Vimala and Guanyin in Chinese Literature

Author: Sun Changwu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-06-22
Features: The reception, development, and evolution of the Avalokite?vara faith and the Vimalakīrti faith in Chinese Buddhism and the entire Chinese culture not only quite typically reflect the characteristics of Chinese Buddhism but also are closely related to the entire development of Chinese ideological consciousness. Their manifestations in literature are also very vivid, rich, and multi-faceted in meaning. Therefore, this book will describe in detail the various manifestations of Avalokite?vara and Vimalakīrti in Chinese literature and preliminarily explore the significance of these manifestations. The scope is mainly before the Song Dynasty. After the Song Dynasty, there are many materials about the folk deified Avalokite?vara in novels, operas, and folk literature, involving the development of popular Buddhism, folk religion, Taoism, and many other aspects. It is still necessary to sort them out in detail, conduct field investigations, and should be studied as another independent topic.