Gender Transformation of Kwan Yin in Central China: The Mother Stereotype

Abstract

Kwan Yin, although typically depicted as female in Chinese literature and artworks, is originally a male deity Avalokite?vara in India. This essay examines the process, reason, and impact of Kwan Yin’s feminization in the ancient Chinese context and argues that her gender transformation is a transformation to the mother stereotype.

The essay mainly relies on primary source of Buddhist texts and folklores of Kwan-Yin in China and secondary sources researching the gender transformation of Kwan-Yin through historical and sociological lens. The essay concludes that while the female Kwan Yin’s popularity could be seen as gender empowering, the mother stereotype she and female deities of other religions embody in fact dismisses woman’s individual value.