Ambiguity of Avalokites'vara and Scriptural Sources for the Cult of Kuen-yin in China
Yu Chun-fang
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¶409-464
¶409
Ambiguity of Avalokites'vara and Scriptural
Sources for the Cult of Kuen-yin in China
Yu Chun-fang
Associate Professor, Rutgers University
Summary
The bodhisattva Kuan-yin is also known as Kuan-
shih-yin or Kuan-tzu-tsai, among other names.The
bodhisattva is described as princely and heroic in
some scriptures, although in the Lotus Suutra there is
reference to his feminine manifestations.The paper
discusses the ambiguies of the bodhisattva's name,
gender, and status by examining the main scriptural
sources for the cult of Kuan-yin as developed in
China.Important sutras such as the Lotus, the
SurangamaL, the Pure Land Kuan ching as well as a
few esoteric sutras will be discussed.Distinctive
beliefs shall be examined together with ritual
practices as well as art historical evidences.A
comparison between the popular "33 forms of Kuan-yin "
with those mentioned in the scriptures will be made
in order to suggest some possible processes through
which this originally Indic bodhisattva became
transformed into the Chinese "Goddess of Mercy".
Key words: 1.Kuang-shih-yin 2.Kuan-shih-yin
3.Kuan-tzu-tsai4.Kuan-yin
5.thirty-three manifestations
¶410
Avalokites'vara is commonly known as Kuan-yin (
Perceiver of Sounds) or Kuan-shih-yin (perceiver of
the World's Sounds) in China.(1) A Chinese saying aptly
describes the great popularity of this savior
bodhisattva: "Everybody knows how to chant
A-mi-t'o-fo [Amitabha], and every household worships
Kuan-yin."
Neither Kuan-yin nor Kuan-shih-yin, however,
corresponds to Avalokites'vara, but rather to
Avalokitas'vara, a name not used in the Buddhist
world.That was why Hsuþõan-tsang (602-64) considered
them as mistakes and suggested the right translation
as Kuan-tzu- tsai (the Perceiving Lord).In a note
explaining the name of the bodhisattva which he
transliterated as "A-fu-lu-che-t'o-i-shih-fan-lo" in
his Records of the Western Regions (Ta T'ang hsi-yu
chi, T. no. 2087), Hsuan-tsang said, "This means in
Chinese 'Kuan-tzu-tsai '. While 'a-fu-lu
che-t'o'[Avalokita] means 'Kuan'(perceiving),
'i-shih-fan-lo'[isvara] means'tzu-tsai'(lord).The old
translations of 'Kuang-shih-yin (Illuminator of the
World's sounds), ' Kuan-shih-yin' or 'Kuan-shih
Tzu-tsai' are all wrong."(T. 51: 883b). Hsuþõan-tsang
therefore used kuan-tzu-tsai in all the sutras he
translated, including the Heart Suutra, a
scripture as important to Chinese Buddhists as the
Lotus Suutra, in which the bodhisattva is called
Kuan-shih-yin.Because of the great authority and
prestige of these two scriptures, both names have
become familiar to Buddhists in China, although they
have consistently preferred Kuan-shih-yin or
Kuan-yin.But which name is the "correct"
translation of the Sanskrit name of the bodhisattva?
Was Hsuþõan-tsang right in rejecting the earlier
translations as wrong?
Aside from the ambiguity of the name, we are
also confronted with the ambiguity of the
bodhisattva's "forms" and gender.Since the period of
Five Dynasties, around the 10th century, Kuan-yin
has been increasingly represented as a feminine deity
(Yu 1994).Beginning with the Ming (1368-1644), if not
earlier, sets of paintings depicting Kuan-yin in
different forms, be they five, thirty-two, or
¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w
1 These are the translations given by Burton Watson
in his The Lotus Sutra(New York: Columbia
University Press, 1993 ).Leon Hurvitz, on
the other hand, translated the two terms as
"Sound Observer" and "He Who Observes the Sounds
of the World" in his Scripture of the Lotus
Blossom of the Fine Dharma (New York: Columbia
University Press, 1976).Both were based on
Kumarajiva's Chinese version translated in 406.
¶411
fifty-three have been created (a point tobe discussed
later).There is also the expression "thirty-three
forms of Kuan-yin" in Sino-Japanese Buddhist
art.(2) These multiple forms of bodhisattva are
supposed to be illustrations of the
thirty-three manifestations of Kuan-yin in the Lutus
suutra, or the thirty-two in the Surangama
suutra.But they in fact do not bear much
resemblances to the scriptural sources, as we
shall see later.
A final ambiguity is Kuan-yin's status.Although
most scriptures refer to Kuan-yin as bodhisattva,
some, however, present a different view.The Pei-hua
ching (Karandapundarika, T. no. 157), a sutra
translated during 397-439, tells a story stressing
the father-son relationship between Amitabha and
Avalokites'vara.When Amitabha was a cakravatin in the
past, he had 1000 sons, the eldest was named
Pu-hsiun.When the latter became a monk, he took the
name Avalokites'vara.In the future, when Buddha
Amitabha enters into nirvana, Avalokites'vara would
succeed him and will be known as "Universal Light-
issuing Tathagatha King of Merit
Mountain"(Pien-ch'u I-ch'ieh Kuang- ming
Kung-te-shan-wang Julai, T. 3: 185c-186b).The same
idea is found in Kuan-yin-shou-chi-ching (Sutra of
Avalokites'vara receiving prediction, T. no. 371)
which was translated into Chinese during 420-479.It
is stated there that when Amitabha passes away,
Avalokites'vara will succeed him and he will be known
as "Tathagata King of Merit Mountain of Universal
Light"(T. 12 : 357a), a title similar to the one
above.The close relationship between Amitabha and
¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w
2 They are: ™A Willow-branch, ™B Dragon -head, ™C
Sutra-holding, ™D Circle of Light, ™E Royal
Ease, ™FWhite-robe, ™G Lotus-reclining, ™H
Waterfall-gazing, ™IMedicine-giving, ™J Fish-
basket, ™K Virtuous-King (Brahma), ™L Water-moon,
™M One Leaf, ™N Blue-necked, ™O Awe-inspiring
(heavenly general), ™P Life- lengthening, ™Q
Many Jewels, ™RCave-dwelling, ™S Calm and
Serene, ™T Anu, ™UAbhetti, ™V Parnasvari, ™W
Vaidurya, ™X Tara, ™Y Clam, ™Z Six Periods, ™[
Universal Compassion, ™\ Wife of Mr Ma, ™]
Anjali, ™^ True Suchness, ™_ Non-dual, ™`
Lotus-holding, ™a Water- sprinkling.Goto,
Kanzeon Bosatsu no kenkyu, pp. 170þû182.He uses
anthologies of Buddhist iconographies and provides
commentaries on each of these forms.This list
contains a mixture of allusions to the Lotus
esoteric scriputres, and Chinese
indigendous legends about Kuan-yin.
¶412
Avalokites'vara might be the reason why the Ta-le
chin-kang pu-kung chen-shi san-mei ye ching pan-jo
p'o-lo-mi-t'i li-chu shih (T. no. 1003), an
esoteric sutra translated by Amoghavajra
(705-774), equates the two and regards them as
manifestations of the same reality."A dharmata
tathagata who has realized the pure self-nature is
just another name for Perceiving Lord Tathagata King (
Kuan-tzu-tsi Wang Ju-lai).He is also no other than
Amitayus.When he is active in the pure and wondrous
buddha land, he manifests in the body of the
buddha.But when he dwells in the polluted
samsaric world during the five kasaya periods of
decay, he appears as Avalokites'vara bodhisattva"(T.
19: 612a).On the other hand, there are also sutras
which see the bodhisattva as a buddha independent of
his relationship with Amitayus ¢A Amitabha.Another
esoteric sutra translated by Amoghavajra,
Ta-fang-kuang Man-chu-shih-li ching (T. no. 1101),
for instance, predicts that Avalokites’Rvara will
become a buddha known as "Tathagata Universal
Ilumination of Equal Brightness"(Ping-teng
Kuang-ming p'u-cho ju-lai, T. 20: 450b)without
mentioning the other buddha.A third and certainly most
radical view is that Avalokites'vara was already a
buddha in the past under whom Sakyamuni Buddha
studied. Sakyamuni Buddha declares in
Ch'ien-kuang-yen-Kuan-tzu-tsai P'usa pi-mi fa-ching
(Sutra of secret method taught by Bodhisattva
Perceiving Lord of Thousand Shining Eyes, T. no.
1065), a sutra translated during the T'ang,
I remember that in the past Bodhisattva Perceiving
Lord became a buddha before I.His name was
Brightness of True Dharma (Cheng-fa-ming).I was a
disciple of ascetic practices under him.Because
of his instruction I eventually became a
buddha.All tathagatas of the ten directions
achieve the Supreme Way and turn the wheel of
wonderful law in all the wondrous buddha lands as
a result of receiving instructions from him (T.
20: 121a).
The idea that Avalokites'vara was already a buddha
long ago and is right now appearing as a bodhisattva
in order to save beings is expressed enigmatically by
the two sharing the same name as stated in the
Surangana:
¶413
I still remember that long before numbers of
aeons countless as the sand grains in the Ganges,
a Buddha called Avalokites'vara appeared in the
world.When I was with Him, I developed the Bodhi
Mind and, for my entry into Samadhi, I was
instructed by Him to pracise meditation by the
organ of hearing (Luk 135).
It is a great paradox that although Kuan-yin is
probably the best known and most beloved Buddhist
savior in China, it is not at all clear that we know
him / her that well.There are indeed a number of
ambiguities about this bodhisattva in the case of
China.
I have chosen to discuss in this paper
the scriptural sources for the cult of Kuan-yin in
China in the hope that some of the ambiguities
can be reduced.For in the introduction and
dissemination of the faith in this
bodhisattva, scriptures definitely played an
important role.But the Chinese did not simply adhere
to the scriptural depictions and definitions of
Kuan-yin, nor did they strictly follow the scriptural
stipulations and directions for worshiping Kuan
-yin, for otherwise there would not have been any
Chinese transformation.On the other hand, I would
argue that many of the changes can still be explained
on the basis of some scriptural sources.Even
the indigenous scriptures were not created out
of thin air, but are elaborations or modifications
of some famous sutras such as the Lotus(Yu
1995).It is in examining the innovations and comparing
them with the scriptural models that we can begin to
trace both the sources and the development of the
cult of Kuan-yin in China.
The Chinese Names of Avalokites'vara
Chronologically, the names of the bodhisattva
appeared as Kuan-yin, Kuang-shih-yin, Kuan-shih-yin,
Kuan- shih Tzu-tsai and finally
Kuan-tzu-tsai.Kuan-yin was mentioned in a list of
attending bodhisattvas in the Cheng-chu Kuang-ming
ting-yi ching (Sutra on achieving the brilliant
concentration of mind, T no. 630), a sutra belonging
to the Perfection of Wisdom group, translated by
Chih-yao, a Central Asian, in 185.When Sanghavarma
translated Wu-liang-shou ching (Sutra of Amitayus,
T. no. 360), one of the scriptures glorifying Pure
Land in 252, he translated the name as Kuan-shih- yin,
who, together with Ta-shih-chih
¶414
(Mahasthamaprapta), are the twoforemost
bodhisattvas.It is obvious that Kuan-yin was not a
contraction of Kuan-shih-yin made in the T'ang in
order to avoid the taboo name of Emperor T'ai-tsung
(r. 627-49), Li Shih-min, as some Chinese scholars
including Ting Fu-pao (1874-1952), the compiler of
a dictionary of Buddhist terms claimed (Tay 17).It
is also clear, as Goto Daiyo pointed out, that
Kumarajiva was not the first translator who used
Kuan-shih-yin, for he did not translate the Lotus
Suutra until 406, some one hundred fifty years later
(Goto 4).In these two earliest sutras where the
bodhisattva is mentioned, there is no explanation
about the meaning of the name.For that, we have to
turn to the Lotus Suutra.
The Lotus Suutra was translated into Chinese six
times, and three have survived. The first is Cheng
fa-hua ching(Sutra of the lotus of the true law, T.
no. 263) , translated by Dharmaraksa, a native
of Yuþõeh-chih (Bactria) in 286.Chapter 23 is
entitled "Universal Gateway"(P'u-men) and is devoted
to Avalokites'vara who is called Kuang-shih-yin
(Illuminator of the World 's Sounds), a savior who
delivers people from seven perils, frees them from the
three poisons of lust, hatred and ignorance, and
grants infertile women either sons or daughters.The
relevant passage concerning the name states:
The Buddha told the Bodhisattva Inexhaustible
Intent, "If sentient beings encounter
hundreds, thousands, millions difficulties and
disasters and their sufferings are unlimited, they
will be delivered right away when they hear the
name of Kuang-shih-yin and be free from all
pain.That is why he is called Kuang-shih-yin.If
someone keeps the name in his heart and falls into
a fire which rages through the hills and fields,
burning forests, shrubs and houses, the fire
will immediately die down when he hears the name
of Kuang-shih- yin.If a person enters into a
river and becomes frightened because of the swift
current, when he calls the name of Kuang-shih-yin
and takes refuge in him single-mindedly, the
authority and supernatural power of the
bodhisattva will protect him from drowning
and enable him to reach safety.[This is followed
by the bodhisattva's saving people from the
perils of winds, weapons, demons, imprisonment
and robbers, all resulting from calling his
name.]The realm of Kuang-
¶415
shih-yin is without limit because it has his
authority, supernatural power and
merit.Because he is full of illuminating light
(Kuang), he is therefore called Kuang-shih-yin (T.
9: 129a).
This earliest surviving version of the Lotus
Suutra makes it clear that hearing and calling the
name of the bodhisattva are the chief reason the
faithful is saved, and that the bodhisattva is
closely associated with light.As John Holt noted in
Buddha in the Crown , one of the most distinctive
feature of Avalokites'vara is indeed the strong
presence of the light symbolism (Holt 31-34).But
it leaves the connection between the bodhisattva
and "sound" unspecified.The next surviving
translation of the sutra known as Mio-fa lien-hua
ching (Sutra of the lotus flower of the wonderful
law, T. no. 262), made by Kumarajiva, the famous
translator from Kucha, in 406, as well as the third
version known as Tien-pin mio-fa lien-hua ching (Sutra
of the lotus flower of the wonderful law with an
additional chapter, T. no. 264) translated by
Jnanagupta and Dharmagupta in 601 removed the
uncertainty.Both versions give the name of the
bodhisattva as Kuan-shih-yin (Perceiver of the World's
Sounds).The "Universal Gateway" is chapter 25 in
Kumarajiva's translation and Chapter 24 in
Jnanagupta-Dharmagupta's version.Originally, neither
Kumarajiva's nor Dharmaraksa's version contains the
gatha section at the end of the chapter.It is
found only in the translation made by Jnanagupta and
Dharmagupta.Of the three, Kumarajiva's translation
has always been the most popular version in China,
and therefore the gatha section was added to his
version from the latter.When the Buddha is asked by
Bodhisattva Inexhaustible Intent why Kuan-shih-yin
is called this name, the Buddha answers, "Good man,
suppose there a re immeasurable hundreds,
thousands, ten thousands, millions of living beings
who are undergoing various trials and suffering.If
they hear of this bodhisattva Perceiver of the
World's Sounds and single- mindedly call his name,
then at once he will perceive the sound of their
voices and they will all gain deliverance from their
trials"(Watson 298-9, italics mine).Here, just as we
read before, the only requirement for a person to be
saved is to call the name of the bodhisattva.A crucial
sentence which I underline above, however, is
missing in Dharmaraksa's translation: the
bodhisattva's perceiving of the sound uttered by
those who call his
¶416
name.The name "Kuan-shih-yin" now makes perfect
sense.On the other hand, the light symbolism connected
with him is still intact.The gatha praises the
bodhisattva thus:
He of the true gaze, the pure gaze,
the gaze of great and encompassing wisdom,
the gaze of pity, the gaze of compassion----
constantlywe implore him, constantly look up in
reverence.
His pure light, free of blemish,
is a sun of wisdom dispelling all darknesses.
He can quell the wind and fire of misfortune
and everywhere bring light to the world.
...........
Perceiver of the World's Sounds, pure sage----
to those in suffering, in danger of death,
he can offer aid and support.
Endowed with all benefits, he views living beings
with compassionate eyes (Watson 305¡ã306).
Chinese commentators interpretated the name by
emphasizing the connection between the bodhisattva's
perception or observation and the sounds made by
the faithful who called out his name.Seng-chao
(374-414), a brilliant disciple of Kumarajiva, wrote
in his Commentary on the Vimalakirti Suutra
Kumarajiva said that when anyone meets danger,
he / she should call the name and takes refuge in
the bodhisattva.As the bodhisattva perceives the
sounds, the person will receive deliverance.He is
also named Kuan-shih-nien (Perceiver of the
World's Thoughts), or Kuan-tzu-tsai (Perceiving
Lord)(Wan-tzu hsuþõ-tsang-ching 27: 350a).
It is interesting to note that Kumarajiva knew
that the bodhisattva was also called Kuan-tzu-tsai,
but used the other name in his translation
instead.Chi-tsang (549-629), the founder of the
Three treatise School, wrote a commentary on the
¶417
Lotus and explained the name Kuan-shih-yin this way:
"Kuan is the wisdom which can perceive and shih- yin
is the realm which is perceived.When realm and
wisdom are mentioned together, we have the name
Kuan-shih-yin"(T. 34: 624c).He also repeated an
earlier commentator Fa-yun (467-529)'s elaborate
four-fold scheme of interpreting the name. In his
commentary on the Lotus, Fa-yun says,
Kuan-shih-yin may be named four ways.The first
is Kuan-shih-yin which means that he delivers by
perceiving the sounds of the world.The second is
Kuan-shih-shen [body] which means that he
delivers by perceiving the bodily karma of the
sentient beings. The third is Kuan-shih-yi
[intentions ] which means that he delivers by
perceiving the mental karma of the sentient
beings. The fourth is Kuan-shih-yeh [karma]
which contains the previous three names.If you
ask me why we only use the name Kuan-shih-yin, my
answer is that to create karma by speech is easy,
but to do good with regard to body and intention
is hard.Moreover, in the Saha world of ours, we
usually worship the Buddha with our voices.That is
why Kuan-shih-yin becomes the established
name"(Wan-tzu hsu-tsang ching 42: 37la).
The Kuan-wu-liang-shou Fo ching (Visualization of
the Buddha Amitayus sutra, T. 365 ), translated by
Kalayasas, a monk from the western regions, in 430,
has always been considered one of the three main
scriptures of the Pure Land School (together with the
Greater Sukhavativyuha and the Smaller Sukhavativyuha
sutras).This sutra offers sixteen topics for
visualization which is the meaning of Kuan.The tenth
topic deals specifically with the visualization of
Kuan-shih-yin.The passage instructs the meditator to
visualize the bodhisattva's features in such great
detail that some scholars have suggested that it
might be based on the model of an actual image (Pas
38). The minute icongraphical description, on the
other hand, serves as a standard for later artistic
rendition and identification of the bodhisattva. The
light symbolism which is already present in the Louts
receives even stronger emphasis.
Within the circle of light emanating from his
whole body, appear illuminated the various forms and
marks of all beings that live in the five paths
of existence.
¶418
On top of his head is a heavenly crown of gems like
those fastened (on Indra's head), in which crown there
is a transformed Buddha standing, twenty-five yojanas
high. ......The soft hair between the eyebrows has
the colour of the seven jewels, from which eighty-
four kinds of rays flow out, each ray has
innumerable transformed Buddhas, each of whom is
attended by numberless transformed Bodhisattvas;
freely changing their manifestations they fill up the
worlds of the ten quarters; ( their appearance) can
be compared with the colour of the real lotus-flower.
(He wears) a garland consisting of eighty-thousand
yays, in which is seen fully reflected a state of
perfect beauty.The palm of his hand has a mixed colour
of five thousand lotus-flowers.His hands have ten
(tips of) fingers, each tip has eighty-four
thousand pictures, which are like signet-marks, each
picture has eighty-four thousand rays which are soft
and mild and shine over all things that exist.When
he lifts up his feet, the soles of his feet are seen
to be marked with a wheel of a thousand spokes (one of
the thirty- two signs) which miraculously transform
themselves into five hundred million pillars of
rays.
Buddha, especially addressing Aananda,said,
Whoever wishes to meditate on Bodhisattva
Avalokites'vara, must do so in the way I have
explained.Those who practise this meditation
will not suffer any calamity; they will
utterly remove the obstacle that is raised by
Karma, and will expiate the sins which would
involve them in births and deaths for numberless
kalpas. Even the hearing of the name of this
bodhisattva will enable one to obtain
immeasurable happiness. How much more will the
diligent contemplation of him! (Takakusu
182-184)
This sutra is one of six visualization sutras
which originated in Central Asia, probably Turfan,
and translated into Chinese from the end of the
fourth to the middle of the fifth century.(3) All of
them teach the practitioner to engage in
¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w
3 The other five are Kuan Hsu-k'ung-tsang pu'sa
ching (Sutra on Visualizing the Bodhisattva
Akasgarbha, T. 409), Foshuo Kuan-Fo san-mei hai
ching (Sutra on the Sea of Mystic Ecstacy by
Visualizing the Buddha, T. 643), Fo Syo kuan
Mi-lo P'u-sa shang-sheng Tu-shuai-t'ien ching
(Sutra of Meditation on Maitreya
Bodhisattva's Rebirth on High in the Tusita
Heaven, T. 452),Fo shui kuan P'u-hsien P'u-sa
hsing-fa
¶419
visualization so that a vision of the buddha or
bodhisattva can be created. Mental concentration,
not calling of the holy name, is therefore the central
focus. The obtaining of the divine vision gurantees
the meditator's salvation.Kuan in this case is
better understood as contemplation or
visualization than observation, perception, or
investigation.
The Shou leng-yen ching (Surangama suutra, T.
no.945), translated by Paramiti in 705, also calls
the bodhisattva Kuan-shih-yin or Kuan-yin, but offers
a different explanation for the name.It provides yet a
third meaning of Kuan. The bodhisattva began by
describing how he obtained samadhi by meditating on
the organ of hearing as instructed by a buddha also
named Kuan-shih-yin under whom he studied:
At first by directing the organ of hearing into
the stream of meditation, this organ was detached
from its object, and by wiping out (the
concept of) both sound and stream-entry, both
disturbance and stillness became clearly
non-existent.Thus advancing step by step both
hearing and its object ceased completely, but I
did not stop where they ended.When the awareness
of this state and this state itself were realized
as non-existent, both subject and object merged
into the void, the awareness of which became
all-embracing.With further elimination of the void
and its object both creation and annihilation
vanished giving way to the state of Nirvana which
then manifested (Luk 135).
The sound mentioned here in the meditation is
not that made by the faithful who cry out his name,
but any sound which, when examined (Kuan) with
penetrating insight, leads to the realization of
sunyata.Although the bodhisattva saves beings from
various dangers and grants fourteen kinds of
fearlessness in
¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w
on the Practice of Visualizing the Bodhisattva
Samantabhadra, T. 277), Fo Shuo Kuan Yao-wang
Yao-shang erh P'u-sa ching (Sutra Spoken by the
Buddha on Visualizing the Two
Bodhisattvas Bhaisajyaraja and
Bhaisajyasaudgata, T. 1161). Pas, Visions of
Sukhavati , pp.42¡ã43.
¶420
this sutra, the reason he can do so is different from
that given in the Lotus. "Since I myself do not
meditate on sound but on the meditator, I cause all
suffering beings to look into the sound of their
voices in order to obtain liberation" (Luk 139).(
4) The bodhisattva concludes by once more linking his
name to his meditation on hearing: "That Buddha
praised my excellent method of perfection and gave
me, in the presence of the assembly, the name of
Kuan-shih-yin. Because of my all-embracing (absolute
function of) hearing, my name is known everywhere"
(Luk 142).In the Surangama suutra, therefore, Kuan
is understood neither as perceiving and responding
to the cries for help uttered by the faithful, nor
visualizing the divine visage of the bodhisattva,
but as investigating the real nature of sound and
realizing it as being void.
Let us continue with the survey of the
chronological appearance of the bodhisattva's names.
Bodhiruci combined the two names and called the
bodhisattva Kuan-shih-tzu-tsi (The Lord Who Observes
the World) in Fa-hua ching-lun (Treatise on the Lotus
suutra , T. no. 1520) which he translated in 508.The
name Kuan-tzu -tsai, was used for the first time in
Ta-Pan-jo p'o-lo mi-lo-t'o ching (The great
Prajna-paramita suutra, T no. 220) translated by
Hsuan-tsang in 663, and the eighty-volume version of
Hua-yen ching (avatamsaka suutra, T. no.279)
translated by Siksananda in 695¡ã699.K'uei-chi (632¡ã
682), Hsuþõan-tsang's chief disciple, provided an
explanation for the name in his Pan-jo hsin-ching
yu-tsan (Profound eulogy on the Heart Suutra) and,
following his own master, condemed the older name
Kuan- shih-yin as wrong:
[The bodhisattva] practised the six perfections in
the past and has now obtained the fruit of
perfection.Because he is formost in observing
¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w
4 Charles Luk comments on this passage: "By
discarding the sound to look into the
meditator himself, that is into the nature
of hearing, he disengages himself from both
organs and sense data and thereby realized his
all-embracing Buddha nature which contains all
living beings.By developing their pure faith in
him and by calling his name, or
concentrating on him, they achieve singleness
of mind that mingles with his Budhi substance and
become one with him; hence their liberation from
sufferings which do not exist in the
absolute state."The Surangama Suutra, p. 139.
¶421
everything with wisdom, he has now accomplished
ten kinds of mastery (tzu-tsai).First, he has
mastery over life-span because he can either
prolong or shorten his life.Second, he has
mastery over mind, for he is untainted by
life and death.Third, he has mastery over wealth,
for he can materialize it whenever he so desires
and this is the result of his perfection in
giving.Fourth, he has mastery over karma, for he
only does good deed and encourages others to do
the same.Fifth, he has mastery over life, for
he can go wherever he pleases and this is the
result of his perfection in discipline.Sixth, he
is the master of superior understanding, for he
can change into whatever he so pleases and this is
the result of his perfection in patience.Seventh,
he is a master of vows, for he can establish
happily whatever he perceives and this is the
result of his perfection in vigor.Eighth, he is
a master of supernatural power, for he is fully
endowed with paranormal abilities resulting from
his perfection in samadhi.Ninth, he is a master of
insight, for while following words and sounds he
penetrates into the wisdom. Tenth, he has
mastery over Dharma, for his understanding always
accords with the scriptures and this is the result
of his perfection in wisdom.His position is
next in line to become the buddha, but his
realization is the same as the buddha. There is
no obscure place that he does not illuminate.He
is thus called Kuan-tzu-tsai (Perceiving Master,
or Master of Observation).If one calls him
Kuan-yin, both the word and the meaning are lost
(Wan-tzu hsu-tsang ching 41:439a).
Why did translators give this bodhisattva two
different names? Despite the criticisms of Hsuþõ
an-tsang and K'uei-chi, they continued to favor Kuan-
shih-yin.There is also no evidence that earlier
translation of this names was ever a mistake.In
fact, these two Chinese names are translations from
two different Sanskrit originals.Kuan-shih-yin
was the translation for Avalokitas'vara, whereas
Kuan-tzu-tsai was the translation for Avalokites'vara
which was apparently once also used though
later dropped off from usage.Fa-yuþõn who compiled a
dictionary of translated terms, Fan-yi ming-yi chi (T.
no. 2131), commented that the two names resulted from
two different versions in the imported
scriptures (T.
¶422
54: 1062a).In an article published in 1927, Mironov
confirmed the observation made by Fa-yun in the fifth
century.He studied the Sanskrit fragments of the Lotus
Suutra manuscripts brought by Otani's expedition from
Eastern Turkestan."In one of the three sets of
fragments which for palaeographical reasons may be
assigned to the end of the fifth century A.D.
he happened to find three fragments of the twenty
fourth chapter, devoted to the praside of
Avalokites'vara.The name of the Bodhisattva is spelt
Avalokitas'vara.As the name occurs five times on an
incomplete leaf, the possibility of a clerical error
is hardly admissible. The circumstance is
especially important, as the Petrovsky MS. of SP.
from Kashgar has the usual form Avalokites'vara.Thus a
hereto missing link between the Indian and Chinese
traditins seems to have been found.It cannot be
doubted that Avalokitas'vara was the orginal form,
later supplanted by Avalokites'vara"(Mironov
243).Basing on this discovery, Goto suggests that
Avalokites'vara was used in scriptures coming into
China from Kucha such as those translated by
Kumarajiva and other Central Asian missionaries,
while Avalokites'vara in scriptures originating in
India such as those translated by Hsuan-tsang who
obtained the texts during his long sojourn there
(Goto 9).
The translators of the Chinese sutras had
therefore access to the two different versions of the
bodhisattva's name. It is interesting that despite
strong objections against the name of Kuan-yin vocied
by Hsuan-tsang and others, it is this name that all
East Asians have come to use in referring to this
bodhisattva.Commentators, as I have indicated before,
have also come up with fanciful interpretations of the
"sound" part of the name.On the other hand, if
Avalokites'vara was originally the name of the
bodhisattva, why was it dropped and replaced by
Avalokites'vara in India? Are there still traces of
the former in non-Chinese sources which we can use for
comparison?
The Forms of the Bodhisattva
One distinctive feature of Kuan -yin is that he
can appear in many forms.Because there are a huge
number of scriptures in Chinese connected with
Kuan-yin, the sources describing his forms are very
rich and diverse.(5) Since it is impossible to be
exhaustive, we have to select the most
representative scriptures for discussion.In general,
we can distinguish two types of his manifestations.
¶423
The first is a list of thebodhisattva's manifestations
in either superhuman, human or nonhuman forms in order
to carry out his work of salvation based on the
spiritual principle of upaya (skillful means).This is
the case found in the Lotus, Surangama and Ta-cheng
chuang-yen pao-wang ching (Sutra on the Precious King
of Adornment in Mahayana, Karandavyuha, T. no. 1050).
The second is represented by esotoric scriptures
in which the bodhisattva appears with multiples
heads and hands holding various symbolic implements
and reveals dharanis with marvelous efficacy.
The Lotus Suutra speaks of the bodhisattva
appearing in thirty-three different forms.(6)It
states, "Good man, if there are living beings in the
land who need someone in the body of a Buddha in order
to be saved, Bodhisattva Perceiver of the World's
Sounds immediately manifests himself in a Buddha
body and preaches the Law for them"(Watson
301).Following the same formulae, the bodhisattva
manifests himself in the bodies of a
pratyekabuddha, a voice- hearer, King Brahma,
Shakra, Self-mastering God [Isvara], Great Self-
mastering God [Mahesvara],(7) a great heavenly
general, Vaishravana, a petty king, a rich man, a
householder, a chief minister, a Brahman, a monk, a
nun, a layman believer, a laywoman believer, the wife
of a rich man, a householder, a chief minister, or of
a Brahman, a young boy or a young girl, a heavenly
being [deva], a dragon, a yaksha, a gandharva, an
¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w
5 According to Goto, more than eighty exoteric and
esoteric scriptures connected with Kuan-yin
exist.He lists them in Chapter 20 of his book
Kanzeon Bosatsu no Kenkyu, pp. 283þû288.
6 The earliest extant version of the Lotus, however,
has far less than thirty-three.The Cheng
fa-hua ching, gives the following list of
seventeen: buddha, bodhisattva, pratyeka-buddha,
voice -hearer, King Brahma, gandharva, ghost
and spirit, rich and powerful, deva,
cakravartin, raksha, general, monk, vajrapani,
hermit, rishi, and student (T. vol. 9: 129bþû
c).It is interesting to note that no
feminine forms are mentioned.
7 I follow Hurvitz in translating these two term
(Hurvtz 314) . Watson translates them as
"the heavenly being Freedom" and "the heavenly
being Great Freedom" which do not
convey much sense to English-speaking audience.
The two names of course refer to the
Hindu god Shiva, but neither Hurvitz nor
Watson so identifies.
¶424
Several points need to be made.First of all, the
thirty -three manifestions of the bodhisattva had
relevance to a religious universe intelligible only
to people living in ancient India.Brahma, Shakra, and
Shiva were Hindu gods.Vaishravana, Cakravartin, and
devas were important fixtures of the Indian
spiritual cosmos.Even the non-human inhabitants of
that universe such as the asura, naga (dragon)
and yaksha were known only by readers brought up in
the Indian culture. That was why Goto argued
convincingly that the author of this chapter of
"Universal Gateway" of the Lotus Suutra must have been
consciously addressing an audience familiar with the
Vedic and Hindu mythologies and beliefs. By making
the Buddhist bodhisattva capable of assuming the forms
of all the important pre-Buddhist deities,
Avalokites'vara was thus elevated above them all
(Goto 294¡ã295). Moreover, the very number of
"thirty-three" was meaningful only in the Vedic
and Hindu context.It had reference to the Vedic
belief in the three-tiered universe ( and the
existence of eleven main gods in each level of the
universe) as well as the thirty-three heavens. The
number therefore had a symbolic, but not literal,
meaning (Goto 167¡ã168).Secondly, the forms
Avalokites'vara assumes in order to preach the
Dharma more effectively are generic, but not
individualized forms.It does not say that the
bodhisattva appears as a king with a specific name,
not to mention a biography, but rather as a generic
king without any identity.It is more a status than a
personality.Third and finally, of the forms
Avalokites'vara assumes, only seven are feminine. I
make these three points now in order to highlight the
contrast with the Chinese thirty- three forms of
Kuan-yin which replaced them (to be shall discuss
later).In the latter case, all the forms with
clearly Vedic and Hindu connotations disappeared. The
Chinese forms were predominately feminine, and they
often refer either to some historical incidents
happened in China or some legends familiar to a
Chinese audience. This was one of several means
through which Avalokites'vara was thereby
transformed into Kuan-yin.
Before we examine some of the Chinese forms
of Kuan-yin, we have to finish the review of
Avalokites'vara's manifestations in the Surangama
suutra and the Karandavyuha suutra. Although almost
all of the thirty- two forms mentioned in the
Surangama correspond to those found in the Lotus, a
major difference is that the Surangama provides
explanations about why the bodhisattva chooses to
¶425
assume each form.Great careis taken in justifying
the appropriateness of each form for each type of the
bodhisattva's audience so that the importance of
upaya is made clear.I cite some relevant passages for
illustration:
If there are living beings who desire to be lords
of devas to rule over the realms of the gods, I
will appear as Sakra to teach them the Dharma so
that they reach their goals.
If there are living beings who wish to roam
freely in the ten directions, I will appear as
Isvaradeva to teach them the Dharma so that they
reach their goals.
If there are living beings who enjoy discussing
well-known sayings and practise pure living, I
will appear as a respectble scholar to teach them
the Dharma so that they reach their goals.
If there are living beings who wish to govern
cities and twons, I will appear as a magistrate to
teach them the Dharma so that they reach their
goals.
If there are women who are eager to study and
learn and leave home to observe the precepts, I
will appear as a bhiksuni to teach them the
Dharma so that they reach their goals.
If there are women who are keen to fulfil their
home durties thereby setting a good example to
other families and the whole country, I will
appear as a queen, a princess or a noble lady to
teach them the Dharma so that they reach their
goals.
If there are young men who are chaste, I will
appear as a celibate youth to teach them the
Dharma so that they reach their goals.
If there are dragons (nagas) who wish to be freed
from bondage in their realms, I will appear as a
nage to teach them the Dharma so that they
reach their goals (Luk 136¡ã138).
The thirty-two manifestations of the bodhisattva
in the Surangama Suutra follow closely those in the
Lotus, with the omission of Vajrapani, and the
substition of Vaisravana (Heavenly King of the North)
with the Four Heavenly Kings. The Lotus clearly was
the model for the Surangama. Like the Lotus,
¶426
the Surangama promises believers deliverances from
various dangers.Sharing a characteristic common
to esoteric scriptures glorifying Avalokites'vara
which I will discuss below, the Surangama lists the
benefits one by one and calls them the fourteen
fearless powers bestowed by the bodhisattva.(8)
Building on its hermeneutics of "hearing" and "sound",
the sutra provides a philosophical link between the
insight into the real nature of everything as void and
the resultant psychological state of fearlessness. It
is in this way reminiscent of the view put forward in
the Heart suutra where Avalokites'vara is said to be
free from fear
¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w
8 The fourteen are listed below: ™A Since I myself
do not meditate on sound but on the
meditator, I cause all suffering beings to look
into the sound of their voices in order to
obtan liberation; ™B By returning
(discriminative) intellect to its ( absolute)
source, I cause them to avoid being burned
when they find themselves in a great fire; ™C
By returning hearing to its source, I cause them
to avoid drowning when they are adrift on the
sea; ™DBy stopping wrong thinking and thereby
cleansing their minds of harmfulness, I lead
them to safety when they wander in the realm of
evil ghosts; ™E By sublimating their (wrong)
hearning to restore its absolute condition,
thereby purifying all six organs and perfecting
their functions, I cause them, when in danger, to
be immune from sharp weapons which become
blunt and useless like water that cannot be cut
and daylight that cannot be blown away,
because their ( underlying) nature does not
change; ™F By perfecting the sublimation of their
hearing, its bright light pervades the whole
Dharma realm to destroy the darkness (of
ignorance) thereby dazzling evil beings such as
yaksa, raksa, kumbhanda, pisaci, putana, etc.,
who cannot see them when meeting them; ™GWhen
hearing is reversed so that sound vanishes
completely, all illusory objects of sense
disappear so that (practisers) are freed from
fetters which can no longer restrain them; ™H
The elimination of sound to perfect hearing
results in universal compassion so that they can
pass through regions infested with robbers and
bandits who cannot plumder them; ™IThe
sublimation of hearing disengages them from the
objects of sense and makes them immune from
(attractive) forms, thereby enabling lustful
beings to get rid of desires and cravings; ™J
The sublimation of sound eliminates all sense
data and results in the perfect mingling of
each organ with its objects and total eradication
of subject and object, thereby enabling all
vindictive beings to bury anger and hate; ™K
After the elimination of sense data
¶427
because he does not have any thought-coverings
as a result of having penetrated into the voidness
of everything (Conze 164¡ã165).
The Surangama suutra shares another distinctive
feature with the esoteric scriptures in that it
refers to Avalokites'vara as having many heads, arms
and eyes:
When I first realized the hearing mind which was
most profound, the Essence of Mind (i.e. the
Tathagato store) disengaged itself from hearing
and could no longer be divided by seeing,
hearing, feeling and knowing,
¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w
and the return to the bright (Reality), both inner
body and mind and outer phenomena become
crystal clear and free from all hindrances, so
that dull and ignorant unbelievers (icchantika)
can get rid of the darkness of ignorance; ™L When
their bodies are in harmony with the nature of
hearing, they can, from their immutable state of
enlightenment (bodhimandala), re- enter the world
(to liberate others) without harming the worldly,
and can go anywhere to make offerings to
Buddhas countless as dust, serving every
Tathagata in the capacity of a son of the King of
Law and having the power to give male heirs with
blessed virtues and wisdom to childless people who
want boys; ™M The perfection of the six organs
unifies their divided functions so that they
become all-embracing, thus revealing the Great
Mirror (Wisdom) and immaterial Tathagata womb
compatible with all Dharma doors taught by
Buddhas as unacountable as dust.They can bestow
upright, blessed, gracious, and respect-inspiring
girls on childless parents who want daughters; ™N
In this great chiliocosm which contains a
hundred lacs of suns and moons, there are now
Bodhisattvas countless as sand grains in sixty-two
Ganges rivers.They practise the Dharma to set a
good example to all living beings by befriending,
teaching and converting them; in their
wisdom their expedient methods differ.Because
I used one penetratint organ which led to my
realization through the faculty of hearing, my
body and mind embrace the whole Dharma- realm in
which I teach all living beings to concentrate
their minds on calling my name.The merits that
follow are the same as those derived from calling
on the names of all the se Bodhisattvas.World
Honored One, my single name does not differ from
those uncountable ones, because of my practice and
training which led to my true enlightenment.These
are the fourteen fearless (powers) which I
bestow upon living beings (Luk 139¡ã141).
¶428
and so became one pure and clean all-pervading
precious bodhi. This is why I can take on
different wonderful forms and master a countless
number of esoteric mantras.I can appear with one,
three, five, seven, nine, eleven and up to 108,
1,000, 10,000, and 84,000 sovereign (cakra)
faces; with two, four, six, eight, ten, twelve,
fourteen, sixteen, eighteen, twenty, twenty-four
and up to 108, 1,000, 10,000 and 84,000 arms
making various gestures (mudras); and with two,
three, four, nine up to 108, 1,000, 10,000, and
84,000 clean and pure precious eyes, either
merciful or wrathful, and in a state either of
still imperturbability (dhyana -samadhi) or of
absolute wisdom (prajna) to save and protect
living beings so that they can enjoy great
freedom (Luk 141).
The Karandavyuha suutra, translated by
T'ien-hsi-tsai into Chinese from a Tibetan version
around 1000, has a number of esoteric characteristics
as well.It is in fact included in the section on
esoteric sutras in the Taisho canon (T. vol. 20).This
is a very important scriputre for the cult of
Avalokites'vara because it is one of the very few
sutras where a mythological account about the life of
this bodhisattva is given.Holt provides a succinct
summary of this sutra, some parts of which I
shall quote below.He puts the date of text anywhere
from the fourth to the seventh century of the Common
Era.The Sanskrit version that he uses may not be
identical with the one the Chinese translation was
based on, for there seem to be a number of
differences.
Once while Gautama the Buddha was performing a
meditation at the Jetavana monastery in the midst
of his disciples and an attendant heavenly
throng, a meditation aimed at the 'purification
of everything', bright golden rays began to
appear, lighting up the entire monastery and
the surrounding countryside. Viskambhu, amagzed
and filled with great joy, asked the Buddha
about the source of these glorious rays of
light.The Buddha responded by saying that they
came from Arya Avalokites'vara, who was preaching
the dharma of nirvana to all the suffering
denizens of the troutuous Avici Hell (dominated by
a woeful lake of fire).To an incredulous
Viskambhu, he continued: as a result of
¶429
Avalokites'vara's preaching of the dharma, the
lake of fire in the Avici Hell was cooled and
turned into a refreshing lotus pond and the
sufferings of all of its inhabitants were thereby
overcome.This miracle was then reported to Yama,
Lord of Hell, who wondered what deity this
might be.Recognizing Avalokites'vara, Yama
praised his virtues with a long eulogy.
Anxious for Avalokites'vara's arrival in the
human abode, Viskambhu eagerly asked the Buddha
when he might be expected in this realm.The
Buddha replied that Avalokites'vara had then
proceeded to visit pretaloka, where the suffering
' departed' in the form of hungry and
thirsty ghosts heard his servon on dharman the
form of the AGKs [Avalokitesvara-Guna-Karandavyuha
]. Like the 'rain of dharma', water flowed from
each of his pores to assuage their miserable
conditions.The pretas were thus disabused of
their belief in the permanent self, which had
led them to commit karmic actions of greed
resulting in their unfavorable rebirths.They were
all thus transformed into bodhisattvas to dwell in
the world of Amitabha's paradisacal budhha field,
Sukhavati.
The Buddha then proceeded to tell that once, long
ago, when he was incarnated as a merchant
during the time of the Buddha Vipasyin, he had
heard that former buddha enumerate the many
qualities of Bodhisattva Avalokites'vara.The
bodhisattva orginally had appeared from a shot
of light emanating from the primordial
self-existend buddha of the cosmos, who was
engaged in his perpetural, deep meditation.From
Avalokites'vara's body (that of a mahapurusa),
the world as we know it was created: the sun and
the moon from his eyes, Mahes'vara from his brow,
Brahma and the other gods from his shoulders,
Saras'vati from his teeth, the wind from his
mouth, the earth from his feet, and Varuna from
his stomach (Holt 47¡ã48).
What comes after this passage in the Chinese
translation makes the intention of the writer
abundantly clear: to claim Avalokites'vara's supremacy
over shiva."At that time the Bodhisattva Perceiving
Lord told Mahes'vara saying, 'In the future when
the world enters the Age of Degenerate Law, people
attached to
¶430
wrong views will all say that you are the lord of
the universe from the beginningless beginning and
that you have created all beings'.At that time,
sentient beings, having lost the way of
enlightenment, they are confused by their ignorance
and make the following statement:
The great body of emptiness,
makes the great earth your seat.
The world as well as all sentient beings,
are all evolved from this body (T. 20: 49c).
The sutra next mentions that the bodhisattva
appears in the following twenty forms to save all
beings.They are: buddha, bodhisattva,
pretyeka-buddha, voice- hearer, Mahesvara, Narayana,
Shakra, Brahma, God of the Sun, God of the Moon, God
of Fire, God of Water, God of Wind, naga, Vinayaka,
yaksha, Vaisravana, king, minister, father and
mother (T. 20: 50cþû51a).It is interesting to note
that compared with the earlier thirty-three or
thirty-two manifestions, more Hindu gods are
mentioned in this sutra which clearly tries to present
Avalokites'vara as the creator of the cosmos as well
as a universal savior.On the other hand, only one of
the manifestation, that of a mother, is feminine.
The next section is the story of Avalokites'vara's
previous incarnation as a divine horse named Balaha
who saved the prince Sinhala who was the previous
incarnation of Gautama Buddha.I turn again to
Holt's summation.
After Sinhala led a crew of 500 other merchants
on a seagoing venture in search of precious
jewels, his ship was taken by storm and wreched
off the coast of the island of Tamradvipa
(Lanka).By the grace of the lord to whom Shinhala
was devoted, the 500 shipwreched sailors safely
reached the shores of the island, where they were
warmly embraced by troops of celestial nymphs.In
reality, the nymphs were raksasis plotting to
devour the captain and his men.The 'nymphs'
feigned shared distress with the merchants,
seduced them, and begged them to become their
husbands.One night after Sinhala had spent the
evening in the arms of his beautiful nymph, the
lamp in his room began to laugh.
¶431
Sinhala asked the lamp the reason for the
laughter, and the lamp replied by telling him that
a previous group of shipwrecked merchants had
been similarly treated by the nymphs but
ultimately had been imprisoned and eventually
devoured, for the beautiful nymphs in reality were
vicious raksasis in disguise.The light warned
Sinhala that he and his comrades were in
imminent danger and that there was only one
possible means by which they could be saved.The
lighted lamp told Sinhala that on the seashore
there stood a white winged horse named Balaha
ready to take him and his 500 comrades away to
safety, but that on one should open his eyes
until he had safely landed on the further
shore.Alarmed by the light's revelation, Sinhala
quickly assembled his fellow merchants and
instructed them in the advice that had been
given.They then scurried down to the shore and
mounted the waiting Balaha, who then rose
majestically into the sky.The raksasis, seeing
that their prey was escapi ng, called out in loud
lamentations.The merchants, all except Sinhaha,
were touched with both pity and desire, opened
their eyes to look back, and dropped back down
into the ocean, where they were immediately
devoured.Sinhala alone escaped and, after landing
on the shore, went back to his father's house in
Sinhakalpa (Holt 49 ).
The story in the Chinese version ends with a happy
family reunion.It does not have the gruesome
denouement in which the prince's former "wife", a
bewitching raksasi, followed him back to the
palace, managged to seduce the father who married
her and made her the new queen.She then got all
the raksasis to come to the kingdom and
eventually devoured the king and his family.The prince
finally made the people to see the truth.They
proclaimed him the new king who succeeded in
banishing the raksasis to the forest and restored
peace in the country (Holt 49¡ã50).
The last long section of the sutra in the
Chinese version is the revelation of and a chorus of
praise to the "six-character" dharani om mani
padme hum. The Buddha declares that this dharani
is the "subtle and wondrous original mind" of
Avalokites'vara.The dharani is a wish-fulfilling
jewel, but so far nobody knows about it.If one
should come to know the dharani, not only oneself, but
one's
¶432
ancestors of seven generations back, will all achieve
salvaton.That is not all.The benefit of the
dharani even extends to strangers who come into
contact with the dharani-keeper of the tape worms
living inside his body." The worms living inside
the body of the person who holds this dharani are
destined to reach the stage of a non-retrogressing
bodhisattva.If the person carries the dharani on his
body or wears it on his head, anyone who sees him is
like seeing a stupa containing a relic or seeing a
tathagatha.... When a person chants this dharani as
instructed, he attains unlimited eloquence and
develops the heart of great compassion.... When
the breath of such a person touches someone else,
the latter will develop a heart of compassion and
leaving anger and other poisons behind,
achieve the stage of a nonretrogressing
bodhisattva, and speedily realize
anuttara-samyak- sambodhi.If a person wearing or
carrying this dharani should touch someone else's
body with his hand, the person so touched will also
speedily attain the status of a bodhisattva"(T. 20:
59b¡ãc).Most of the last volume of the sutra is
similarly devoted to the wonders of the six-sylable
dharani (T. 20: 59c¡ã64a).
I now turn to the forms of Avalokites'vara found
in the esoteric sutras glorifying this bodhisattva
who teach saving dharanis, of which the Karandavyuka
that I have discussed above can be counted as one
example.One of the earliest such sutras is the Ch'ing
Kuan-shih-yin p'u-sa hsiao-fu tu-hai t'o-lo-ni ching
(Scripture of the Dharani for Invoking
Avalokites'vara Bodhisattva to Dissipate Poison and
Harm, T. no. 1043) translated by Nan-t'i during the
last years of the Eastern Chin dynasty (317¡ã420).
The T'ien-t'ai school has always put special
emphasis on this sutra ever since the T'ien-t'ai
master Chih-i (538¡ã597) used it as one of the
sources for the last of the four forms of samadhis:
neither walking nor sitting samadhi (Stevenson
1986,50; Donner and Stevenson 28, 275¡ã280).Although
the bodhisattva appears in this sutra in a human form
and not with multiple heads and arms like in the other
esoteric sutras discussed below, it places the same
degree of emphasis on the keeping of the dharanis
as the latter.
The title of this sutra is explained by the
story set forth in the beginning of the
scripture.A delegation of Vaisali citizens who suffer
from all kinds of horrible diseases caused by yaksas
comes to the Buddha with an urgent request for
help.The Buddha tells them to invoke Avalokites'vara
by offering him willow branches and pure water.The
bodhisattva appears in front of the Buddha
¶433
and proceeds to teach the people to chant three sets
of dharanis, the last of which, consists of 15
phrases, is particularly powerful.Known as the "divine
dharani of six- character phrases"(liu-tzu chang-chu
sheng-chou), the chanting of which together with
the three-fold calling of Avalokites'vara's name will
save people from all kinds of dangers.For
instance, to cite just a few examples, Avalokites’R
vara will guide lost travellers by appearing in the
form of a human being and lead them to safety; he
will create a well and food to save people dying of
thirst and hunger.Women who are on the point of death
because of difficult childbirths will live;
merchants who lose property to robbers will recover
it because the latter will have a sudden change of
hearts.The dharani not only saves people from
sufferings in this world, but will enable them not
being reborn in the realms of hell, hungry ghosts,
animals, and asuras.Instead, they will be born in a
place where they can see the Buddha and beome freed
after listening to the Dharma.Avalokites'vara is
called the "Great Compassionate One"(Ta-pei) in
this sutra and is declared to be the savior who
"courses in the five realms of rebirth" to carry out
the work of salvation (T. 20: 36b).
Beginning with the Northern Chou dynasty (556¡ã
681), more esoteric scriptures about Avalokites'vara
with new dharanis were introduced into China.The
deity in these scriptures appears not in a regular
human form, but in the esoteric forms of many heads
and many arms.The first of these new forms of
Avalokites'vara to be introduced to China was the
Eleven-headed Avalokites'vara (Ekadasamukna,
Sih-i-mien).Three sutras, translated by
Yeh-she-ch'ueh-to in 563¡ã577 (T. no. 1070),
Hsuan-tsang in 659 (T. no. 1071) and Amoghavajra
(705¡ã774, T. no. 1069) are about this deity.Next, it
was Avalokites'vara holding a lasso (Amoghapasa,
Pu-k'ung-ssu-so) who figures in seven sutras, the
earliest of which was translated by Yen-na-ch'ueh-to
in the Sui (581¡ã618 ) and the rest by, among others,
Hsuan-tsang and Bodhiruci (d. 727) in the T'ang (T.
nos. 1092¡ã1098).Sutras on the Thousand-handed and
Thousand- eyed Avalokites'vara were translated next
and the thirteen sutras were all done in the T'ang
(T. nos. 1056¡ã1068).Aside from those by Chih-t'ung (
done in 627¡ã649, T. no. 1057) and Bhagavadharma (done
in 650, T. no. 1060) , Hsuan-tsang, Bodhiruci, and
the three Tantric masters Subhakarasimha (636 ¡ã735),
Vajrabodhi (670¡ã741) and Amoghavajra also
made their translations.A fourth esoteric form of
¶434
Avalokites'vara, that of holding the wheel of a
wish-granting jewel (Cintamanicakra, Ju-yi-lun) is the
subject of yet another nine sutras which were
translated by I-tsing, Bodhiruci, Sikshananda,
Vajrabodhi, Amoghavajra and others, all in the T'ang
(T. nos. 1080¡ã1088).
Although these esoteric scriptures are devoted
to different forms of Avalokites'vara, they
nevertheless share some common characteristics.The
first of these is, of course, the emphasis on the
chanting of the dharanis.Like the Ch'ing Kuan-yin
ching and the Karandavyuha, they promise unfailing
deliverance from all possible disasters, the
gaining of both worldly benefits and transcendant
wisdom.They always categorize the benefits by
listing them numerically.They emphasize minute,
detailed and correct procedures: how to make
either a three- dimensional image of the deity
(mandala) or a representational imagery painted on
cotton cloth (pata), how to prepare the ritual arena,
how many times one should chant the dharani, what
ritual ingredients one should use in performing the
fire offering (homa) to the deity, what hand gestures
(mudra ) to perform and what visualizations of the
deity to carry out during the rite.There are also
magical recipes for averting specific disasters.I
will select some passages from Fuo-shu shih-i-mien
Kuan-shih-yin shen-chou ching (T. no. 1070) translated
by Yeh-she- chu-to to illustrate what I mean.
The sutra calls for a daily routine of bathing in
the morning (if bathing is impossible, then at least
rinsing the mouth and washing both hands), followed by
reciting the dharani 108 times.The result is the
gaining of ten rewards in one's present lift: ™Adoes
not suffer from any disease; ™B is constantly
remembered by buddhas of the ten directions; ™C
always possesses money, things, clothes and food
sufficiently and without want; ™D can overcome
all enemies; ™E can cause all sentient beings to give
rise to hearts of compassion toward oneself; ™Fno
poison, evil charm or fever can harm one; ™G no knife
or stake can hurt one; ™H will not be drowned by
water; ™I will not be burned by fire; ™J will not
suffer a sudden death.On the other hand, the
following four compensations will become one's own: ™A
sees inumerable buddhas before one dies; ™B will never
fall into hell; ™C will not be harmed by any animal;
™D is reborn in the land of the Buddha Amitayus.If
one has committed the four parajikas (deserving
expulsion) and the five deadly sins (leading to be
born in the Avici Hell), by chanting this dharani
but once, all the
¶435
sins will be extinguished.
It then describes the method of worship.First
make an image of the Eleven-headed Avalokites'vara
with white sandalwood.Place it on a high platform
facing the west.Scatter the ground with
flowers.From day one to day seven, chant the dharani
three periods each day: 108 times in the morning, 108
times at noon and 108 times in the evening.One does
not have to offer any food, but from day eight to day
thirteen, one should offer food, drink and
fruits.Do not put them on plates but on beds woven
with clean grass.The practitioner kneels on a cushion
made of sedge grass facing the statue.On the 14th
and 15th day, make sandalwood fire offering in
front of the image and also place a clean copper
container filled with one sheng (pint) of Soma
oil in front of the practitioner.Then take
incense made of the Aguru tree and of a thickness as
that of a chopstick, prepare 1008 sections of this
kind of incense, each being one inch in
length.Starting from the noon of the 15th day, the
practitioner takes one section of the incense, smear
it with Soma oil, recite the dharani over it and then
throw it into the sandalwood fire.He does so until all
of the 1008 sections are finished.He should not eat
anything for these two days.On the night of the 15th
day, Avalokites'vara enters the place of practice and
the sandalwood statue shakes by itself.At that
time, the whole earth also shakes.The face of the
Buddha sitting on the topmost head of the statue
praises the practitioner and promises to fulfill
all his wishes.
The sutra ends with various recipes to deal with
moon elcipses, nightmares, diseases of people and
animals, and disturbance caused by ghosts.Here are
two examples: place equal amounts of realgar and
yellow ochre on leaves, chant the dharani 1008 times
in front of the image of Avalokites’Rvara, bath with
warm water mixed with the above.All obstacles,
nightmares, and diseases will go away.For getting rid
of evil ghosts who have entered one's home: place 108
sticks of incense in front of the image, chant
the dharani once over each stick and throw it into
the fire.When all the incense sticks are finished,
all evil ghosts will scatter and do not dare to stay
(T. 20: 149b¡ã151b).
Space does not allow me to discuss sutras on the
Amoghapasa and Cintamanicakra Avalokites
'vara.However, I will provide here a synopsis of
the Thousand-handed and Thousand-eyed Avalokites'vara
sutra translated by
¶436
Bhagavadharma, by far the most important of all the
esoteric scriptures in China.The sutra is spoken by
the Buddha in the palace of Avalokites'vara
located on the island Potalaka.Suddenly there is
a great illumination and the three thousand
chiliocosms turn golden in color, shaking all
over while the sun and moon become dull by
comparison.Bodhisattva Dharani King (Tsung-chih-wang)
asks the Buddha why this is happening and the
Buddha answers that it is because Avalokites'vara is
going to reveal the dharani.Avalokites'vara then
takes over the center stage.He speaks with the
first person pronoun "I" in the stura.
When I practised under a buddha by the name of
Ch'ien-kuang-wang ching-chu Ju-lai innumberable
kalpas ago, the buddha took pity on me and all
sentient beings.Touching my forehead with his
golden hand, the buddha instructed me to keep
this dharani and work for the benefit of beings
living in evil times in the future.I was at
that time a bodhisattva of the first stage, but as
soon as I heard the dharani, I advanced right away
to the eighth stage of the bodhisattva
path.Filled with joy and exaltation, I vowed, 'If
I am capable of benefitting and comforting all
sentient beings in the future, let me be
endowed with a thousand hands and a thousand eyes
right away.'As soon as I made the vow, this
happened.So from that long ago epoch, I have kept
the dharani.As a result, I have always
been born where there is a buddha.Moreover,
I have never undergone birth from a womb, but
am always transformed from a lotus.
Having explained the origin and efficacy of the
dharani, Avalokites'vara calls upon anyone who wants
to keep this dharani to give rise to the thought of
compassion for all sentient beings by making the
following ten vows after him:
Namah Avalokites'vara of Great Compassion, may I
quickly learn all Dharma.
Namah Avalokites'vara of Great Compassion, may I
speedily obtain the eye of wisdom.
Namah Avalokites'vara of Great Compassion, may I
quickly save all
¶437
sentient beings.
Namah Avalokites'vara of Great Compassion, may
I speedily obtain skill of means.
Namah Avalokites'vara of Great Compassion, may I
quickly sail on the prajn~aa boat.
Namah Avalokites'vara of Great Compassion, may I
speedily cross over the ocean of suffering.
Namah Avalokites'vara of Great Compassion, may I
quickly obtain the way of discipline and
meditation.
Namah Avalokites'vara of Great Compassion, may
I speedily ascend the nirvana mountain.
Namah Avalokites'vara of Great Compassion, may I
quickly enter the house of non-action.
Namah Avalokites'vara of Great Compassion, may
I speedily achieve the Dharma-Body.
If I face a mountain of knives, it will naturally
crumble,
if I face a roaring fire, it will naturally burn
out,
if I face hell, it will naturally disappear,
if I face a hungry ghost, it will naturally be
satiated,
if I face an Asura, its evil heart will
naturally become tame and,
if I face an animal, it will naturally obtain
great wisdom.
After making such vows, one should sincerely call
the name of Avalokites'vara as well as the name of
Amitabha Buddha who is Avalokites'vara¡'s original
teacher.If anyone recites the dharani, should he
fall into an evil realm of rebirth, or not being
born into one of the lands of the buddhas, or not
attaining unlimited samadhi and eloquence, or not
getthing all the wishes of one's desire in the
present life and, in the case of a woman, if she
detests the female body and wants to be born a man in
her next life, Avalokites'vara promises that all
these would become true.Otherwise he will not
achieve complete, perfect enlightenment. If anyone
steals or damages the sangha's property, by reciting
this dharani, the sin will be forgiven.Anyone who has
committed the five sins and ten evil
¶438
deeds, who slanders the Dharma and corrupts monastic
discipline, or who destroys temples and steals
monks' possessions, is freed from all the guilt by
chanting this dharani.But if one has doubts about the
efficacy of the dharani, then the consequences of even
a slight mistake will not disappear, how much more so
a serious sin?
The keeping of the dharani will result in fifteen
kinds of good rebirth and the avoidance of fifteen
kinds of evil death.The fifteen kinds of evil death
from which one is saved are: ™A from hunger and
suffering; ™B from being imprisoned by cangue and
beaten by staff; ™C at the hands of enemies; ™D
from fighting on the battlefield; ™E by being
mauled by wolves or other vicious animals; ™F by
being attacked by poisonous snakes and scorpions; ™G
by drowning or burnt by fire; ™H by poison; ™I by
witchcraft; ™J from madness; ™K by falling from a
tree or a cliff; ™L from enemies' curse; ™M being
killed by heretic gods and demonic ghosts; ™N from
chronic and lingering illnesses; ™O by suicide.The
fifteen kinds of good rebirth one enjoys are: ™A
being always ruled by a virtuous king wherever
one is born; ™Balways born in a good country; ™C
always living in a peaceful time; ™D always meeting
with good friends; ™E always born without any
physical defects;™Fbut with a pure and ripe heart for
truth; ™G will not break any precepts; ™Hhaving
harmonious and virtuous family members; ™I fully
endowed with money and food; ™J always respected and
taken care of by others; ™K never suffering from
robbery; ™Lalways having one's desire fulfilled; ™M
always beingprotected by nagas, devas, and virtuous
gods; ™N can see the Buddha and listen to the Dharma
in the place of birth; ™O can understand and
penetrate the correct Dharma.
The dharani consisting of 84 phrases is then
revealed.
All the assembled reach different levels of
realization.Some attain the fruit of sotapanna,
sakadagami, anagami or arahant.Others attain the
first, second, third, fourth, fifth, all the way to
the tenth stage of the bodhisattva path.Unlimited
number of sentient beings give rise to bodhicitta.
In keeping the dharani, one should stay in a
clean room, purify oneself by bathing and put on clean
clothes.Hang a banner (with a painting of the
bodhisattva?), light lamp, offer flowers, delicacies
and food and concentrate one's thoughts without
allowing them to wander.One can expect that Sun-light
and Moon-light Bodhisattvas as well as many gods and
immortals come to bear
¶439
witnesses.Avalokites'vara will look after the
practitioner with the thousand eyes and protect
him with the thousand hands.As a result, one will
understand all worldly classics, including the
Vedas and all heterodox philosophies thoroughly.By
chanting the dharani, one will be able to cure 84,000
kinds of illnesses and order gods and ghosts to
subdue Mara and heterodox teachers.If a person who
either studies the sutra or practices meditation
in the wilderness is bothered by evil spirits and
cannot concentrate, just chant this dharani once,
they will be bound and subdued by it.Any one who gives
rise to the thought of compassion to sentient beings
and decides to keep the dharani as taught,
Avalokites'vara will order nagas, benevolent gods,
devaguardians of the secrets of Vairocana to always
follow and surround him without leaving his side.They
will protect him as if he were their eyes or their
very lift (T. 20: 106b¡ã108b).
Method of setting up a sacred arena is then given:
recite the dharani 21 times over a knife.Use the
knife to demarcate the boundary on the ground.Or one
can recite the dharani 21 times over pure water and
pour it on the four sides to create the boundary.Or
use white mustard seed.Recite the dharani 21 times
and then scatter them on the four sides.Alternatively,
one can also create the boundary by visulization.Or
recite the dharani 21 times over clean ashes or
five- colored twine.Either can serve as markings for
the arena's boundry (T. 20: 109b).
Many recipes to deal with various problems or to
attain specific goals follow, and here are a few
samples.If one wants to order a ghost around, get a
skull from the wild, wash and clean it.Set up a
sacred area in front of the image of the
Thousand-handed and Thousand-eyed One, worship it with
flowers, incense, food and drink.Do so for seven days,
and the ghost will appear and do whatever it is
ordered.If a woman suffers from a difficult
childbirth, recite the dharani 21 times over
sesame oil, rub it in her belly button and her vagina
and the baby will come out easily.If someone has
phobia about the dark and is afraid to go out at
night, make a necklace with white threads, recite the
dharani 21 times and tie it with 21 knots.When this
is worn on the neck, fear goes away (T. 20: 110b¡ãc).
The sutra ends by identifying the names of the
forty mudras of Avalokites'vara and the benefits
they bestow on the worshiper (T. 20: 111a¡ãb).
I have devoted considerable space to the
description of these three esoteric
¶440
scriptures centering around Avalokites' vara.This is
justified because, with the possible exception of
Ch'ing Kuan-yin , they are not very well
known.Most students of Chinese Buddhism, including
myself prior to my study of Kuan-yin, usually stay
away from the esoteric scriptures, regarding
them as a bit too specialized.As a result,
there is a vacuna in the current scholarship on
Chinese esoteric Buddhism.Although a huge body of
such scriptures exists, the majority of them having
been translated in the T'ang and Sung, it has rarely
be used as sources for the reconstruction of the kind
of religious beliefs and practices they presented
to their contemporary audiences in China.Even a
cursory summary as I have tried to do above,
therefore, might be helpful to provide a concrete
sense about this type of literature.The second reason
for my going into some detail about the promises
Kuan-yin grants to the faithful is because such
scriptures create a new identity of this deity not
found in the earlier exoteric scriptures. While the
Lotus Suutra, the Surangama-suutra and the Pure Land
Visualization suutra, the three most important
scriptures promoting the faith in Kuan-yin since the
Six Dynasties, promise similar worldly benefits as
well as salvation from evil rebirths as those
vouchsaved by the esoteric texts, Kuan-yhin is
subordinated to Sakyamuni and Amitabha
respectively.In the esoteric scriptures, on the
other hand, Kuan-yin increasingly assumes an
independant role as a universal savior.Responding
to the development of the cults ofú and Vishnu in
Hinduism, esoteric Avalokites'vara exhibits similar
omnipotence and omniscience.The process reached its
culmination in the Karandavyuha suutra .As we have
seen earlier, Avalokites'vara is declared to be the
creator of the universe, including Shiva himself.
One measure of the popular reception of a
scripture is provided by the depiction of its themes
in art.The "Universal gateway" chapter of the Lotus
Suutra is a well known example.According to Fa-hua
ch'uan-chi (Record of the Lotus suurta, T. no.
2068), Tsu-ch'u Meng-sun (r. 401¡ã433), the king of
the Northern Liang dynasty, was credited with the
promotion of this chapter as an independent
scripture.The king was a Buddhist devotee.He suffered
from illness and was told to chant the chapter, for
"Kuan-yin has a special affinity with people of this
land."He did so and recovered from his illness.From
then on, this chapter, known as Kuan-shih-yin suutra,
started to circulate as an independent
¶441
scripture (T. 51: 52c).Among the scriptures found in
the caves of Tun-huang, 1048 were copies of the Lotus
and almost 200 were copies of the Kuan-yin
suutra.While a few could be dated to before the Sui
dynasty (581¡ã618), the majority were copied during
the Sui and T'ang, indicating the growing popularity
of Kuan- yin during this time.Moreover, among the
frescoes in the existing 492 caves in Tun-huang, more
than 28 are illustrations of this chapter.They were
painted during several hundred years, beginning with
the Sui and ending with the Hsi- hsia (990¡ã1227)(Sun
1987, 61¡ã62).
The attraction of Avalokites'vara as a cosmic god
as depicted in the esoteric sutras must be very
great.In fact, we can find evidences of positive
responses to this new idea in new iconographies of
this deity.Gilt bronzes of Kuan-yin holding willow
branch and water bottle began to be created as early
as 470þû500, clearly reflecting the influence of
Ch'ing kuan-yin ching. This is a Chinese
creation, for Avalokites'vara is usally depicted as
holding a lotus stem instead of willow branch in
India.Although for some time even in China, Kuan-yin
continued to be depicted with holding a lotus stem in
one hand, eventually it was replaced by the willow
branch in the Sung and later.In Ming and Ch'ing, when
Kuan-yin was already femininized, even when she was
shown not holding anything in her hand, the willow
branch would still be depicted as emerging from the
water bottle, which might be shown sitting beside
her.Another indication of the willow branch and
pure water as established attributes of Kuan-yin
is provided by the gatha praising her sung during
the celebrations of her " birthday" which is held on
the 19th day of second month, sixth month and the
ninth month.Included in the Ch'an-man
jih-sung (Daily Liturgies of the Ch'an School), a text
published in 1834, "Celebratory Rite for Bodhisattva
Kuan-shih-yin's Holy Birthday"(Kuan-shih-yin P'u-sa
sheng-tan chu-yi) fuses elements from the Lotus
Suutra, Ch'ien-shou ching and Suutra of Thousand
Hands. It calls for the chanting of Kuan-yin's
name three times, followed by the chanting of
the Great Compassion Dharani seven
times.Thenú gatha to be sung accompanied by
music:
The Bodhisattva is the Perfectly Penetrating
One.Born in the forest of seven jewels, her
true form has a thousand hands and thousand
eyes.
¶442
She sits in the Potalaka Palace.Sprinkling sweet
dews with a willow branch, she nourishes
the entire dharma realm universally.Displaying
her supernatural powers and riding on thousand
layers of ocean waves, she arrives in full
splendor in this place of truth.
The grace of the wondrous Kuan-yin Bodhisattva
is hard to repay, Her purity and splendor are
the result of spiritual cultivation carried out in
many kalpas.
Thirty-two different manifestations are found
in many worlds.
She has been transforming beings in Jambudvipa for
innumerable kalpas. The sweet dew in the bottle
is constantly sprinkled everywhere,
The willow branch in her hand has been there for
numberless autumns. A thousand prayers rising from
a thousand places are all answered.
She has always been a boat transporting people
from the ocean of suffering (Fo-chiao chao-mu
ke-sung, 90¡ã92 ).
Seven extant reliefs of the Eleven-headed
Avalokites'varafrom the chi -pao-ta (Tower of the
Seven Jewels), completed in 703 under Empress Wu (
690¡ã705), are now kept in different museums of
the world.The one in the Freer Gallery shows the
deity having "ten small heads placed in superimposed
tiers above the main head as if attached to the
headdress"(Howard 1993, 100 ¡ã101).Other fine
examples are found in Japan, such as the image in
Horyoji created in the 8th century in the T'ang
style.Amoghapasa and Cintamanicakra Avalokites’Rvara
were also represented in art after those sutras
were translated in the T'ang.However, of all the
esoteric forms of Avalokites'vara introduced into
China, it is the Thousand-handed and Thousand-eyed
Avalokites'vara who became most popular in China.This
was widely attested to by the production of images,
keeping of the Great Compassion Dharani by monks and
lay people resulting in miracles, copying of the
Ch'ien -shou ching , and recitation of key
passages such as the "ten vows" and the dharani in a
ritual setting leading to Chih-li (960¡ã1028)'s
formulation of the repentance ritual in the Sung
(Yu 1996).
It is clear from this survey that there is a rich
source from both exoteric and esoteric scriptures
which can serve as models for artists to depict the
various forms Avalokites'vara assumes to help
sentient beings.Indeed, many images and
¶443
drawings of this bodhisattva have been created
using such scriptural sources as their
basis.However, when we look at the sets of Kuan-yin
paintings, be they five, thirty-two, or fifty-three,
made by artists in late imperail period, no
discernable connection with scriptural sources is
present.They were indigenous creations by Chinese
artists who showed unrestrained freedom in their
imagination of a Kuan-yin who looked remarkably
like a beautiful Chinese lady.
Of the multiple sets of Kuan-yin, the one with
five forms probably was the earliest.Such a set
painted by Ting Yun-p'eng (1547¡ãca.1628) is kept at
Nelson-Aitkins Museum at Kansas City.All the five are
feminine.The majority of the thirty-two forms and
the fifty-three forms are also feminine.At least
four sets of the thirty-two forms of Kuan-yin are
extant: one set painted by Hsing Tz'u-ching, a woman
painter of the Ming, is kept at the Palace Museum in
Taipei, one set attributed to Tu Chin (of the Ming?)
is kept at the Tokyo National Museum, another set
with only 28 remaining of the original 32 attributed
to Ting Yun-p'eng is kept at Anhui Provincial
Museum, and finally a set painted by the daughter of
the famous painter Ch'iu Ying (1494þûca.1552) is kept
by a private collector in Japan.The drawings in the
four sets are identical, all done in the Pai-miao
line-drawing style, but the gathas appended to them
might be different.For instance, one of the forms
shows Kuan-yin sitting on a lion-like mythological
animal called hou ,(9) an iconography not found prior
to the Ming.Although the image is the same in the
Palace Museum set (Fig. 1) and the set in Anhui
Provincial Museum (Fig. 2), the gathas, however,
are different.
A set of the fifty- three forms of Kuan-yin
compiled and printed with a
¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w
9 This was most likely connected with the cult
of the "Three Great
Beings"(Avalokites'vara, Manjusri and
Samanthabhadra) which began about the end of the
T'ang.#10 of the Ying-pan-po group of sculptures
at Ta-tsu, Szechwan, dated to the late T'ang,
seems to provide the earliest example of this
grouping where the thousand-handed and
thousand-eyed Kuan-yin stands in the middle
flanked by Manusri and Samanthabhadra, whereas
the more common grouping there has Vairocana
Buddha in the middle instead of Kuan-yin (Ta-tsu
shih-ke yen-chiu, 432).Once this cult became
popular, it would be necessary to provide
Kuan-yin with an animal mount in order to match
the animal mounts of the other two
bodhisattvas.Such triad is found in many Chinese
temples.
¶444
preface by Hu Ying-ling (1551¡ã1602), a historian with
a strong interest in the Kuan-yin lore, has been
reprinted in several modern editions.All thirty- two
forms are repeated here, but many new ones are also
added.Forty-two of the fifty-three are definitely
feminine, and eleven are masculine, including the
forms of buddha, monk, minister and so on, drawing
inspiration from the ürLotus and Surangama.The number
fifty-three refers to the fifty- three visits the
young pilgrim Sudhana makes in search for truth
described in the Avatamska suutra, another text
providing scriptural basis for the cult of Kuan-yin
in China.The 40 chuan version of the sutra translated
by Prajn~aa in 798 is particularly important.It is a
translation of the Gandavyuha(T. no. 293), the
section of the sutra which describes Sudhana's
pilgrimage.Kuan-yin is the twenty-eighth "good friend
" Sudhana pays a visit.Sitting on a diamond boulder
in a clearing adidst a luxuriant wooded area,
Kuan-yin, who is referred in the sutra as "brave and
manly"(yung-meng ta-chang-fu), preaches dharma to
him.In the Avatamsaka, Kuan-yin is credited with the
power to save people from similar perils as those
mentioned in the Lotus. When one calls on the name
of Kuan-yin, one can go without fear into a forest
infested with bandits and wild beasts.One is freed
from fetters and chains, and one is saved from
drowning in the raging ocean.When thrown onto burning
coals, on calling Kuan- yin's name, one is not
killed, for the flames will become lotus sprouts in a
lake.By late T'ang, artists liked to combine the
depictions of Kuan-yin in these two sutras
together.This is quite a common theme among the tenth
century frescoes at Tun-hung (Fontein 78) and among
wood-block illustrations of Buddhist scriptures
printed in the Sung (960þû1279) and later.Such a wood-
block print dated 1432 (Fig. 3) shows an illustration
of Kuan-yin appearing as a minister from the Lotus on
the upper half and Sudhana paying homage to Kuan-yin
from the Avatamsaka in the lower half.It is
interesting to note that Kuan-yin in both
renderings looks decidedly feminine.
The painters of these multiple sets of Kuan-yin
seem to favor certain feminine forms which they
would use repeatedly, a point which I shall take up
below.
The Feminization of Avalokites'vara in China
Kuan-yinwas perceived as predominately musculine
and similarly so depicted in Chinese art until the T'
ang, although literary and anecdotal examples
can be
¶445
cited to trace the bodhisattva's sexual
transformation to as early as the fifth century during
the north and south dynasties, as C. N. Tay
demonstrated.(10) But beginning with the Five
Dynasties, around the tenth century, Kuan-yin was
increasingly feminized and, by the Ming, the
bodhisattva was transformed into a "goddess of
mercy".Kuan-yin was also depicted as primarily
feminine in art as we have seen with the multiple
sets of the bodhisattva.Moreover, not only has Kuan-
yin been feminized, she also appeared in several
distinctive feminine images in China.Three feminine
images of Kuan-yin have particularly become widely
known in China: that of a chaste and filial
daughter, that of a young and flirtations fish
seller, and that of a kind old woman.
The sources for these images are not canonical
sutras.As we have seen before, although many
scriptures are connected with Kuan-yin, yet aside from
the Lotus suutra and Surangama suutra, we cannot find
many others in which Kuan-yin is described as
feminine.The media for Kuan-yin's sexual
transformation and, at the same time, her
sinicization, are provided by indigenous sutras
(otherwise known as "apocryphal sutras"), miracle
tales, and a unique genre of religious literature
known as "precious volumes"(pao-chuan )which were
written in a mixture of classical and colloquial
Chinese.Heir to popular sutra lectures prevalent
in the T'ang, precious volumes in late imperial China
were often recited aloud, accompanied by music, to an
audience composed of mostly women who were
illiterate.Biographies of religious women, as well
as novels, plays and ethnographical literature are
some other sources providing us with clues.Chinese
come to understand Buddhism not only through
translated sutras but also, or perhaps even more so,
through their exposure to the kind of sources that
I refer here.Since monks and lay Buddhists
collaborated in creating and preserving
¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w
10 He cites the entry in the Fa-yuan chu-lin, a
Buddhist encyclopedia compiledin 668 which
states that Kuan-yin manifested himself in the
feminine form in 479 to free the devotee P'ang
Tzu-ch'iao from prison.The histories of Northern
Ch 'i and the north and south dynasties
compiled earlier tell of a similar manifestation
to heal the sick and licientious Northern Ch'i
emperor Wu-ch' eng (r. 561¡ã565).They also record
that the last empress of the Ch'en, nee Shen,
became a Buddhist nun and received the religious
name "Kuan-yin" in 617.Tay, Kuan-yin, The Cult of
Half Asia, p. 20.
¶446
these media for Kuan-yin's transformation, I do
not believe that we should consider the feminine
Kuan-yin as a phenomenon found only in Chinese popular
religion, as scholars previously claimed (Ch'en 1964;
Maspero 1928).On the contrary, I take it to be a
powerful example of the creativity of Chinese Buddhist
tradition.
What can the feminine images of Kuan-yin tell us
about Chinese Buddhism and gender? It goes
without saying that Kuan-yin, a " goddess", was not
a real woman.Even though the feminine images of
Kuan-yin were provided with names and identities,
they were not historical women.And although women
worshiped Kuan-yin and could read or listen to the
stories glorifying Kuan-yin, so did
men."Precious volumes", miracle tales, indigenous
sutras, novels, and plays about Kuan-yin did not
constitute genres restricted to either a female
authorship or readership.On the other hand, it can be
argued that images of Kuan-yin were not created out of
thin air, but were based on ideas and ideals of
womanhood in late imperial China.These images can
therefore reveal what the society thought about women
and what some of the women aspired to become in that
society.
By far the most familiar image of Kuan-yin is the
chaste and filial daughter represented by Princess
Miao- shan.As Glen Dudbridge demonstrated in his
studies, the core of the legend can be traced to the
stele inscription entitled "Biography of the
Bodhisattva of Great Compassion"(Ta-pei P'u-sa chuan)
composed by Chiang Chih-ch'i ( 1031¡ã1104) who came to
Ju-chou, Honan, as its new prefect in 1099.He became
friends with the abbot of Hsiang-shan Ssu in Pao-feng
county which housed a Ta-pei (Thousand-eyed and
Thousand-armed Kuan-yin) Pagoda and was the pilgrimage
center for the Kuan-yin cult.The fame of the temple
and the pagoda rested on the legend that Princess
Miao-shan, who was an incarnation of Kuan -yin,
underwent the apotheosis on this very site.Based on
what the abbot told him, Chiang wrote the account
which was penned by the famous calligrapher Tsai Ching
and inscribed on a stele in 1104.When Chiang served
as the prefect of Hangchow during 1102¡ã1103, he
brought the story with him and the monk of Upper
T'ien-chu Monastery, another pilgrimage center for
Kuan-yin worship, had the same story carved on a
stele in 1104 (Dudbridge 1978, 10þû15; 1982, 589¡ã
594).(11)
Although the legend of Miao-shan was already
known in the Sung, the fully
¶447
developed story, however, was set forth in the Ming
novel The Complete story of Kuan-yin of the Southh Sea
Nanhai Kuan-yin ch'uan-chuan), the Ming ch'uan-ch'i
drama Story of Hsiang-shan (Hsiang-shan chi), and the
early Ch'ing sectarian text True Scripture of
Kuan-yin's Original Vow of Universal Salvation
(Kuan-yin chi-tu pen-yuan chen-ching, preface dated
1667).All the works cited above, moreover, were in
turn based on the Precious Volume of Hsiang-shan
(Hsiang-shan pao-chuan).The earliest surviving edition
was from the Ch' ien-lung era in the 18th century,
although it bore a preface dated to 1103 written by a
monk named P'u-ming of Upper T'ien-chu Monastery, who
cannot be otherwise identified.Even if the
preface was spurious, the "precious volume" was
clearly written by the Ming, for it was already
referred by this title in the 1550s.The story, in
short, is the following.(12)
Miao-shan was the third daughter of King
Miao-chuang who ruled an unspecified kingdom in an
unspecified time.She was by nature drawn to
Buddhism, keeping a vegetarien diet, reading
scriputres by day and practicing Ch'an meditation at
night from an early age.The king had no son and
hoped to choose an heir from among his
sons-in-law.When Miao-shan reached the marriagible
age of nineteen, she refused to get married, unlike
her two elder sisters who had both obediently married
the men chosen by the father.The king was greatly
angered by her refusal and punished her with
various ordeals.She was first confined to the back
garden and subjected to hard labor.When she completed
the tasks with the aid of gods, she was allowed to
join a nunnery to undergo further trials in the hope
of discouraging her from pursuing the religious
¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w
11 The stele still stands in Hsiang-shan Ssu.The
inscription was recarved in 1308 because the
original was damaged by erosion.The discovery
of the stele, which had been assumed to be lost
by scholars until 1991, was described by Lai
Swee-fo (Lai Jui-he) in his article, "Wai-li
hsiun-pei chi", published in Chung-kuo shih-pao
(April 6, 7, 8, 1993).I owe this information
to Professor Glen Dudbridge.
12 The general outline I summarize here is familiar
to many women in China today.I interviewed
women pilgrims in Hangchow, P'u-t 'o, Yuþõnnan and
Taiwan in 1987.When I asked them about
Miao-shan, they told me stories about her which
contained most, if not all, key elements from this
outline.
¶448
path.She persevered and the king burned down the
nunerary, killed the five hundred nuns, and had
Miao-shan executed for her unfilial behavior.While her
body was safeguarded by a mountain spirit, Miao-shan's
soul toured hell and saved beings there by preaching
to them.She returned to the world, went to
Hsiang-shan, meditated for nine years and
achieved enlightenment.By this time, the king had
become seriously ill with a mysterious disease
which resisted all medical treatment.Miao-shan,
disguised as a medicant monk, came to the palace and
revealed the only remedy which could save the dying
father: a medicine concocted with the eyes and
hands of someone who had never felt anger.She further
told the astonished king where to find such a
person.When the king's messengers arrived,
Miao-shan willingly offered her eyes and hands.The
father recovered after taking the medicine and came to
Hsiang-shan with the royal party on a pilgrimage
to offer thanks to his savior.He recognized the
eye-less and hand-less ascetic to be no other than
his own daughter.Overwhelmed with remorse, he and
the rest of the royal family all became converted to
Buddhism.Miao-shan was transformed into her true form,
that of the thousand-eyed and thousand-armed
Kuan-yin.After the apotheosis, Miao-shan passed away
and a pagoda was erected to mark the site.
Earlier in the story, Miao-shan's refusal to get
married was her major crime for which she had to
suffer many hardships and even death.Later in the
story, her selfless sacrifice of her hands and eyes
to save her father made possible the reconciliation
and her eventual transfiguration.The rejection of
marriage is based on two powerful arguments.The
first one has to do with a negative attitude toward
sexuality and desire and the second is a negative
evaluation of the married condition itself.Both
reflect the values of Buddhism which has always
regarded the monastic and celibate life as more
preferable to that of a householder.Miao-shan set a
strong model for Chinese women's resistance to
marriage.However, for them, the revulsion against
marriage is not just an indictment against sexuality
per se, but was also caused by the fear of a
difficult married life involving over-bearing
in-laws, the pain and danger of childbirth, and the
folk belief that women who have given birth to
children are punished in the underworld for having
produced polluting substances ( Ahern 214).(13)
Some women expressed their resistance to marriage
by concrete action.
¶449
Marjorie Topley studied women living in a rural
area of the Canton delta who from the early 19th to
the early 20th century "either refused to marry or,
having married, refused to live with their
husbands.Their resistance to marriage took regular
forms.Typically they organized themselves into
sisterhoods.The women remaining spinsters took
vows before a deity ¡eOld Mother Kuan-yin¡f, in
front of witnesses, never to wed"(Topley 1975: 67)
.Andrea Sankar who studied women living in chai
t'angs (vegetarian houses) in Hong Kong in the 1970s
also commented on their attraction to Kuan-yin." One
concrete appeal for the spinsters who have chosen to
live in chai t'angs ¡K¡Kis the strong identification
many women have with the Goddess ¡esic¡f Kuan
-yin.Next to discussions on the different categories
of chai, stories about the lives of Kuan Yin were
a popular topic of conversation"(Sankar 307) .Later,
she again observes, "For my informants, Kuan Yin is
an apotheosized woman.The myths they relate depict
her more as a folk heroine than as a saint ¡K¡KKuan
Yin provides a charter for their celibate lives.Her
life as a strong, independent, successful woman who
lived in the secular world sanctifies and legitimazes
their own choice of life style.Now some of their
motivations for turning to the religious life as
they grow old and retreat from the secular world can
be attributed to the kinship they feel with Kuan
Yin"(Sankar 310).
In 1987 when I did field work in Hangzhou, I
often encountered similar sentiments against
marriage expressed by women pilgrims I
interviewed.These village women would sing songs
glorifying Kuan-yin which were called "Kuan- yin
sutra".They expressed their admiration for Kuan-yin
¢A Miao-shan's independence and courage in refusing
marriage.They envied her independence and freedom.One
went like this:
¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w
13 Postpartum discharges are considered to be
extremely polluting.A mother who has thus offended
the gods by this invoidable sin in
childbirth, and particularly if she dies while
giving birth, has to go
to a special region in the underworld
called "blood pond" to undergo torment.A filial
son can help his mother to lessen or avoid the
punishment by performing a religious ritual
called "breaking the blood pond" at the time of
the mother's death.
¶450
There is a truly chaste woman in the household of
King Miao-chuang.
First, she does not have to bear the ill humor of
her parents- in-law.
Secondly, she does not have to eat the rice of her
husband.
Thirdly, she does not have to carry a child in
her womb or on her arms.
Fourthly, she does not need a maid to serve her.
Everyday she enjoys peace and quiet in her
fragrant room.
Turning over the cotton coverlet, she sleeps on
the bed alond.
Stretching out her legs, she went into the
Buddha hall.
Tucking in her feet, she withdrew into the back
garden.
For the sake of cultivation she suffered
punishments by her parent.
But now, sitting on the lotus throne, she enjoys
blessings.
If Princess Miao-shan is a symbol of virginal
chastity, Yulang Kuan-yin (Kuan-yin with a Fish
Basket) is a feminine image of Kuan-yin of greater
complexity.Known also as Mr. Ma's Wife (Ma-lang-fu),
Bodhisattva with Chained bones (So-ku P'u-sa) or
simply, "Woman from Yen-chou", she is a seductress
and sexual tease.I discussed the history and
significance of the myths surrounding this image
quite extensively elsewhere and other scholars had
also found this figure intriguing (Yu 1992: 239¡ã256;
Sawada 1959; Stein 1986).In short, Kuan-yin
appeared in the disguise of either a prostitute or a
beautiful young woman fish vendor carrying a bamboo
basket of carps.In the former disguise, she made love
to any man who desired her, but as soon as he made
love to her, he would be miraculously purged of
sexual desire.In the latter disguise, as a
fish-selling girl, she promised marriage to the
suitor who agreed to follow Buddhism, went
through the marriage ceremony, but suddenly died
before the marriage could be consummated.Both stories
had their origin in the T'ang.But the first
image, that of a prostitute, became less prominent
in later times.In Ming-Ch'ing times, however,
perhaps as an echo of this legend, a beautiful
courtesan or a bewitching cross-dressed male actor
was sometimes praised as Kuan-yin.The image of the
Fish-basket Kuan-yin who was a model of chastity,
however, was preserved.In these myths, Kuan-yin
used sex as a bait to convert people to Buddhism, but
remained chaste because she with-held its
fulfillment.Many Ch' an monks in the Sung (960¡ã
1279) and later wrote poems about her and
¶451
they clearly saw her in th is light: a clever
practitioner of the Buddhist skillful means (Sawada
40¡ã44).
The image of Kuan-yin as an old woman became
noticible for the first time after the Sung.In
the pao-chuan literature composed in the Ming and
Ch'ing, this is one of the favorite disguises assumed
by Kuan-yin.Kuan-yin was a main character in Hsi yu
chi (Journal to the West), popularly known as The
Monkey, , one of the most famous novels written in the
16th century by Wu Cheng-en (c. 1500¡ã1582 ).Although
Kuan-yin normally appeared in the novel as the
Potalaka Kuan-yin accompanied by her divine
entourage of Sudhana and Dragon Girl (Yu 1994: 163¡ã
166), she also took the disguise of an old woman in
Chapters 14, 55 and 84, always rendering help to
Tripitaka, the monk pilgrim, and his party critical
and timely assistance.This image of Kuan-yin is
totally devoid of sexuality and is a powerful
matriarchal figure of authority and strength.She is
called "Old Mother" in the novel.This is also the
title given to Kuan- yin in three precious volumes
that I shall briefly describe.The first precious
volume is in fact connected with the legend of the
Fish-basket Kuan-yin.It is entitled Precious Volume
of the Fish-basket Kuan-yin and set the story in the
Sung, correctly reflecting the time when this cult
first gained popularity.In this version Kuan-yin first
appeared as an old woman fish monger.It was only
after she failed to attract anyone's attention in
this disguise that she changed into a beautiful young
maiden.The second text, Precious Volume about
Kuan-yin's Conversion of the Twelve Enlightened Ones,
tells the story of how Kuan-yin led twelve persons,
both men and women, some good and some bad, into
enlightenment.Kuan-yin took the disguises of a monk
and a beautiful young woman, but also of a poor old
beggar woman.The last precious volume is rather
unusual. Entitled Precious Volume of Efficacious
Kuen-shih-yin Who Saves Beings from Sufferings and
Dangers, it was clearly modeled upon the "
Universal Gateway" chapter of the Lotus Suutra and
the esoteric sutras.Kuan-yin was called "Old Mother"
throughout the text.Consisting of two volumes, the
text narrated how she saved people from twenty-four
kinds of danger.The twenty-four perils were very
concrete and could be encountered in daily lives.They
are the following: ™A falling into a pit of fire; ™B
being carried away in a current; ™C robbers; ™D
being pushed over the precipice by and evil man;
™E meeting an old enemy; ™F
¶452
executioner's blade; ™Gimprisonment; ™H poison; ™I
raksha; ™Jvicious animals; ™K snakes and scorpions;
™L hailstorm; ™M difficult childbirth; ™Nfacing enemy
in the battlefield; ™O collapsed house; ™P falling
down a landslide; ™Q suicide by hanging; ™R being
trampled by horses; ™S being run over by carriages; ™T
suicide by jumping into the river; ™U suicide by
jumping into a well; ™V pack of wolves; ™W hell; and
™X miscellaneous dangers not mentioned above.The first
12 perils are mentioned in the gatha section of the
Louts suutra, but not the next 12, though some of
which reflect the concerns found in the esoteric
sutras, such as the fear of a difficult
childbirth or suicide.This list serves as a window
into the social and p sychic anxieties of people
living in late imperial China.The dangers Kuan-yin
could avert were realistic and ever present, such as
difficult childbirths, disasters awaiting one
travelling on the streets (being trampled by horses
and carriages), or the temptations of suicide (the
specific forms of suicide mentioned here were indeed
the favorite choices of the people living at that
time).The author of the precious volume added these
new dangers to the more limited ones found in the
Lotus Suutra.The text probably belonged to a
religious sect related to the White Lotus
tradition which was inspired by Maitreyan
millenarianism and Pure Land devotionalism.One quarter
into the text we find a piece of tentalizing
information stating that the precious volume was
revealed to leaders of this religious group in the
11th year of Wan-li (1583).
Where can we find the source for Kuan-yin the
matriarch? Buddhist sutras do not provide the
answer.Instead, I think we have to look into
the Chinese indigenous religious tradition
concerning the goddess Queen Mother of the
West.Worshiped by both the elite and the masses by
the Han dynasty (206 B.C. ¡ã220 A.D.), she was
clearly the most famous Chinese goddess until the
appearance of the feminine Kuan-yin.She is the goddess
of immortality and the revealer of the secret
knowledge of eternal life.According to the oldest
dictionary, the Han Erh, "Queen Mother" meant
one's father's deceased mother, an honorific
posthumous title confirmed on female ancestors in the
father's line used in ancestal cult.Her hagiographies
rarely mentioned her actual age, and when they
described her physical appearance, they would say
that she looked to be a matron of thirty years
old.But because she was believed to be the mother
of all, she was also sometimes referred to as the old
crone with white hair.According to a
¶453
recent study, she was a favorite subject in T'ang
poetry."Many ¡eT'ang¡f poets refer to her by the
intimate expression Amah (wetnurse or nanny).This
familiar usage occurs especially in contexts in which
the goddess is portrayed as a mother figure or a
teacher"( Cahill 69).The poets called her heavenly
palace located on top of Mt.Kun- lun, the cosmic
pillar, "Amah's household"(Cahill 205).The Goddess was
a protector of young women who chose to live
alone and also, particularly, older, widowed
women."One strong tradition depicts the Queen Mother
herself as a white-haired crone.Old women are often
widowed.By choice or by accident, they may find
themselves unportected and alone, outside the
bounds of traditional family circle within which
most medieval Chinese women lived and found the
meaning of their lives.If they are childless,
older women are especially vulnerable in traditional
Chinese society, which defines a mature woman's worth
in terms of her motherhood.Herself immeasurably old
and yet possessed of great dignity and authority,
childless and yet the mother of all, the Queen Mother
brought respect to the position of the older
women"(Cahill 229).
The Queen Mother's fame began to be eclipsed by
Kuan-yin and other female deities after the
T'ang.Known increasingly by the more intimate title
"Wang-mu niang-niang"(Granny Queen Mother), she
has continued to be worshiped by the common people
down the ages till today.It is noteworty that by the
Ming dynasty female deities of less renown than the
Queen Mother played dominant roles in popular
vernacular novels such as Water Margin by Shih
Nai-yen (c. 1290¡ã1365) and Investiture of the God by
Lu Hsi-hsing (c. 1520þû1601).By the 16th century,
another powerful new goddess, the "Unborn Old
Mother", made her first appearance in the writings of
the White Lotus sectarians.The theme of powerful
goddesses in such popular novels might have played
some role in the birth of the Unborn Old Mother, for
sectarians were firm believers in the novels."Those in
the northern provinces all firmly believe in the
novel Investiture of the Gods and all those in the
southern provinces venerate the Water Margin"(
Overmyer 140).Old Mother Kuan-yin and Unborn Old
Mother might have been created by different groups
of believers, but as Overmyer pointed out, we should
bear in mind that there was in fact a rich tradition
of female deities in the popular religious
background.These feminine goddesses were understood to
be post-
¶454
menopausal women.They were of course free from the
messiness of childbirth and the problems of sexual
desire.They represented motherliness, pure and
simple. They retained all that was attractive about
femininity, but were devoid of anything negative
which true womanhood entails.
Another inspiration for Old Mother Kuan-yin
might come from stories about real Chinese old
women who practiced Buddhism.Because women were seldom
writers of their history, we are faced with the
perennial problem of sources.There is only one
biography of Chinese nuns, for instance.Edited by the
monk Pao ch' ang in 516, Lives of the Nuns contaims
contains short biographies of 65 nuns who lived
during the 4th to the 6th centuries.Coming from
primarily aristocratic backgrounds, they moved
easily among the elites and court.They showed a high
rate of literacy, for only twelve of the sixty-five
could not read or write.Noted for their strict
observance of vinaya, vegetariansm, meditation, many
of them were also devotees of Kuan-yin (Tsai
1994) .Although there is a voluminous body of
biographical sources about Ch'an masters known as
the "lamp record" compiled in the Sung, few
women practitioners were given biographies of their
own.Abbess of Mo-shan was the only nun who received
her own account because she had a male disciple
willing to acknowledge her role in his own
enlightenment (Levering 1982: 28) .Recently, more
such female teachers have been rescued from oblivion
(Hsieh 1996).
In the 18th century, P'eng Shao-sheng (1740¡ã
1796), a pious Pure Land lay Buddhist, compiled the
only collection of Chinese Buddhist laywomen' s
biographies entitled Biographies of Good Women (Shan
nu-jen chuan).Of a total of 148 biographies, 18 or a
little more than 10% are stories about old
women.Thirteen of these old women were Ch'an
practitioners, while the rest were Pure Land
devotees.They were either identified by their living
place or profession, and if their last names were
known, they were simply called "Granny X".Of the 13
women Ch'an practitioners, though their birthplaces
and family backgrounds were often left blank, we can
surmise that they lived probably in the T'ang and
Sung, the so-called golden age of Ch' an.They were
dipicted as enlightened, though some were clearly
rustic and uneducated, others could recite
passages from Buddhist scriptures by heart.They
often served as catalysts for Ch'an monks on
their way to enlightenment.Some old women, such as
described in
¶455
biographies 15, 16 and 17, exchanged quick and
sharp Ch'an repartees with famous Ch'an masters and
proved to be their equals and even betters.
A final source for the matriarchal Kuan-yin
could be the roles of old women in
traditional Chinese society.According to the
Confucian ideal for a woman, she must practice the "
three obediences, namely, she should obey her
father at youth, her husband after marriage, and
her son after her husband dies.But although she
was theoretically dependent on her son, when a woman
reached middle age and became a matriarch in the
household, her status in actual life could be
very impressive.Matriarch Chia ruled her large
family almost like an emperess dowager in the
famous Ch'ing novel Dream of the Red Chamber. Though
fictional, it must also have reflected a certain
degree of social reality.For even in contemporary
Taiwan, "older women have ways of wielding power and
influence that are not open to younger women.If they
have gained the loyalty of their sons, they can
exert considerable control over them, even after they
are grown men with wives and children of their own. In
many cases too, older women take a strong hand in
decisions about household management, investment, or
social affairs. ¡K¡Kas a women's menstrual flow ends
in her 40 's or 50's, she gains increasing power
over the people around her"(Ahern 201¡ã202).
Old women also enjoyed more freedom of
movement, for they were considered both by
themselves and the society to be free from
sexual desire.They could travel in public alone
without causing censure.Certain professions belonged
exclusively to older women, for instance, match-
making.In traditional China, no proper marriage
could be contracted without the service of the
match-makers (Ebrey 73¡ã74) Match-makers were always
older women.Old women often also served as
go-betweens between lovers in Chinese drama and
novels.So, in assuming the disguise of a matriarchal
figure, Kuan-yin absorbed all these nested cultural
characteristics associated with old women in China:
motherly, powerful, wise, a mediator for spiritual
enlightenment but also worldly happiness.
Conclusion
Thetransformation of Avalokites'vara into the
Chinese Kuan-yin is a long and complicated
process.While Buddhist sutras provided the initial
inspiration for the cult of Kuan-yin in China and
their authority continue to be invoked for its
¶456
support,the construction of the Chinese Kuan-yin has
drawn from many other sources as well.One of the
most important sources which I cannot go into here
is the voluminous collection of miraculous stories
about Kuan-yin.Known as Kuan-ying
(influence-response)or kling-ying (efficacious
responses ), such stories constitute one
subgenre of the Buddhist miracle literature.Soon
after the translations of the Lotus suutua , there
were already miracle stories about people who
invoked the bodhisattva, first by the name
Kuan-shih-yin and later, Kuan-shih-yin.A total of 69
tales were recorded in a collection compiled as early
as 501, incorporating two even earlier collections.A
twelveth century Japanese copy of this text is extant
and has been studied by Makita Tairyo (Makita
1970).(14) In the succeeding centuries, more such
collections were compiled providing testimonials to
the compassionate actions of this savior.As Campany
argued convincingly, miracle tales played a powerful
role in generating and reinforcing the faith in Kuan-
yin (Campany 1993).As such tales were increasingly
gathered into independent anthologies from the T'ang
on, other miracle tale collections glorifying the
Lotus Suutra, on the other hand, include
proportionately less stories about Kuan-yin
(Matoba 1981, 1982, 1984, 1986).This is not
suprising, for although the Lotus provides the most
important scriptural basi s for the faith in
Kuan-yin, as the bodhisattva took root on Chinese
soil, he ¢A she achieved an independent status.
Similarly, following the growing fame of
Kuan-yin, Chinese indigenous scriptures began to be
created from as early as the fifth century.Many
such scriptures have not survived, with only the
titles recorded in the Buddhist bibliographical
catalogues.But one of them, the Kuan-shih-yin Sutra
Promoted King Kao (Kao Wang Kuan-shih-yin ching,
T. no. 2898), has attained a canonical status.
Not only was it carved on sutra slabs in 616 on Mt.
Fang- shan, together with the Lotus, Vimalakirti,
Avatamsaka, Nirvana and Projn~a-parmitaa sutras, it
has remained to be the favorite scripture printed and
distributed for free by the
¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w¢w
14 Some of these earliest tales about Kuan-yin have
been translated by Robert Campany.See "The
Earliest Tales of the Bodhisattva Guanshiyin",
in Religions of CHina in Pravtice. Edited by
Donald S. Lopez, Jr. (Princeton University
Press, 1996), pp. 82¡ã96.
¶457
faithful in order to generate merit even in
present-day Taiwan (Yu 1995: 438).
Together with the creation of Chinese indigenous
sutras, iconographies, and hagiographies of Kuan-yin,
the bodhisattva has also been provided with a
Chinese home.The mythological Potalaka was transposed
onto the island P'u-t'o, situated off shore from
Chekiang Province.Pilgrimage makes this Buddhist
inscription of the Chinese landscape a reality (Yu
1992: 202¡ã234).
The domestication and transformation of
Avalokites'vara into the Chinese Kuan-yin is a
fascinating case study of how Buddhism became
indigenized in China.I begin this paper with the
discussion of the various ambiguities connected with
this bodhisattva.In the final analysis, the very
nature of these ambiguities is perhaps the greatest
asset enabling his ¢A her "conquest" of China.
¶458
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¶461
Appendix
Fig.1 One of the Thirty-Two forms of Kuan-yin by
Hsing Tz'u-ching (Collection of Palace Museum,
Taipei, Taiwan)
¶462
Fig.2 One of the Thirty-two forms of Kuan-yin
(Colletion of Anhui Provincial Museum, People's
Rehublic of China)
¶463
Fig.3 3 Wood-block illustration combining Lotus and
Avatamsaka suutras date 1492
(Private collection of Zhou Shaoliang)
¶464
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