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Her birthday is celebrated on the nineteenth of the second month; her entering into the full wisdom is remem- bered on the nineteenth of the sixth month; her death, or rather entering into the Nirvana, is given as having taken place on the nineteenth of the ninth month. Among the common people these three days are often spoken of as ‘“‘Kuan-yin’s birthday.” The confusion is easy to understand. These festivals are very lively occasions. Every one is out. The temples and towns are decorated for the festival, for Kuan-yin, the Goddess of Mercy, is exceedingly popular. [180] THE BUDDHIST PANTHEON IN CHINA Many legends and stories have arisen in China regarding her origin and life, but the really classical reference to Kuan-yin is in “The Lotus Scripture” (“ Fa-hua Ching,” 7: 2 #), chapter 25. Here it says (according to Dr. Timothy Richard’s translation): “The Incomprechensible (Holy Spirit) She whom no evil spirit’s eyes can see— Much less harm— Baffles them all, Granting deliverance. The wondrous power of God Is awe-inspiring, like this:— Should a woman desire a son, And reverently worship Holy Kuan-yin, She will obtain a blessing — An intelligent son. Should she desire a daughter She brings forth a virtuous one, A beauteous daughter, Rooted deep in virtue, By all respected, Joy without alloy, Immeasurable,—infinite Are these blessings. In three and thirty forms Herself, she manifested, Vowed a great vow, deep like the sea, A vow of holiness. Trusting in her power A fiery furnace becomes a cooling lake of water, Waves cannot drown. Through her kindliness of heart Shivered is sword of executioner. [181] TRUTH AND TRADITION IN BUDDHISM Accursed poisonous herbs May life endanger, but— Think upon the Lotus Law And you will then be healed. Mid thunder-clouds and lightning, Hailstones and floods of rain, Look up to Kuan-yin. These all shall vanish. Kuan-yin’s wondrous knowledge Can save a world of sorrow. "Tis merey upon mercy— Purest Light!”’ One of the many accounts in Chinese of Kuan-yin’s origin reads as follows: “A little while after Buddha had established mon- asteries for monks and nuns, a royal princess (some say from Szechwan province, others from the Southern Sea) was seized with an earnest desire to dedicate her life to the practice of asceticism. Her name was Miao- shan (ky %). Her father had two other daughters, Miao-chin (& 4) and Miao-yin (xb 4). ‘According to the father’s wishes, these two daughters were given in marriage, but the third, Miao-shan, could not be induced to take this step. Secretly she left her home and entered a convent, no one knew where. Burning with anger, her father sent out a band of soldiers, who during the night surrounded the largest convent in the neighbourhood, a place where five hundred lo-hans (saints) were assembled. All these were burned to death in a horrible manner. As a punishment for this, the father became blind. All kinds of cures were tried to heal him, but everything [182] MIAO-SHAN REFUSING TO MARRY ee Ms MS elt aS - to be well. This heroic act was performed by Miao- THE BUDDHIST PANTHEON IN CHINA was in vain. Finally, it became evident that one of his nearest must tear out her eyes for him, if he was shan, who thereafter lived the whole of her life i darkness. At her death, however, she was de vere and became a bodhisattva, and came to earth again as the merciful Kuan-yin.” This story is discredited by all the scholarly educated monks. Apparently, Kuan-yin first became known in China in the region about Hangchow. From this place there was brisk trade with Ceylon and other places, where one hears of an ancient deity named Sumana, who had his sanctuary on “Adam’s Peak.” The qualities which are attributed to him remind one strongly of those which characterize Kuan-yin. Ceylon occasionally, however, received visits from South Arabian seamen, Sabians. They worshipped a deity, too, who “heard. the cry” and “looked down in pity upon mankind,” Al-Makah. Some students of the history of religion believe that there is a connection here. Others maintain that Kuan-yin was originally an Indian deity who especially received the many offerings for smallpox Cases. | In China, she is constantly mentioned in connection with the sea. “She has risen from the Southern Sea” (Nan-hai, (4 iit). Indeed, the place where she first revealed herself is still shown. It was on the island of _ Prut‘o (#4 Fé), in the Ningpo archipelago. Consequently the island of P‘ut‘o becamea place holy above all others. In connection with the “Southern Sea,” a special type has arisen, which even many Buddhist monks [183] TRUTH AND TRADITION IN BUDDHISM confuse with the original Kuan-yin. This is the so- called ‘Nan-hai chun-t‘i” (1% i#@ 42 #2), who is por- trayed “with a thousand arms and a thousand eyes.” This rather monstrous figure, who is supposed to represent both large-heartedness and swiftness, may be one of Kuan-yin’s many incarnations, but need not necessarily be so. It may also be one of the twenty- four devas (chu-t‘ien #% ®), or archangels, who, in peace and enlightenment of mind, in vigilance and helpfulness, stands foremost in the ranks. Some sinologues think that the “Nanhai chun-t‘i’? has some connection with the Taoist goddess “ Hsi-wang-mu”’ (ij = #), or with Buddha’s mother Mo-yeh (# Jf). Kuan-yin is also incarnated as the lauded “Virgin Who Gives Fecundity” (“Sung-tzii Niang-niang,” x& $ #2 WR). As such she is enthroned, usually at the back of the high altar, surrounded by a lot of plump little figures of children. There is a special altar where light and incense burn continually. This is looked after by the many childless women who daily visit this sanctuary. It is very probable that the all-embracing Kuan-yin has absorbed quite a number of goddesses known and dear to the Chinese from old times. At the same time, new features have in this way been added to Kuan- yin’s picture. It is almost certain that the idea of the Holy Virgin, the merciful Madonna of the sixteenth and seventeenth century, has also influenced this Kuan-yin picture! _1The wonderful story of Maria and Christ, from the “Shén-hsien Kang- chien”? (ji {il] #9 #2) given in Chap. II, [184] THE BUDDHIST PANTHEON IN CHINA Kuan-yin has appeared in thirty-two different incarnations. For that reason she can be found every- where, even among the worst class of beings. Present- day Buddhist magazines and pamphlets lay much stress upon this and often give very realistic descrip- tions of her doings. This has led some Christian people to the conclusion that Kuan-yin not only mingles with sinners, but commits actual sin in order to associate with them. This conclusion is as unfair as it is superficial. From her very nature, she cannot commit sin, but because she is the good spirit she can meet the sinner at the moment of crisis or of greatest darkness. She may even speak from the mouth of the victim whom the sinner is about to dishonour, and wake up his conscience. Since Kuan-yin, as the great revealer and mediator of the All-Father, thus cares for all the needy and suffering, it may be understood how greatly she is loved and worshipped. There is scarcely a district or village where one does not find her image and temple. In many places she has been made the “tutelary goddess.”” She is constantly spoken of with the beautiful attributes “Ta-tz‘ti ta-pei” (K # *% 2), “‘oreat mercy and great sympathy.” Second in the list of bodhisattvas is the figure who in the purest form of Mahayana, the “Pure Land” School, is placed beside Kuan-yin as Amitabha’s second son, Ta-shih-chih (X # %). The name in its Chinese form means “the one who, in power, has 1Compere the Tibetan and Mongol form of greeting: “Om Mani padme hum”; “Greeting, thou jewel in the lotus!’’ (Kuan-yin). [185] TRUTH AND TRADITION IN BUDDHISM attained the highest,’’—in other words, the “Strongest One.”’ We have probably here the Indian Mahahasthana- parapta. There is not much said about him, but what is said is so much the more important. He has broken karma’s weary circle, and in some way has once for all provided an objective atonement, which makes it impossible for mankind to break loose from the cycle of soul-wanderings. Power is his most important attribute, the power of love, founded upon his heart of deep compassion. The mediation of his power to the individual, however, can only be accomplished through Kuan-yin. It is she who drives the soul to holy desires for renewal and salvation, and she is the mediator of this salvation through her spirit. It is not for nothing that Kuan-yin is represented in thousands of scrolls and paintings in China as blessing a supplicant. Fine threads go down from her hands and her halo-crowned head to the praying figure. Sometimes one sees in this connection the beautiful symbol of the Nestorians and the ancient church, the white dove (the pure spirit) which Kuan-yin sends down upon the supplicant. Moreover, the dove bears in his beak a rosary, that age-old Indian symbol of prayer’s unbroken chain which binds the children of time with the world of eternity. Third in the list of bodhisattvas comes the inter- esting Maitreya (Mi-lo Fu, i % ). In his humility and compassion, he not only denies himself the dignity of Buddhahood, but often actsas a regular tutelary god. At the very entrance to the temple one meets his great [186] THE BUDDHIST PANTHEON IN CHINA plump image with the broad good-natured smile on his lips, a flower in the right hand, and with the left grasping the mouth of the sack in which the future’s gifts of happiness are hidden. His cloak is thrown aside so that the enormous chest and fat stomach are exposed.