Holy Mother or Boddhisattva? Syncretic Mary/Guanyin Imagery in Two Late Imperial Chinese Paintings

Abstract

<p>This paper highlights two undated Chinese scroll paintings, allegedly by the Ming artist Tang Yin, to explore the artistic and religious integration of the Virgin Mary and Guanyin Bodhisattva in 18^th-century China. With reference to relevant visual and textual materials, it examines the artistic features and symbolic implications of these paintings and trace the mutual references of the two prominent icons in Christianity and Buddhism. Considering the anti-Christian persecutions under the Qing regime, it was possible that the artists deliberately transformed Marian imagery by adapting to a popular image of Guanyin, which may be compared to the hybrid Maria Kannon images venerated by hidden Christians during the Tokugawa period in Japan. In both cases, Mary could have been mixed with Guanyin/Kannon appearance by underground Christians for continuation of the Christian belief. The comparative study of these unusual paintings and statues reveals a complex process of localized Marian iconography in mid-Qing China and Tokugawa Japan. It also refreshes our understanding of how Mary took diverse forms along with the boundary-crossing exchanges between Christianity and indigenous religions in Asian history.</p>