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Becoming Guanyin: Artistic Devotion of Buddhist Women in Late Imperial China by Yuhang Li (review)

Becoming Guanyin: Artistic Devotion of Buddhist Women in Late Imperial China by Yuhang Li (review)  China Review International: Vol. , No. ,  Yuhang Li. Becoming Guanyin: Artistic Devotion of Buddhist Women in Late Imperial China. New York: Columbia University Press, . xii,  pp. Hardcover $., ISBN ----. Becoming Guanyin is a fundamentally important book. It ties together what we know about devotion to the Bodhisattva Guanyin and what we know about gender and Chinese domestic life, and in so doing provides a serious and grounded view of women and religiosity in the late imperial period. Li Yuhang does not portray women as consumers of religion; she shows ways in which they were active participants in the creation of devotional objects, and of devotion itself. While men were also devotees of Guanyin, the practices of women show a highly gendered religious practice. The text unfolds in four chapters, plus an introduction and a conclusion. The chapters are entitled “Dancing Guanyin: The Transformative Body and Buddhist Courtesans;”“Painting Guanyin with Brush and Ink: Negotiating Buddhism and Confucianism;”“Embroidering Guanyin with Hair: Efficacious Pain and Skill;” and “Mimicking Guanyin with Hairpins: Jewelry as a Means of Transcendence.” The book is an examination of devotional practices in which the core of the devotion is mimesis, as the http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png China Review International University of Hawai'I Press

Becoming Guanyin: Artistic Devotion of Buddhist Women in Late Imperial China by Yuhang Li (review)

China Review International , Volume 26 (3) – Nov 17, 2021

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Publisher
University of Hawai'I Press
Copyright
Copyright © University of Hawai'i Press.
ISSN
1527-9367

Abstract

 China Review International: Vol. , No. ,  Yuhang Li. Becoming Guanyin: Artistic Devotion of Buddhist Women in Late Imperial China. New York: Columbia University Press, . xii,  pp. Hardcover $., ISBN ----. Becoming Guanyin is a fundamentally important book. It ties together what we know about devotion to the Bodhisattva Guanyin and what we know about gender and Chinese domestic life, and in so doing provides a serious and grounded view of women and religiosity in the late imperial period. Li Yuhang does not portray women as consumers of religion; she shows ways in which they were active participants in the creation of devotional objects, and of devotion itself. While men were also devotees of Guanyin, the practices of women show a highly gendered religious practice. The text unfolds in four chapters, plus an introduction and a conclusion. The chapters are entitled “Dancing Guanyin: The Transformative Body and Buddhist Courtesans;”“Painting Guanyin with Brush and Ink: Negotiating Buddhism and Confucianism;”“Embroidering Guanyin with Hair: Efficacious Pain and Skill;” and “Mimicking Guanyin with Hairpins: Jewelry as a Means of Transcendence.” The book is an examination of devotional practices in which the core of the devotion is mimesis, as the

Journal

China Review InternationalUniversity of Hawai'I Press

Published: Nov 17, 2021

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