Oneself as a Female Deity: Representations of Empress Dowager Cixi as Guanyin

2012/01/01 by Yuhang Li · 1 voice
Social Sciences · #Asian Studies and History #Chinese history and philosophy

paper · doi:10.1163/156853212x651997

openalex publication_date 2012/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21

Abstract

This paper discusses the practice of Empress Dowager Cixi’s embodiment of Guanyin, the most influential female deity in China. Empress Dowager Cixi (1835-1908), the ruling monarch of Qing China, embodied this deity via different media such as painting, fashion, and photographs. This study demonstrates both the religious and historical consequences of Cixi’s particular vision of herself as Guanyin. It explains how Cixi combined theatricality with religiosity in different media and how she fashioned herself in both roles simultaneously as Guanyin and ruling empress Cixi.

Discussions

• You might enjoy reading about the photographs of Empress Dowager Cixi dressed as Guanyin: doi.org/10.1163/1568... [bsky, 2 points, 1 comments]

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