Bodhisattva Kannon

As an influential religion today, Buddhism had traveled through a variety of Asian countries as well as time period during its spread in East Asia. As Buddhism had evolved during its spread in East Asia, a Bodhisattva had become extremely important and symbolic for Buddhism in Eastern Asian countries. This is the Bodhisattva Kannon.

Bodhisattva Kannon originates from the Hinduism deity Avalokitesvara, which is a deity that saves people during shipwrecks. After it got absorbed into Buddhism, Kannon was added with characteristics of being mercy, which made him welcomed among the masses. No matter in Tibetan, Mongolian or Japanese, Kannon always means “to observe the sound of the world”, which reflects that people believed the deity would hear their misfortune and provide a helping hand. Bodhisattvas were introduced to China at around 1 century B.C.E, and all of them are male deities. Later when Confucianism gained its influence in China and it see female as a symbol of love and mercy, Kannon, along with other bodhisattvas, started to be depicted as female deities starting from the Tang period. Tang and Song period marks the height of Kannon worship in China. Kannon got favored more over any other Buddhist deities, even Buddha himself. Common people also started to call Kannon with feminized titles, like the most common one is “Mother Kannon”. At the same time, Japan and Korea had frequent cultural interactions with China, and as the same reason, Bodhisattva Kannon came to Japan largely as a female figure. Japanese paintings on Kannon usually depicted Kannon as female, though some of the Kannon paintings also depict Kannon having beard, with is an earlier way of depicting Kannon during the transition period for Kannon to go from male to female.

Kannon first reached Japan through Korea. Today the earliest image of Kannon appears in Horyuji temple founded in 607 in Nara, which is believed to be the oldest temple in Japan. Despite being a specific one among hundreds of Bodhisattvas, Kannon also have many different forms, due to the belief that she can actually appear in any form she wants. Several major forms of Kannon in Japan are the Sho Kannon, who is always holding a lotus in her hand; the Ju-ichi-men Kannon who has eleven heads; the Senju Kannon that has a thousand arms; the Jun-tei Kannon, who is always depicted as a seated figure and has eighteen arms; the Fuku-Kenjaku Kannon who has a lasso as a unique symbol; the Ba-to Kannon with a fearful face and a horse’s head in the head-dress; the Nyo-i-rin Kannon with six arms and a wish-fulfilling Jewel. Though Bodhisattvas are supposed to lead people reach enlightenment, most Japanese value Kannon for her ability to help people out of trouble at any time. The most widely accepted belief is that by simply praying to Kannon, she would lead you out of danger or misery. Several tales we’ve learned this semester have contents of people praying to Kannon to escape from devils, or families praying to Kannon in order to have one of the family member return safely from troubles. Kannon can also utilize her power to protect people in long term period when people give offerings to the temples. People in Okinawa had frequently given offerings to Kannon in order to bless their family members who was out on the sea for months, which surprisingly fit the people-saving ability during shipwrecks that the original deity Avalokitesvara had which had been long forgotten during Kannon’s spread through the continent. Kannon’s ability to help people in their current life form a great contrast between her and other Bodhisattvas who are supposed only to be seen as helpers for people to get enlightenment. She being famous in Japan also reflects difference of opinions between Japanese who focus on improving current life and Indians who believes enlightenment being their ultimate goal.

Though Kannon was also believed to have power to help child producing in China, the “Child-bestowing Kannon” is not common in Japan until Kannon had a dramatical encounter with Christianity. In 1614, a mass movement aimed to suppress Christianity in Japan had been launched by the government in fear that the foreigners may make used of the religion to challenge their rule. Christian faithfuls had to hide their identity in order to avoid punishment, yet they still celebrate a variety of Christian event with a surprising accuracy in time and contents. In order to hide their actions, these hidden Christians had decided to use figures of the Child-bestowing Kannon which had a child in her arm to represent the Blessed Virgin Mary. These figures are later called as the “Maria-Kannon”. Figures were first imported from China, where similarities had already been seen between Kannon and Mary. There are also attempts to represent other Christian figures with traditional gods in Japanese tales, such as water gods and wind gods. After the ban on Christianity being cancelled in 1873, the Japanese Christians had largely stopped using Maria-Kannon and it was seen to be a document of history. After WWII however, Maria-Kannon is once more used when having memorials for the war dead who lost their lives during Japan’s battle against western nations, specifically the U.S. Though it is common for Japan to use Kannon figures during memorials for war dead, the Maria-Kannon is seen to be representing Japan’s Buddhism and the America’s Christianity and is therefore seems to be extremely suitable for the 2 countries.