Kwan Yin is a He!

[shrub]

Gene,

In your Shaolin Temple article, you referred to Kwan Yin in feminine terms. In fact, Kwan Yin is a male. He was depicted in woman's clothings in honor to his respect and caring for women.

[Felipe Bido]

I thought the TV series "Monkey Magic" had cleared up the doubts about Kwan Yin

[WanderingMonk]

Kwan Yin is a she.

Guan Zhi Zai is a HE.

Guan Zhi Zai manifest in whatever form that it is most beneficial for the situation. In this case, Kwan Yin is a female manifestation of Him for the chinese followers. so, it is a She.

[gfx]

wow, now I have way more respect for cross dressers. If I only knew! :D

[MoreMisfortune]

who knows... all chinese names sound gender-less to me
probly cos some... dudes... really digged them cute silk clothes and wussy make-up combined with dubious hair style
go figure

[GeneChing]

It's sort of a zen koan if you will. Kwanyin began as the Indian deity Avalokiteshvara, which was clearly male. Somewhere, somehow, as Buddhism travelled across China, Kwanyin had a sex change and became female. The deities are clearly of the same origin, but there is a significant difference on how Kwanyin is represented in China versus it's Indian roots. There's even a different legend in China how Kwanyin arose from Miaoshan, the third daughter of King Miaochung.

shrub, do your research. It was a little more than just cross-dressing in China.

[Eddie]

and is Nan Hai Goo Foh the same (kwan ying incarnated as different beings)?

[GeneChing]

I have no idea what you are saying without the Chinese characters. Foh is probably fo meaning 'buddha' as in amitoufo - I can't sound out the rest. Kwan Yin is formally Kwan Lu Yin, or Kannon in Japanese. In the Song, she retained her masculine persona, as seen in the Tunhuang frescos were he has a mustache. But by the 10th century, Kwan Yin is feminine. No one is sure what happened there. Some think that it is linked to Avalokiteshvara's consort, White Tara. Apparently Bai Kuan Yin (white kwan yin) is a literal translation of White Tara.

[David Jamieson]

Somewhere, somehow

That's similar to the old "and then a miracle happens" Equation found in some mathematical explanations of the universe' structure.

I thought that Kwan Yin manifested as a female in the case where she represented compassion and mercy. Seeing as this was a virtue of women in the cultural paradigm at the time (heck, it still is now!)

But I had heard that the gods are spirits that will present themselves in the form that you need to see them in to grasp the message.

...anyway

[GeneChing]

I'm gonna guess that this means 'south sea'. Goo is still babytalk to me...

[GeneChing]

June 16, 2021
4:41 AM PDT
Last Updated 4 hours ago
Asia Pacific
Giant Buddhist goddess in Japan gets face mask to pray for end of COVID-19 (https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/giant-buddhist-goddess-japan-gets-face-mask-pray-end-covid-19-2021-06-16/)
Reuters

2 minute read

June 16 (Reuters) - Workers scaled a giant statue of a Buddhist goddess in Japan on Tuesday to place a custom-made mask on her face, an act meant to be a prayer for the end of the coronavirus pandemic.

It took four workers three hours to carry the massive mask on ropes up the 57 m-high (187 ft) white statue of the Buddhist goddess Kannon - the Goddess of Mercy - at the Houkokuji Aizu Betsuin temple in Fukushima Prefecture.

They then unfurled the mask made with pink net fabric, measuring 4.1 m by 5.3 m and weighing 35 kg (77 pounds), across the lower half of the statue's face.

https://www.reuters.com/resizer/nyMWl7CfkR6rb0NaPKD7dLZvq-A=/800x0/filters:quality(80)/cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com/reuters/KYLSB63TVZPSFNO75T64U5BPZI.jpg
A drone picture shows a mask placed on a 57-metre-high statue of Buddhist goddess Kannon, to pray for the end of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic at Houkokuji Aizu Betsuin temple in Aizuwakamatsu, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan in this handout photo taken on June 15 2021. OISO ALL SUPPORT/Handout via REUTERS

The statue, built 33 years ago, is hollow with a spiral staircase that can be climbed to the height of the goddess' shoulder. People visit the statue, which is holding a baby, to pray for the safe delivery of babies and to ask for blessings for their newborns.

Temple manager Takaomi Horigane said workers came up with the idea for the face mask in discussions on the restoration of the statue after it was damaged in an earthquake in February.

Horigane said they plan to keep the mask on the statue until the COVID-19 situation is under control in Japan.

Reporting by Rikako Maruyama and Akira Tomoshige; Writing by Karishma Singh; Editing by Tom Hogue

threads
Kwan-Yin-is-a-He! (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?33395-Kwan-Yin-is-a-He!)
covid (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71666-Coronavirus-(COVID-19)-Wuhan-Pneumonia)