Kuan-yin The Chinese Transformation of Avalokitesvara The Institute for Advanced Studies of World Religions An Institute for Advanced Studies of World Religions book, sponsored by the Columbia University Committee on Asia and the Middle East IASWR Series Avatara: The Humanization of Philosophy Through the Bhagavad Gita, Antonio T. de Nicolás (Nicolas Hays, Ltd.) A Buddhist Leader in Ming China: The Life and Thought of Han-Shan Te-Ch’ing, by Sung-peng Hsu (The Pennsylvania State University Press) Buddhist Monastic Discipline: The Sanskrit Pratimokba Sutras of the Mahasagghikas and Mulasarvastivadins, Charles S. Prebish (The Pennsylvania State University Press) Hua-yen Buddhism: The Jewel Net of Indra, Francis H. Cook (The Pennsylvania State University Press) The Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti: A Mahayana Scripture, translated by Robert A. F. Thurman (The Pennsylvania State University Press) The Renewal of Buddhism in China: Chu-hung and the Late Ming Synthesis, Chün-fang Yü (Columbia University Press) Scripture of the Lotus Blossom of the Fine Dharma: The Lotus Sutra, translated by Leon Hurvitz (Columbia University Press) Sutra of the Past Vows of Earth Store Bodhisattva: The Collected Lectures of Tripitaka Master Hsüan Hua, translated by Bhikbu Heng Ching (The Buddhist Text Translation Society and the Sino-American Buddhist Association) The Syncretic Religion of Lin Chao-en, Judith A. Berling (Columbia University Press) A Treasury of Mahayana Sutras: Selections from the Maharatnakuta Sutra, translated by The Buddhist Association of the United States, Garma C. C. Chang, General Editor (The Pennsylvania State University Press) Kuan-y in T H E C H I N E S E T R A N S F O R M A T I O N O F A V A L O K I T E S V A R A Chün-fang Yü Co lu m b i a U n i ve r s i t y P re s s N e w Yo r k Disclaimer: Some images in the original version of this book are not available for inclusion in the eBook. Columbia University Press Publishers Since 1893 New York Chichester, West Sussex Copyright © 2001 Columbia University Press All rights reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Yü, Chün-fang, 1938— Kuan-yin : the Chinese transformation of Avalokitesvara / Chün-fang Yü. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0–231–12028–1 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 0–231–12029–X (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Avalokitesvara (Buddhist deity) I. Title II. Series. III. Series: Institute for Advanced Studies of World Religions. IASWR series BQ4710.A8 Y8 2000 294.3′4211—dc21 00–024015 Casebound editions of Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent and durable acid-free paper. Printed in the United States of America c 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 p 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Credits: Portions of chapters 6 and 10 appeared as “Guanyin: The Chinese Transformation of Avalokiteshvara,” in Marsha Weidner, ed., Latter Days of the Law: Images of Chinese Buddhism, 850–1850 (Lawrence, Kan.: Spencer Museum of Art and the University of Kansas in Association with the University of Hawaii Press, 1994), 151–81. A section of chapter 8 was used in “The Cult of Kuan-yin in Ming-Ch’ing China: A Case of Confucianization of Buddhism?” in Irene Bloom and Joshua Vogel, eds., Meeting of the Minds (New York: Columbia University Press, 1997), 144–74. An earlier version of chapter 9 appeared as “P’u-t’o Shan: Pilgrimage and the Creation of Chinese Potolaka,” in Susan Naquin and Chün-fang Yü, eds., Pilgrims and Sacred Places in China (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1992), 190–245. An earlier version of Appendix A will appear in Susan Mann and Yu-ying Cheng, eds., Under Confucian Eyes (Berkeley: University of California Press, forthcoming). A portion of Appendix B appeared as “Chinese Women Pilgrims’ Songs Glorifying Guanyin,” in Donald S. Lopez, Jr., ed. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995), 179–80. To Chi-chen Wang (1911– ), my mother and also my first teacher Contents • • • • • • • • • Preface ix Maps 28, 29, 372 1. Introduction 1 2. Scriptural Sources for the Cult of Kuan-yin 31 3. Indigenous Chinese Scriptures and the Cult of Kuan-yin 93 4. Miracle Tales and the Domestication of Kuan-yin 151 5. Divine Monks and the Domestication of Kuan-yin 195 6. Indigenous Iconographies and the Domestication of Kuan-yin 223 7. The Ritual of Great Compassion Repentance and the Domestication of the Thousand-handed and Thousand-eyed Kuan-yin in the Sung 263 8. Princess Miao-shan and the Feminization of Kuan-yin 293 9. P’u-t’o Shan: Pilgrimage and the Creation of the Chinese Potalaka 353 10. Feminine Forms of Kuan-yin in Late Imperial China 407 11. Venerable Mother: Kuan-yin and Sectarian Religions in Late Imperial China 449 12. Conclusion 487 Appendixes A. Stele Text of the “Life of the Great Compassionate One” 495 B. Chinese Women Pilgrims’ Songs Glorifying Kuan-yin 505 Notes 511 Bibliography 555 Glossary and Index 595 Preface • • • • • • • • • This book has taken me a long time to write. Many individuals, institutions, and funding agencies have helped me in my intellectual and physical journeys in carrying out the research necessary for this book. Before I thank them and acknowledge my indebtedness and gratitude, I would like to say a few words about why I decided to undertake this project in the first place, for this is a question that I have been asked many times over the years. The importance of Kuan-yin in Chinese and indeed East Asian Buddhism is obvious to anyone familiar with these cultures and, with the increasing interest in New Age spiri- tuality since the 1970s, even modern Americans have come to know her name. Despite the great fame of Kuan-yin, however, there have been surprisingly few comprehensive studies on this bodhisattva. Japanese and Western scholarly works have tended to concentrate on certain art historical or textual aspects. My interest in Kuan-yin comes from my maternal grandmother. Growing up in China during World War II, I moved with my family a great deal, from north to central China, and finally to the western provinces. Like most Chinese families in those years of great turmoil and deprivation, children shared bed- rooms with parents and sometimes with grandparents. I always slept in the same room with my maternal grandmother, who was a devout Buddhist. She was usually the first person in the household to get up each morning. After her morning toiletries, her day began with offering incense to the white porcelain statue of Kuan-yin holding a baby, chanting the Great Compassion Dharahi, and reciting her personal prayers. Sometimes she would talk to Kuan-yin about matters worrying her. Kuan-yin was indeed the “Goddess of Mercy” to my grandmother, who regarded her as both savior and confidant. Although my