Guanyin

Guanyin or Guanshiyin ("watching the world's sufferings"), is one of the most beloved and popular deities of Chinese folk religion, and, as Milefo, she entered China with the spread of Buddhism. Her original identity is that of the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, who, having made the oath not to enter nirvana until all humans beings are liberated from the chain of rebirths, keeps watching with immense love in order to help them whenever they find themselves in need. The fact that Avalokitesvara is represented as a male in the Indian tradition and as a woman in the Chinese version doesn't affect Buddhist scholars, who claim that bodhisattvas can descend on earth under whatever appearance serves their goal best (i.e. free human beings from samsara). Guanyin can be represented holding a small bottle, alone or with a child (she can also help women get pregnant) or with several faces and arms, representing her ability to recognize human pain and ease it. Sometimes a dragon may accompany her, and she is often standing on a lotus; she wears her hair in a high knot and usually wears jewels. Some statues of Guanyin have a loose hand: it can be removed when the owner asks for a wish, and only once the wish is fulfilled the hand is replaced. This is a peculiar attitude of the Chinese towards rebel deities, which can be punished, for example by stripping off their paper clothes, if they don't fulfill the believers' wishes. For those visiting Yunnan, we strongly recommend a visit to the Guanyin Temple in Dali: no need to pay attention to the brand-new gates in front of it (because of the Horticultural Expo nearly every place in Yunnan has been renewed), but the enchanting little temple beyond them is one of the most beautiful we've ever seen.

Samsara: the cicle of birth, death and rebirth, which cause all human beings infinite sorrow and pain; it is created from the erroneus conception of an individual self (atman) separated from the universal Dharma, intended as the all-pervading substance of which the world, deities included, is a mere reflection, devoid of real existence. Nirvana: the ultimate goal of all the followers of the Buddhist Rule, the state of non-being attained by those who reached Enlightenment, i.e. the elimination of the false idea of self, the realization that this world of pain is no more than an illusion and the consequent liberation from samsara. Its accomplishment does not necessarily involve death. Bodhisattva: a being that, having attained the Supreme Enlightenment (bodhi), renounces to enter nirvana until all human beings are liberated from the cycle of deaths and rebirths. The bodhisattva is the product of the Mahayana Buddhism, whose main goal is to give everybody the chance of escaping samsara, while Hinayana Buddhism is more focused on the figure of the arhat, a monk or an eremit who has attained the bodhi, and not on universal salvation.

 

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Sinophilia was born in 1998 as a meeting-point for China-lovers. In these years we have managed to build a database of essential information on the Chinese culture, adding here and there a few more specific essays on Chinese art, history, language and religions, and some useful tools.

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