Repentance and the Domestication of the Thousand-handed and the Thousand-eyed Kuan-yin in the Sung
8. Princess Miao-shan and the Feminization of Kuan-yin
9. P'ut'o Shan: Pilgrimage and the Creation of the Chinese Potalaka
10. Feminine Forms of Kuan-yin in Late Imperial China
11. Venerable Mother: Kuan-yin and Sectarian Religions in Late Imperial China
12. Conclusion

What People are Saying About This

Victor H. Mair

Without a doubt, Kuan-yin will surely become the starting point for all future research on this extraordinarily popular Buddhist figure.... The book is sui generis for Buddhist Studies.

— Victor H. Mair, University of Pennsylvania

Wm. Theodore de Bary

A major contribution to our understanding of Kuan-yin (Kannon) in East Asian Buddhism, giving a most lucid account of the concept of the compassionate bodhisattva and of the religious practices devoted to this 'Goddess of Mercy'as she has become popularly known in the West.

— Wm. Theodore de Bary, John Mitchell Mason Professor Emeritus and Provost Emeritus, Columbia University

Editorial Reviews

A major case study of the Mahayana concept of upaya... excellent and comprehensive.

Journal of Religion

A major case study of the Mahayana concept of upaya... excellent and comprehensive.

Journal of Religion

A major contribution to our understanding of Kuan-yin (Kannon in East Asian Buddhism, giving a most lucid account of the concept of the compassionate bodhisattva and of the religious practices devoted to this 'Goddess of Mercy´ as she has become popularly known in the West.

William Theodore de Bary

Without a doubt, Kuan-yin will surely become the starting point for all future research on this extraordinarily popular Buddhist figure. . . . The book is sui generis for Buddhist Studies.

Victor H. Mair

Y<:u>'s massive, closely printed volume on the Buddhist bodhisattva of Compassion and the history of her transformation from an Indian identity as the Avalokite'svara, will be of interest to both specialists and non-specialists interested in the history and practice of Buddhism, particularly in China. Y<:u> (Rutgers U.) provides an account, based on lengthy research in China and the US, and including discussion of Kuan-yin imagery, of the scriptural sources for the cult; indigenous Chinese scriptures; domestication to China of Kuan- yin through miracle tales, monks, and indigenous iconographies; the ritual of great compassion repentance; the story of Princess Miao-shan and the feminization of Kuan-yin; pilgrimage and the creation of the Chinese Potalaka; and aspects of Kuan-yin in Late Imperial China. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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