This statue in Macau is of the Buddhist “Mercy Goddess,”
Guanyin. Not actually a
goddess, she is a bodhisattva, one who has attained enlightenment but has vowed
to seek the enlightenment of all sentient beings. Many also associate this bodhisattva with the Virgin Mary.
??? The answer lies in the history
of Macau and the resultant mixing of cultures and religions.
Jorge Alvares landed in China in 1513, and by 1535 trade
between Portugal and China was established. The site of Macau eventually became a Portuguese
colony, administered to various degrees by Portugal from 1557 to 1999, when the
rental agreement with China expired.
During this period, Roman Catholicism became a strong presence in the
area, which also includes followers of Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and
smaller native faiths.
Guanyin (short for Guanshiyin, “Observing the Cries of the
World”) is an immortal bodhisattva, She is rarely represented as male. She has vowed to never rest until she
has freed all sentient beings from the cycle of reincarnation. Because of her infinite compassion, she
is sometimes depicted as holding a child.
There are several streams of Buddhism, some being very
strict, austere, and individually oriented. The less strict version, Mahayana (”Greater Vehicle”)
encourages everyone to become a bodhisattva (“enlightenment being”) and to work
for the eventual enlightenment of every sentient being in the universe by the
idea of “merit transference.” The
idea is that “merit” earned by the enlightened bodhisattva can be transferred
to less advanced beings to aid in their advancement. This Mahayana Buddhist doctrine may possibly have developed
in response to contact with
Christianity.
During the Edo
(Tokugawa Shogunate) Period (1603-1867) in Japan, Christianity was totally
banned and was declared to be punishable by death. Christians were forced to go
“underground.” Many venerated
Jesus and the Virgin Mary by disguising them as statues of Kannon (another name
for Guanyin) holding a child.
Statues such as this are known as Maria Kannon. There was often a cross hidden in an
inconspicuous location on the statue. Note the similarities of the face in the image
in the following link with the face of Guanyin on the statue in Macau.
An image of a Maria Kannon from Wikipedia used
under the GNU Free Documentation License.
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