Book Review: Becoming Guanyin: Artistic Devotion of Buddhist Women in Late Imperial Chinaii

Abstract

This review examines Becoming Guanyin by Yuhang Li, a groundbreaking study that recovers the devotional lives of Buddhist women in late imperial China through analysis of material culture. Moving beyond text-centered approaches, Li explores how women used embodied practices—such as painting, dance, and hair embroidery—to cultivate religious identities and negotiate spiritual authority within Confucian social constraints. The book’s central concept of “becoming Guanyin” highlights the dynamic process through which women identified with the bodhisattva to express agency, devotion, and resilience. By combining art historical analysis with religious studies and gender history, Li offers a compelling interdisciplinary framework. This review evaluates the book’s contributions and limitations, especially its treatment of social hierarchy and the broader implications of using non-textual sources in Buddhist studies.