Chap. II. 



THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN. 



39 



The Maharadjas, or four great kings of Devas, 

 looked quite fierce; Me-lie-Fuh, or the merciful 

 one, a stout, jovial-looking personage, always 

 laughing and in good-humour, seemed now to 

 grin at me; while the three precious Buddhas, the 

 past, present, and future, looked far more solemn 

 and imposing than they usually do by day. The 

 Queen of Heaven (Kwan-yin), with her child in her 

 arms, and with rocks, clouds, and ocean scenery in 

 the background, rudely carved in wood and gaudily 

 painted, was the only one that did not seem to 

 frown. What a strange representation this is, 

 rude though it be ! some have supposed that this 

 image represents the Virgin Mary and infant 

 Saviour, and argue from this that Buddhism and 

 Christianity have been mixed up in the formation 

 of the Buddhist religion, or that the earlier 

 Buddhists in Tibet and India have had some slight 

 glimmerings of the Christian faith. The traveller 

 and missionary M. Hue is, I believe, of this 

 opinion. At first sight this seems a very plausible 

 theory, but in the opinion of some good Oriental 

 scholars it is not borne out by facts. The goddess 

 is prayed to by women who are desirous of having 

 children, and she holds in her arms a child which 

 she seems in the act of presenting to them in 

 answer to their petitions. Chinese ladies have 

 curious prejudices on this subject : they imagine 

 that by leaving their shoes in the shrine of the 

 goddess they are the more likely to receive an 



