#chinese buddhist

[crazycatsiren]

My bodhisattva: "My dear sweet girl you must remember to breathe out the chaos and breathe in the calmness."

Me:

[jareckiworld]

Irene Chou (Zhou Lüyun, 1924-2011) — Heartbeat [ink and colour on xuan paper, hanging scroll, 1980]

[journeytothewestresearch]

A Catalog of the Monkey King’s Magic Powers and Skills

I am happy to announce that I've finished my 177-page catalog of Sun Wukong's powers from all 100 chapters of Journey to the West. Fans of Lego Monkie Kid and Black Myth: Wukong, fanfiction writers, and artists will certainly find it useful.

[sideblogdotjpeg]

ive been thinking about the red string superstition recently and also sol bufo always and it makes me sick how uncannily caldwell tanner has made sol to perfectly target me personally

(+ cropped versions !)

[chinesehanfu]

[Hanfu · 漢服]Chinese immortal Hanfu Based On Ming Dynasty Zhengtong ear (1439AD)Fahai Temple Murals

【Historical Artifacts Reference 】:

Ming Dynasty "鬼子母神" in the mural of Fahai Temple in Beijing,China.

【About the "鬼子母神" 】

鬼子母神,also known as Hārītī (Sanskrit),is both a revered goddess and demon, depending on the Buddhist tradition. She is one of the Twenty-Four Protective Deities of Mahayana Buddhism.

In her positive aspects, she is regarded for the protection of children, easy delivery and happy child rearing, while her negative aspects include the belief of her terror towards irresponsible parents and unruly children.

In both Chinese and Japanese Buddhism, she is venerated as a protector deity, but in many folk traditions is often recognized as a female demon of misery and unhappiness towards children and parents.

In Chinese Buddhism, Hārītī is also known as Hēlìdì (訶利帝) or Hēlìdìmǔ (訶梨帝母). In Chinese tradition, she is one of the Twenty-Four Protective Devas (二十四諸天 Èrshísì zhūtiān), a group of Dharmapalas who are venerated as protectors of Buddhists and the Dharma.Statues of this group (and Hārītī) are often enshrined within the Mahavira Hall in Chinese temples and monasteries.

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📸Recreation Work：@粉墨长安古典妆造

🔗 Xiaohongshu:http://xhslink.com/cNP1Hz

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[yebreed]

Laughing Buddhas From The Flying Peak

Vivid figures of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas carved in the rock on the Flying Peak, Feilai Feng (飛來峰石窟) in the Wulin Mountains (武林山), Zhejiang.

Their cheerfulness in no way contradicts the solemn and misty ambiance of the Feilai Feng Grottoes themselves. Limestone peak looks alien in the surrounding mountain landscape, so there is an opinion that it flew here by the power of Buddhist wonder-workers. The main cave is dedicated to the Bodhisattva Guanyin. Due to a natural crack in the ceiling, a radiant halo surrounds the statue.

The carvings are from different periods and date from the Tang to the Ming.

Photo: ©俊灵-

[ryin-silverfish]

Me, staring at the "Nezha is eternally 12/Nezha is often depicted as a kid so he's just a kid and nothing else" crowd: man, have you heard of Child Manjushri a.k.a. Wenshu Tongzi

(This is totally not an excuse for me to find cool statue pictures and talk iconography)

So, here is Bodhisattva Manjushri in his standard "graceful aristocratic prince" form, riding his azure lion. The statue in the picture doesn't have it, but oftentimes, he'll also be holding a flaming sword that symbolizes wisdom's ability to cut through ignorance and delusions.

This is "Holy Old Monk Manjushri", a variant that I came across a few times while temple-touring, but couldn't find many good online pictures of. It seemed like a thing that was popular around Mt. Wutai, based on the "Buddha-palita met Old Man Manjushri" tale. Sometimes his BFF Samantabhadra is depicted as an old man too, for matching purposes.

And this is Child Manjushri, with his five hair buns, often worshipped in an esoteric context. On Mt. Wutai, there are five major temples atop five peaks, each worshipping a different form of Manjushri, and the "middle peak" temple has a Child Manjushri in their main hall. Like, it's far from the most common variant, but neither is it this super obscure form that no longer enjoys active worship.

Lastly, just for fun: this is Yamantaka, a guardian deity/Wisdom King, who, in Tibetan Buddhism, is believed to be Manjushri's wrathful form.

If you wouldn't call Manjushri "the eternal child Bodhisattva" just because he has a child form, why would you say Nezha is an eternal child when he, too, has both child and adult forms?

Even though Nezha's child form is vastly more popular and well-known than Child Manjushri, I think my point still stands: A deity is capable of having multiple manifestations, of varying ages and appearances, each fulfilling a particular function and niche——none of which is the "One True Form TM", just different clothes they wear based on occasions and audiences.

To stretch the analogy a little, Manjushri's child form is the formal dress he puts on before attending a religious event, while Nezha's child form is the lotus T-shirt he wears a lot while appearing on TV, to the point it becomes his most iconic attire.

This doesn't mean he only has a single shirt, for goodness sake, and using his child form as evidence for the "eternal child" claim is like saying Nezha's only allowed to wear that one shirt and nothing else.

[steamedlotusroot]

as a native chinese, i feel like some of yall are taking the gods in lego monkie kid a bit too seriously. i understand why it feels iffy to ship / make silly content of deities that people worship irl (eg. nezha, sun wukong) but it’s a phenomenon on chinese social media too. c-netizens ship the fictionalized versions of these gods, which the gods of lego monkie kid are. they aren’t the actual gods people worship; they’re slightly tweaked versions of the book characters, just like any other chinese adaptation or retelling of jttw (and such stories like fsyy) also, no, nezha isn’t a child, in lmk or jttw or sometimes irl. just because he’s often depicted in child form doesn’t make him an immortal child. eros / cupid is often depicted as a winged baby, and he has a wife and kids. it’s basically the same thing here. nothing in lmk suggests that nezha is a child (his voice, his appearance, his personality etc. all imply he is an adult), and while he’s described as youthful in jttw, he’s already 1700+ years old by then and gods can shapeshift. people only think he’s an immortal baby because that’s a popular depiction of him, since one of his prominent myths is set during his childhood. but as long as you’re talking about the god nezha (fictionalized or the religious figure) and not the human child nezha, then that’s an adult [edit: the last sentence couldve been worded better. i would summarize it as “immortal youth nezha is a valid depiction and is popularized by mythology, but adult god nezha exists too and they are NOT mutually exclusive”]

[niteshade925]

April 12, Xi'an, China, Qinglong Temple/青龙寺 (Part 3 - History):

A model of Qinglong Temple in Tang dynasty (618 - 907 AD):

There must have been something like thirty engravings of famous poems about the temple lining the walls of the corridors. Below are three examples of these engravings, from these poems one can get a feel for how Qinglong Temple used to look like. A note on the translations: they are rather unpolished as I just wanted to get the meaning across.

《題青龍寺詩》 [唐] 朱慶餘 寺好因崗勢，登臨值夕陽。 青山當佛閣，紅葉滿僧廊。 竹色連平地，蟲聲在上方。 最憐東面靜，為近楚城墻。

Translation (by me):

"In Commemoration of Qinglong Temple" By Zhu Qingyu (Tang dynasty) The beauty of this temple comes from the mountains, By the time I summited it was already dusk. Verdant peaks behind temple buildings, Scarlet leaves filling the corridors. Bamboo groves connecting flat areas, Chirping of insects above it all. Only the east side remains still, Since it's close to the city walls.

《清明日青龍寺上方賦得多字》 [唐] 皇甫冉 上方偏可適，季月況堪過。 遠近水聲至，東西山色多。 夕陽留徑草，新葉變庭柯。 已度清明節，春秋如客何。

Translation (by me):

"Qingming Festival Above Qinglong Temple" By Huangfu Ran (Tang dynasty) It's comfortable up in the mountains, Watching the season pass by. Sounds of flowing water from near and far, Views of mountains from east and west. Setting sun upon the grassy path, Growing leaves cover the courtyard trees. Qingming Festival has come and gone, Just like the seasons and the temple visitors.

《青龍寺早夏》 [唐] 白居易 塵埃經小雨，地高倚長坡。 日西寺門外，景氣含清和。 閑有老僧立，靜無凡客過。 殘莺意思盡，新葉陰涼多。 春去來幾日，夏雲忽嵯峨。 朝朝感時節，年鬓闇蹉跎。 胡爲戀朝市，不去歸煙蘿。 青山寸步地，自問心如何。

Translation (by me):

"Early Summer at Qinglong Temple" By Bai Juyi (Tang dynasty) Light shower settled the dust, Temple grounds blending with the hills. Setting sun outside temple gates, The scene filled with an air of serenity. An old monk stands in idleness, There are no worldly passersby in the stillness. Remaining birds having sung their melodies, New leaves providing ample amounts of shade. End of spring was just days ago, Summer clouds are already towering above. Every day we feel the passing of seasons, Our hair graying in the meantime. Why obsess over bustling cities, When we can return to the lush countryside? These verdant mountains are but a corner of the world, Here I stand and reflect upon the state of my heart.

Huiguo and Kukai

In the first part I mentioned that Qinglong Temple was where Kukai/空海 studied Vajrayana Buddhism (the Chinese Esoteric tradition was also called "Tangmi"/唐密, since it was very popular in Tang dynasty) under Huiguo/惠果. Huiguo was a student of the famous Vajrayana Buddhist master and translator Amoghavajra (Chinese name Bukong/不空). Huiguo eventually became a master himself in the Chinese Esoteric tradition, and was an Acharya (Sanskrit term meaning teacher; translated phonetically as asheli/阿阇黎 in Chinese) who had many students from different places, including from surrounding countries. Kukai was one of his last notable students before he passed away. Kukai returned to Japan in 806 AD and founded the Shingon school of Buddhism/真言宗 (also sometimes called Eastern Esotericism/東密).

Kukai was also a calligrapher and a poet, below are two examples of his works (first is an ink rubbing of his calligraphy work titled "Buddha", second is his calligraphy work named Huushincho/風信帖; both were written in Chinese):

Closeup of Huushincho (from Wikipedia). The original is at Touji Temple in Kyoto, Japan.

Shōryō shu/Xinglingji/性靈集, a collection of kanshi by Kukai. Kanshi/漢詩 is a Japanese word for Chinese poetry. These books here are a gift from Japan.

Bunkyō hifu ron/Wenjingmifulun/文鏡秘府論 by Kukai which discusses Chinese poetry. These books are a gift from Japan.

There are also other gifts from Japan. Left is the top of a khakkhara staff (In Chinese and Japanese: xizhang/锡杖/錫杖, shakujō/錫杖). Right is a Vajra (in Chinese and Japanese: jingangchu/金刚杵/金剛杵, kongosho/金剛杵), this is a Vajrayana ritual object. This particular Vajra is commemorative and bears the names of Huiguo and Kukai:

And that's all for Qinglong Temple. Next up is another famous temple in Xi'an, Daci'en Temple/大慈恩寺.

[ruibaozha]

I’ve been stricken with numerous personal life circumstances that have made it difficult to produce solid research pieces as well as answer questions, but I still want to share information.

This type of dance is called Dunhuang and mixes traditional ethnic dancing styles with modern art. The style of the dance itself is influenced heavily by Buddhism. Specific body movements are inspired by fresco paintings found inside the caves of the west China province of Gansu. The dance style owes it’s name to the musical scores found within the city of Dunhuang.

Dunhuang itself used to be a massive center for Buddhist teaching and practices between 500AD-1000AD, being home to several monasteries during that time period. Pilgrims from China, India and Tibet would congregate here leaving behind massive amounts of Buddhist written text and art that would form the strongest body of primary works regarding Buddhist communities in China.

This group here is performing The Thousand Handed Guanyin, and actually happen to be hearing impaired! It’s actually quite mesmerizing to watch.

[tgrailwar-zero]

A few things happened in relatively rapid succession.

The first, was the code cast. You focused in, trying to get your Magic Circuits to play along. There was a lot of unspoken nuance when it came to Spiritron Hacking, and you were trying to make it work nonetheless.

So, you decided to take the road of least resistance. Focus on what you want, convert that to a digital space, and then activate.

Light.

Create light.

Create a light that could support KUKULKAN.

That was a steep ask, in any case, especially when present in someone else's' Reality Marble. But, as you held out your hands… you felt a spark, and a flicker, and a warm light filling the space. It was there, and it was brief, but you did feel a sense of healing flowing around everyone before it faded to just… light.

Thankfully, light not provided by the oppressive fires of this Reality Marble, but whatever special properties it had were brief.

Next, before you could really celebrate that, you got down to business.

Summoning MUSASHI here.

You focused in on the Command Spells.

You felt resistance. It was like trying to pull an object through a water current flowing in the opposite direction. But the intent was clear and simple, and Command Spells were potent magecraft.

Call MUSASHI here.

The Command Spells flared with a burst of magical energy, your body almost stumbling backwards from the sheer recoil as a burst of light filled the cave… and in the center, stood your Saber-Class Servant. Both of her hands already rested on the hilts of her blades, ready to cut through the first thing she saw.

Her eyes opened, clear as they skies as they darted around.

MUSASHI: "...The scent of blood in the air is making me anxious. So, how many cursed warriors? If it's seven, you all definitely owe me some udon when we get out of here."

SUZUKA: "Uh, there's just one, as far as we know. You seem, like, familiar with this."

Once she finished assessing the immediate situation and realizing that there were no present threats, her posture relaxed to it's neutral state… calm, but consistently alert.

MUSASHI: "Oh, nothing. Just not my first rodeo with cursed hellish magic. An~y~waaays…"

YIN YUANSHUAI: "…Hello…"

MUSASHI: "Woah-hoh. Little Guy, is that you? Look at you, cleaning up into a such sharp-looking man! I bet you're breaking all the ladies' hearts, aren't you, handsome?"

SALIERI: "Saber... Can we focus? Let me fill you in."

While that was happening, you decided to try and absorb the latent curses in the land. The violent, active ones too.

The curses that were present.

The fox demon's curses.

The ancient fox demon's curses.

...This could only go well.

You wandered to the entrance of the cave, and started focusing. You felt the cursed energy slowly flow in your direction.

You could tell a lot from a curse.

Curses were magecraft, and each one had a mark of the caster.

It was a question of how much of a person you would be willing to understand, how much of their world were you willing to understand- if you even wanted to understand. How much of them would you take into your body, if you were willing to borrow even a fraction of their power.

You dipped your toe into the curse, and felt it almost swallow you.

Three words came to mind.

Curiosity.

Hunger.

Loneliness.

In the time it took you to process those three words, you felt a surge of… something rush through your body. A primal, wild sense. You dropped down to your knees, nails digging into the hard stone, lucky that you couldn't bleed with this body. The swirling gekker of foxes around you grew louder, louder, louder.

Closing in, though you couldn't see a thing.

But they were there.

Close.

Barking. Laughing. Mocking.

More and more.

A noise wrenched itself free from your throat. A call in response, louder than the wild dogs around you but softer than the thundering bark of the Fox Goddess, that locked the area in silence for a moment. You could see, finally, eyes. Peeking from the shadows and the fire. Tails swishing, pupils dilating in curiosity and excitement.

The barks of the animals returned louder, yowls and cries of thunderous amusement before you saw the fox spirits slink back into the shadows, returning to their audience seats and simply watching.

Now, considering you also had just loudly barked into the ether, whatever conversation was going on in the cave had stopped and their attention had focused in on you, halfway between confused and hostile.

You looked down at your hands.

First thing you realized was that you had hands. Discernible hands, with fingers.

Second thing? These weren't your hands. They were slim, with dainty fingers that notably weren't just masses of shadow.

After that, you began to notice more and more.

The feeling of hair brushing against your face, which you absolutely hadn't felt in a long time. The feeling of fabric- clothes- against your skin. Skin- not cursed darkness- but skin.

There was a dryness in your throat and mouth, and with that realization came the understanding that you had an actual mouth. Teeth. Lips. Everything.

You stepped, and realized your sense of balance was off enough for you to nearly fall over.

Maybe it was because of the footwear... you were wearing actual footwear!

Real shoes! Well, they were more like clogs. Sandals?

'Geta', a voice in the back of your head chimed.

Of course, that wasn't it. You felt movement from behind you, movement from something attached to you, as you looked back.

...Tails.

You had tails.

Two of them.

...This was definitely new.

[ New Abilities Unlocked! ]

code cast: glimmering_wave(); - A code cast that releases a warm light. The light can be used as often as needed, but only heals +1 EG per Long Rest.

(Due to a perfect initial casting/balancing, it's first activation has fully healed your group!)

-

Yakan's Dance - An ability acquired by absorbing the curse of the Fox Demon's territory. The nature of a trickster spirit. You gain the ability to meld and jump between shadows, and with enough focus… the ability to change your appearance into someone you've seen before. [1 transformation per Long Rest].

--

'Yakan' (Wild dogs or Jackals) were creatures associated with the Dakini demons in India, the Dakini considered by some to be the daughters of Kalmashapada due to their wild nature and bloodlust. However, in Japan, the goddess 'Dakiniten' is a goddess of fortune, foxes, and prosperity syncretized with sun goddess Amaterasu. As tales of the yakan spread to China and Japan, they began to be seen as bushy-tailed wild trickster spirits similar to foxes. Thus, in Japan, 'Yakan' or 'Nogitsune' were seen as lesser kitsune that enjoyed meddling in the world of mankind for their own amusement.

The wild spirit 'Tamamo-no-Mae' was originally thought to be a two-tailed Yakan (jackal), however due to jackals not being common in Japan and the definition of 'Yakan' shifting over time, she and the concept of 'Yakan' became associated with the 'Kitsune', or a fox spirits… and so Tamamo-no-Mae became seen as a fox spirit as well... or at least, that's one interpretation.

Beasts that play with mankind, but are inherently incompatible and are swiftly shunned by society when discovered.

(The first transformation is free.)

[crazycatsiren]

For my followers who are curious:

I'm a Mahāyāna Buddhist. I practice mainly Pure Land Buddhism. My Buddha is Amitābha and my Bodhisattva is Guanyin.

Of course, being native Chinese, every now and then, here and there, a little bit of Chinese Esoteric Buddhism, which can be considered as a type and regional version of Vajrayāna (tantric/esoteric Buddhism) does come scattering in, though tantra has never really been a focus in my personal spiritual path.

[jareckiworld]

Irene Chou (Zhou Lüyun, 1924-2011) — Experience in Meditation [ink and color on xuan paper, hanging scroll, 1978]

[journeytothewestresearch]

Oh no ...

Someone aware of my recently-finished catalog of Sun Wukong's powers and skills indirectly requested that I make a list of powers from Fengshen yanyi (封神演義, c. 1620).

But I don't have the mental energy for it. Plus, I am not as familiar with the book as I am JTTW. I'll pass the torch onto someone else ... COUGH @ryin-silverfish COUGH.

[markiafc]

not sure how to put this into words. but buddhism (literature, figures, history, etc.) is queer and has been queered over the years. and when a chinese story embarks on a daoism-buddhism-confucianism study, there are echoes of similar themes, devices, techniques, allusions. by nature of being a chinese story, the frequent heart of it is a daoism & buddhism vs. confucianism ideological battle where the latter is rules and conventions and social expectations. and the former is liberation, a queered deviancy because it advocates for plurality and fluidity.

the lotus sutra has a prominent gender-change motif so as to present freedom... the buddhist ideal to emancipate oneself from mainstream society is often realized as a release from the gender hegemony. non-duality teachings in buddhism encompasses all of this.

in the lotus sutra, the dragon girl turns into a male and then proceeds to attain enlightenment - in direct response to the men telling her she cannot do so, that women are spiritually disadvantaged. transitioning is a queer act but also a buddhist achievement: an entity letting go of their body and subsequently their confucian identity of "father", "son", "wife", "mother", "daughter", etc. through this they learn non-duality & non-self & abandoning illusions, the primary concepts to buddhism.

in the lotus sutra, bodhisattva guanyin also notably underwent a male to female transformation. back in the day, guanyin's male form was at first more popular and their masculine image dominated. today it's an androgynous woman in white robes that's become iconic. this gender fluid nature again stands for liberation; guanyin is a beloved figure for women because they depict a breakaway from male-oriented society and the patriarchy. from the sanskrit name "avalokitesvara" (lord who looks down) to the chinese "guanyin" (one who observes the sounds). the chinese symbol of mercy is necessarily linked to a male to female trajectory, described to have a total of 33 male and female forms. for artistic depictions, guanyin has a feminine face but a masculine body (typically an exposed flat chest) too.

even when imagined as a girl without a history of gender swaps, they were still an antithesis to the male-dominated confucian scene. 妙善 miao shan is guanyin's other popular myth: the princess at odds with her royal father. she refuses his demands to marry until he ultimately executes her. it is a narrative negating the confucian relationships, (a) father/son or child, (b) ruler/subject, and (c) husband/wife. this is the constant of guanyin. a direct challenge to chinese patriarchal ideals.

as an aside, post-execution miao shan becomes a bodhisattva in the mountains through one spiritual miracle or another. in the mean time her father grows ill and the only cure is the eyes and arms of a person without anger. they seek out miao shan, not knowing who she is, and she gives up both arms and eyes for her father. after his recovery, the true identity of the bodhisattva is revealed and the father changes his ways. and miao shan ascends to become guanyin. related because an elusive figure amongst nature, blind and physically impaired, is also.... a prevalent trope for enlightened peoples.

overlapping the feminine and the masculine, a presence that has one foot in both categories, is the buddhist language for enlightenment + a manifestation of core buddhist teachings. when you are outside the gender regime and when you are outside human society, when you're beyond a cogent and organized identity, you are free. you are happy. which also means you are queer!

[arthistoryanimalia]

#MetalMonday :

Caparisoned Elephant

China, Liao dynasty, ca. 11th c.

Gilt bronze, 8.5 cm (7 5/16 in.)

The Cleveland Museum of Art 1980.24

“The six-tusked elephant holds the throne of Puxian (Samantabhadra), the Bodhisattva of Universal Virtue, who often appears with Wenshu (Manjusri), the Bodhisattva of Wisdom, on his lion-vehicle.

This impressive gilt bronze statue is solidly cast, except for the hollow at the center of its belly. The richly ornate saddlecloth exhibits superb craftsmanship and vivid representations of dragons among clouds, echoing the worldly splendor of the Liao material culture.”