Guanyin in a Taoist Guise
Guanyin in a Taoist Guise
The bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara decisively entered China at the end of the third century with the translation of the most widely revered Buddhist scripture in East Asia, the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Law, or Lotus Sūtra. Its twenty-fifth chapter, the “Universal Gateway of Guanshiyin” would have a particularly remarkable legacy, for in Avalokiteśvara, the Pumen pin introduced a new type of deity to Chinese religious life. The compassionate Guanyin was glorified not only as a universal savior but also as a readily accessible miracle worker rescuing persons in need from impending dangers or critical circumstances. This chapter suggests that the Tang work entitled the Marvelous Scripture of the Great Unity, the Savior from Suffering and Protector of Life can be seen as a Taoist transposition of the Lotus Sūtra’s Pumen pin, created to promote to the level of Guanyin one of the most prestigious deities of the Taoist pantheon, the Heavenly Venerable Savior from Suffering, the Jiuku tianzun.
Keywords: Lotus Sutra, deity, Jiuku tianzun, Scripture of the Savior from Suffering, Buddhism, Taoism, medieval China
Hawaii Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs, and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.