why asian some countries such as chinese japanese and koreans think avalokitesvara is a female?

absolute

in fact avalokitesvara is a male bodhisattva and male name

zombiegirl

Firstly, I would like to ask: Why does it matter?

But secondly, this link should answer your questions.

According to the Huayen Sutra, Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva transforms himself into forms that suit the nature of those to be helped. His manifestations or transformation bodies are countless.

e.g. if a boy or girl is about to gain some enlightenment, Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva transforms himself into a boy or a girl to teach the child.

e.g. If a monk is about to attain some enlightenment, Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva transforms himself into a monk.

In short, he can appear as a monk, a nun, or a normal person like you and me. The purpose of such transformations is to make people feel close to him and willing to listen to his words.

In China, Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva is represented in female form and is known as Kuan Yin. Probably because of Kuan Yin's great compassion, a quality which is traditionally considered feminine, most of the bodhisattva's statues in China since the Tang Dynasty (A.D. 618 - 907) have appeared as female figures. In India, however, the bodhisattva is generally represented as a male figure.

ZenBadger

I wonder whether Kuan-Yin was a pre-existing deity co-oped into the Buddhist "pantheon", whether by accident or design. I would be interested to know though it doesn't really matter in the end.

lobster

Think in terms of principles or archetypes and the Dharmakāya is beyond gender. It expresses or manifests through local needs, preferences and circumstances.

Cinorjer

Someone who knew much more about ancient Taoism than myself once told me Kuan-Yin was a female Taoist goddess with her own devoted followers before Buddhism arrived in China, and eventually she supplanted the male Buddhist deity with the same divine attributes since both would have statues and shrines side by side at the holy sites. Ancient Taoist texts that predate Buddhist worship in China are supposed to talk about her.

Takuan

According to my professor, Indian Avalokitesvara statues started to exhibit feminine attributes, i.e. skinny waist, curvy hips, and a feminine facial structure, before Buddhism had taken hold in China.

To the OP, why does it matter to you? Even if Avalokitesvara had started out female and became male, wouldn't he still represent the same thing?

Arthurbodhi

This is a extract from a book about Chinese Buddhist pantheon that I have:

"The reasons for these female emanations are because of the then Confucianist influence on the attitude, customs and social systems which discouraged the female population from seeking comfort and solace from male deities especially in their requests for off-spring. Kuan Yin, in fact, manifested into 33 forms with which to reach the people and the most popular ones being:

Kuan Yin of Complete Light
Dragon-head Kuan Yin
Kuan Yin Who Views Waterfalls
Child-giving Kuan Yin
Kuan Yin of the Fish Basket
Kuan Yin of the Rock Cave
Kuan Yin of Universal Compassion
Kuan Yin Holding a Lotus

It should also be mentioned that even before Buddhism was introduced into China, the women folk there were already worshipping several female Taoist Deities, in the forms of ‘NiangNiang’ seeking their blessings for safety, happiness, children, mercy, compassion and salvation. Thus when Kuan Shih Yin responded to the urgent and distressful calls of the Chinese people in the female forms, they were also given the ‘Niang-Niang’ titles so that Kuan Shih Yin P’usa which is the proper Buddhist term, became known as Kuan Yin Niang Niang or the Goddess of Mercy. In this way, Avalokitesvara became the most popular deity in all of China, worshipped by both the Buddhists and the Taoists as well as those who are without a proper faith but needed a compassionate deity to turn to. Kuan Yin’s manifestations or transformation bodies can be said to be numberless and the most widely worshipped form today is that of the White-robed Kuan Yin. For this reason, most of the Kuan Yin images that are seen in temples and at home altars are related to this form."

BhikkhuJayasara

absolute said:

in fact avalokitesvara is a male bodhisattva and male name

I think the Theravadans have an easy answer to this... lol :P

how

Hhmm...Compassion? Is it gender specific? Is it a statue?

Dakini

One theory proposed by Buddhism scholar June Campbell is that the deity originally was female. The earliest cultures in Tibet were matriarchal (as were India's early cultures), and worshipped goddesses. When patriarchal culture came to Tibet and India, the goddess of Compassion morphed into a male. But in other parts of Asia, she's still female (Kwan Yin).

person

As an aside I find it interesting that in Vajrayana symbolism the male energy is viewed as the compassion side of the energy and the female is viewed as the wisdom. In the west I think the normal view is that the male is the intellect and the female the heart, so it seems like the archetypes are reversed.

Jeffrey

Languages that asign gender to nouns are interesting. In german and tibetan the sun is female while in I think spanish, french, italian the sun is male.

vinlyn

Thailand has no male/female assignation to pronouns.

Jeffrey

German actually has male, female, and neuter. Guaranteed to make you sound like a foreigner as you botch every sentence you utter haha!

What of the sex of avalokiteshevra in Thailand?

vinlyn

The only goddess of compassion that I am familiar with in Thailand, primarily in temples that are more Chinese in nature, is Kuan Yin as a female.

I tended to not visit purely Chinese temples that often. They were not as welcoming as Thai Buddhist temples, and if you dared take out your camera you were often told rather quickly that there was no photography.

Invincible_summer

vinlyn said:

The only goddess of compassion that I am familiar with in Thailand, primarily in temples that are more Chinese in nature, is Kuan Yin as a female.

I tended to not visit purely Chinese temples that often. They were not as welcoming as Thai Buddhist temples, and if you dared take out your camera you were often told rather quickly that there was no photography.

Funny, when I was in SE Asia it was the opposite! Then again, I visited some of the bigger, more famous temples.

Talisman

Male and female are just two of the many (if not infinite) forms of gender expression and identity. You can never point to a person or thing and say "right there is the 'femaleness'" its just another product of conceptualization.

Cinorjer

In Korea the big temples are mostly there for tourists, official Korean heritage sites, and the working temples are not very impressive and tucked away. The rebuilt temples are certainly impressive. Of course, about every one of them has been repeatedly burnt to the ground and reconstructed over the many invasions.

Silouan

Yab-Yum, Yin-Yang, Shiva, God, etc... All are divinely transcendent androgynous mythological symbols possessing both qualities of wisdom and compassionate action represented by male and female aspects, the order of which is highly dependent upon cultural influence.

vinlyn

Cinorjer said:

In Korea the big temples are mostly there for tourists, official Korean heritage sites, and the working temples are not very impressive and tucked away. The rebuilt temples are certainly impressive. Of course, about every one of them has been repeatedly burnt to the ground and reconstructed over the many invasions.

I'm not clear what your point is.

footiam

absolute said:

in fact avalokitesvara is a male bodhisattva and male name

I have heard about this but never wonder. Now that you asked, I probably have heard before that the bodhisattva can take many forms. The Bodhisattva is known thus as the one with thousand eyes and thousand hands.

absolute

thanks to your explainings i understood that i thought wrong and your right bodhisattva can take many forms

vinlyn

Interestingly, as I was working on some of my photos from Thailand, I came across some photos that I had understood before, and it was the many-headed Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva in male form. Then I learned about how the many-heads were caused. Quite interesting.