Mary and Guanyin In China, Japan, and The Philippines: Devotion In Comparison

Co Sponsor: The Ricci Institute for Chinese-Western Cultural History at Boston College

This presentation examines encounters between devotion to the Virgin Mary and the bodhisattva Guanyin in China, Japan, and the Philippines. It argues that shared images, narratives, and rituals enabled forms of cross-reading through which believers translated unfamiliar figures into emotionally and functionally meaningful ones. While visual and devotional analogies emerged within distinct social and political contexts, doctrinal boundaries largely remained intact. The Marian–Guanyin nexus thus illuminates how devotion in comparison fostered recognition without theological convergence.

Free and open to the faculty, students of Boston College and other scholars. This is an in-person and online presentation. Lunch is provided for all registered attendees. Space is limited and registration is required. Please register here.