Kuan-yin

By Chun-fang Yu and Dina Nayeri

Book Overview

By far one of the most important objects of worship in the Buddhist tradition, the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara is regarded as the embodiment of compassion. He has been widely revered throughout the Buddhist countries of Asia since the fifth century CE. While he was closely identified with the royalty in South and Southeast Asia, and the Tibetans continue to this day to view the Dalai Lamas as his incarnations, in China he became a she - Kuan-yin, the Goddess of Mercy - and has a very different history. The causes and processes of this metamorphosis have perplexed Buddhist scholars for centuries.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0231120281
• ISBN13: 9780231120289
• Release Date: September 2000
• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Length: 688 Pages
• Weight: 2.31 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 1.5" x 6.5"