Jadeite ornaments "Ci Sheng Rui Lian" Nine Lotus Guanyin

The image of "Nine-Lotus Guanyin" that people love does not come from the original Buddhist scriptures, but from Buddhist literature under the belief in Guanyin. However, it also adds luster to Chinese Buddhist art and spreads the beautiful and solemn image of Guanyin to the world.

According to the preface to "Records of the Budduluojia Mountain" written by Hou Jigao in the 17th year of the Wanli reign (1589), in the 14th year of the Wanli reign (1589), the auspicious lotuses in Empress Dowager Li's Cining Palace and the Imperial Palace bloomed one after another. Emperor Wanli believed it was an auspicious sign, and Empress Dowager Li even sent eunuchs to carry the statue of Guanyin to Putuo Mountain to offer incense twice. The following year, a divine being taught the empress dowager a copy of "The Sutra of the Greatly Merciful and Most Holy Nine-Lotus Bodhisattva Who Incarnated to Save the World" in her dream. This fake sutra claimed that the Nine-Lotus Bodhisattva (also known as the Holy Lotus Bodhisattva) was the incarnation of Guanyin. In Gu Yanwu's (1613-1682) "Postscript to Shengci Tianqing Palace", there is a record that "During the Wanshou reign, Empress Dowager Xiaoding (i.e. Empress Dowager Li) was honored as Jiulian Bodhisattva", which shows that people at that time believed that Empress Dowager Li was Jiulian Bodhisattva. With the active promotion of Empress Dowager Li and Emperor Wanli, the belief in and image of Jiulian Bodhisattva spread very quickly.

Beside the Balizhuang Pagoda in Beijing, there is a stele with the image of “The Statue of Our Lady of Nine Lotuses and Praise”, with the two large characters “Imperial Composition” and a seal “Cisheng Xuanwenmingsu Empress Dowager” engraved on the top, and a praise inscribed on it, which reads: “Only our Holy Mother is kind and compassionate, and has inspired heaven to give this auspicious omen. She gave birth to the image of the Bodhisattva Auspicious Lotus, and the picture has been circulated to benefit the country and the people, and to make the earth and sky strong.” Below is the mark of the 15th year of Wanli (1587), which means it was created the year after the auspicious lotus in the palace flourished. It may be the earliest statue of the Bodhisattva of Nine Lotuses handed down to the present day.

Stone stele of the image of Our Lady of Jiulian carved in the 15th year of the Wanli reign of the Ming Dynasty

There is no doubt that the correspondence between the Empress Dowager and the Bodhisattva Jiulian had the practical purpose of consolidating Wanli's rule. In the 14th year of Wanli, Ruilian was born in the Cining New Palace where the Empress Dowager Cisi lived. The cabinet ministers wrote poems to praise it. At that time, the Empress Dowager was building the Cishou Temple in Xibalizhuang, Wanping County, so she specially erected a stele to record the poems of praise from the cabinet ministers to express her congratulations. Zhang Juzheng said: "When the temple was completed, the Emperor heard about it and was delighted, saying: Our Holy Mother was extremely pious and had made great merits. All the spirits worshipped and protected her, and all the blessings were shared by her. This was also due to the birth of our Holy Mother. Therefore, it was named: Ci Shou, and the Emperor ordered his ministers to record the event." Although these words were instructed by Emperor Shenzong, at this time, when Zhang Juzheng was in power in the early Wanli period, it was nothing more than Zhang Juzheng using Emperor Shenzong's power to speak for the Holy Mother in building the temple and thereby beautify her virtues. Of course, the Empress Dowager also wanted to gradually consolidate the young emperor's ruling regime, which was a means of propaganda for the country and the people. Therefore, after various rumors, the Empress Dowager became the incarnation of Jiulian Bodhisattva.

This developed into the Chongzhen period or the early Qing Dynasty, and even the Qing Dynasty itself. The view that Jiulian Bodhisattva was Empress Dowager Cisi had become a fixed theory and was recorded many times. For example, Zhu Yizun's "Poem of Jingming Hall in Xian County" noted: Jingming Hall was "built by order of the 36th year of Wanli, for the Empress Dowager Xiaoding, and the one commonly known as Jiulian Bodhisattva is this." Wang Shizhen's "Ming Story. On April 8th, the Buddha's Bathing Day, all officials were granted the right to worship the Bodhisattva. During the Wanli period, Empress Dowager Li Cisi enshrined Jiulian Bodhisattva in her palace." During the Guangxu period, Chen Kangqi's "Langqian Jiwen" referred to it as "the statue of Cishou Jiulian Bodhisattva". If we imagine the scene three hundred years later where Empress Dowager Cixi dressed as Guanyin and took photos in the Qing Palace, we can see the royal family's mentality towards the image of Guanyin.

Buddha statues are a major theme in jade carving and have always been performed by skilled craftsmen in a brilliant and colorful manner. Among them, Guanyin Bodhisattva is well-known and highly respected. (Nine Lotus Guanyin) The work is made of spring-colored jadeite. The layout of the overall artistic conception is ingenious: Guanyin seems to be in a water cave, with a peaceful face and deep Zen thoughts! The lotus flowers beside him are either swaying and blooming, or about to bloom. The boy put his hands together, raised his chin and looked at the serene Guanyin, hoping to be accepted as his disciple. It displays a cool and beautiful state in the fusion of poetry and Zen, with good aesthetic taste and depth of theme!