Description
Book SynopsisThis work examines the dramatic transformation of one of the most important objects of worship in the Buddhist tradition - the Indian (male) bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, or the embodiment of compassion - into the (female) Chinese Kuan-yin, or the "Goddess of Mercy"
Trade ReviewA major case study of the Mahayana concept of upaya... excellent and comprehensive. Journal of Religion
Table of ContentsPreface Appendixes A. Stele Text of the "Life of the Great Compassionate One" B. Chinese Women Pilgrims' Songs Glorifying Kuan-yin Notes Glossary and Index 1. Introduction 2. Scriptural Sources for the Cult of Kuan-yin 3. Indigenous Scriptures and the Cult of Kuan-yin 4.Miracle Tales and the Domestication of Kuan-yin 5. Divine Monks and the Domestication of Kuan-yin 6. Indigenous Iconographies and the Domestication of Kuan-yin 7. The Ritual of Great Compassion Repentance and the Domestication of the Thousand-handed and the Thousand-eyed Kuan-yin in the Sung 8. Princess Miao-shan and the Feminization of Kuan-yin 9. P'ut'o Shan: Pilgrimage and the Creation of the Chinese Potalaka 10. Feminine Forms of Kuan-yin in Late Imperial China 11. Venerable Mother: Kuan-yin and Sectarian Religions in Late Imperial China 12. Conclusion
