Kuan-yin; 感應="stimulus and response" (Kan-ying); "stimulus and response" (Kan-ying); 觀音菩薩=Avalokiteshvara; 靈驗記=miracle tales
摘要
Miracle stories about Kuan-yin began to be compiled in the fourth century and continue to be collected and circulated down to the present day. In this article I discuss how the miracle tale collections served as a medium for the domestication of Kuan-yin by focusing on several questions. First of all, who were the compilers? Is there any difference in the choices made on the selections between a monk compilor and that of a lay person? What is the role of literati as promoters of the belief in Kuan-yin? Second, to whom does Kuan-yin appear and how does the bodhisattva appear: in dreams or in broad daylight? as male or female? monk or lay person? from what dangers does Kuan-yin rescue the believer and what benefits does the bodhisattva bestow? Third, what is the connection between icons, visions and the changing iconograpy of Kuan-yin? Fourth, how are the collections organized? are the individual stories simply listed one after another without any clear organizational principle? are they categorized to fit a scriptural paradigm and thereby serve to provide evidential proof for the truth of the sutra? and finally, compared to the early collections, do the later collections show marked departures reflecting historical changes effected both by the new developments of the cult and new anxieties and hopes of the believers?
