In his excellent article, Lee Irvin notes that female deities have always played a significant role in the Chinese religious pantheon. Three of Chinas great goddess – Xiwangmu (the Taoist Queen Mother of the West), the Buddhist bodhisattva Guanyin and Matsu (The Empress of Heaven) – all share the feminine principles of compassion, receptive nature and association with water and darkness, and all are imperially sanctioned divinities. Revered by all sectors of Chinese society from the endorsed government and religious sectors to the masses who embrace Popular Folk Religion and Taoism as well as Buddhism, their roles expanded from divine personages to also mortals with human expressions, emotions and needs. Each epitomize the feminine role of compassionate protectors and grant health, long life and safety to all devotees regardless of their rank or status. In doing so, they are viewed as interconnected and collectively provide devotees the will and spiritual means to oppose controlling dominant male religious and political forces. All three have popular small local shrines scattered through rural areas as well as large temples and monasteries dedicated to them: the Queen mother in Taoist and Popular Religion places of worship and Guanyin and Matsu in Buddhist and Popular Religion sanctuaries. Guanyin and the Queen Mother are uniquely linked in their roles as guides to a serene death. Guanyin in Pure Land Mahayana belief leads deceased souls to their rebirth in the Western Paradise, which is similar to the Taoist realm into which the Queen Mother guides the deceased.
Source:
Lee Irwin, “Divinity and Salvation: The Great Goddesses of China,” in Asian Folklore Studies, Indiana University, Vol. 49, 1990, pp 53-68.
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This small antique-Chinese-wood-carving represents Mazu, which translates as “Mother Ancestor,” the tutelary deity “Protector of the Sea” who protects seafarers and is very popular among Taiwanese, Fujianese, and Cantonese sea cultures. This syncretic cult figure is the most imortant ofthe female Taoist-Deities and continues to be worshipped by Taoist, Buddhist and Popular Religion followers. In…
This antique carving is a magnificent example of fine provincial Buddhist statues made by local artisans. This serene exquisitely carved Guanyin sits on a detached pedestal base in meditation. Made to be seen in the round, she wears a traditional three part garment with delicate incised leaves and leaf motifs on the front, back, and sleeves. Her gentle, sweet face is soft and has a peaceful and calming half smile. Her high pointed crown depicts the Five Tantric Dhyani Buddhas, which which are rarely seen in provincial Guanyin images.
Placed on a lotus throne that is used only for Buddhas or bodhisattvas, this white clad Guanyin sits in lalitsana, the position of royal ease symbolizing her regal status as presider over both the material the spiritual worlds. Her hands are in karana mudra, the Taoist gesture to expel evil, remove problems and rid sickness or other negativities rarely used for Guanyin. Mounted on an acrylilc.
Guanyin’s elegance, compassion and serenity are emphasized in this graceful antique provincial carving. Portrayed in meditation with flowing robes on a majestic three-tiered lotus throne she was designed for personal veneration in a home setting.
This delicately detailed Guanyin statue in meditation on a two-tiered backless throne has flowing braids, simple necklace, and voluminous robes indicating her regal status, while her pendulous ears, compassionate downcast eyes, serene contemplative expression, and calm smile symbolize her enlightened status. The image’s distinguishing feature is its deeply carved three-part diadem (crown) centered with a carved Amitabha Buddha on lotus throne surrounded by an aureole.
Guanyin is portrayed in this gilt and lacquer carving seated on a lotus with her hands in the lap in meditation mudra atop a decorative footed stand in elegantly draped robes. In this regal form, she wears a 5-lobe crown with a cross hatch design in the center while her hair rests atop her head in a bun encircled within the crown.
This provincial Guanyin made for a home altar sits in anjali mudra. Portrayed as a humble, approachable figure, she wears a 5-lobed diadem, hair in a chignon, braids draping down her shoulders, and a modest robe. She sits on a unique footed lotus throne of stacked lotuses, the Buddhist symbol of purity, flowering of the mind, and freedom from the world’s darkness.
The delicately carved antique Guanyin sits in meditation. Masterful yet simple, this provincial image brings quiet energy to its surroundings and imparts a sense of serenity and peace.
Vibrant provincial Guanyin with high crown centered with Amitabha Buddha surrounded by swirling florals. The indentation for urna (third eye) on forehead would have held a cut glass. This humble approachable Guanyin was placed in a home or community shrine.
This vibrant image represents the “Heavenly Empress” Mazu wearing a red-tiered outer robe topped with a black scalloped collar bordered with gold and carved in graceful folds. Three ornamental flowers painted on her stomach might reflect the Popular Religion myth that when Mazu’s mother was pregnant, she prayed for a daughter as she already had six sons. In a dream Guanyin gave her a flower blossom to wear, and the next day Mazu was born.
This home devotional image, finely carved in the round, represents Mazu, the most revered Taoist female deity in coastal areas in mainland China, Taiwan and Vietnam. She sits in a traditional deity pose, hands covered by a ritual cloth with a space to hold a hu tablet on a plain armless high back chair. She is a provincial matronly figure, eyes calmly cast down and dressed in humble attire with characteristically small feet, a hanging red sash, and a modest hat with a flat phoenix.
As a syncretic Taoist deity, the Queen Mother of the West has a huge cult following among Taoist, Buddhist and folk religion devotees revered for her powers to control life and death and to determine the life span of all living beings. Irvin calls her one of the Great Chinese Goddesses who are all imperially…
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