An Analysis Of The Archetype Image About Nuwa,the Queen Mother Of The West And Kwan-Yin

From the historical development process,the Great Mother mother worship originated from the matriarchal clan society,from the mother’s experience and the worship of life.It is very sacred in the understanding of the primitive man that women can give birth for the clan.Women enjoy a high position in matriarchal society,and play a leading role in survival and development,including hunting,animal breeding,planting crops,making pottery,etc.The reverence to women focused on the womb.Therefore,in the early stage of the art works,there are many large round clay sculptures.In China,the emphasis on the abdomen is manifested in various head-shaped clay steans,formed in small head and large abdomen.The belly of the vessel is the most important part of the whole pot.The abdomen is enough to represent the female.In the primitive man’s understanding that the abdomen is the intestines in their practical experience.The first Great Mother in Chinese mythology,Nuwa,formerly known as her intestine,which is the primordial image of the mother:the vessel.Woman = body = vessel,this is a cosmopolitan experience,a similar analogy.The vessel is the Great Round,the prototypical symbol of the Great Mother.The Great Round is the basic feature of woman,and it produces everything,also contains everything.Therefore,in the understanding of ancestors,women are experienced as female = body = vessel = the Great Round.The Great Round as an archetype is chaotic,including positive and negative attributes.The unconscious symbolic expression is the manifestation of the original form,and as consciousness gradually diverts from the unconscious,the original form takes the form,"It tends to be deformed and inhuman,which is the stage of grotesque creation,made up of different animals,or made up of animals and people." That is,totem worship or totem combine with human beings,such as Nuwa with human head and snake’s body,and the queen mother of the West with human face and animal’s body.The conception of the mother is derived from the the experience of the earth,in there all things are conceived.Every year all things born from and return to the earth,this immortal life was understood as god.Nuwa,the Earth Mother,her image likes lying on the horizon in the field.She is the first creative mother in Chinese mythology.Merlin Stone think that the center of religious worship is the worship of the mother.The the highest form of religion development is the myth of the female creator,and she is the mother of all living things.She created the universe and human beings.The Queen Mother of the West is the second Great Mother after Nuwa.The Queen Mother of the West based on the death and at the opposite of creation,meaning the resistance of death and desire of eternal life.She is not only the continuation of reproduction worship,also the longing for life deathless-the immortal mind.This is very prominent in the Shanhaijing,such as the immortal mountain,the immortal country,the immortal people,the immortal tree,the immortal medicine.It can be endless life or bring back to life.Because of the undeveloped medicine and the helplessness of the disease,people hope that there will be a miracle for disease,which result in the produce of the Queen Mother of the West mother and the immortal medicine.Immortal thought is the core of life worship,including endless life and bring back to life.Immortality,or the resurrection from the dead.The most direct image of life in people’s experience is the moon,the circle from lack to full.In the moon,rabbit and toad were the embodiment of the early reproduction worship and life worship.Such an immortal thought gave birth to a new moon goddess,Chang E.The Queen Mother of the West,immortal medicine,rabbit,toad,Chang Xi and Chang E are all originated from the experience of moon.With the introduction of Buddhism and the rise of native Taoism,a new great mother appeared,which is Kwan-yin,who was born after the worship of the Queen Mother of the West in Han dynasty.Kwan-yin experienced a process from male image to female.Kwan-yin has multiple functions,such as give birth,similar to the succession of Nuwa creating man.In addition,all of bottle,water,willow branches,lotus are the symbols of the Great Mother archetype.Lotus is the expression of Kwan-yin’s mercy spirit.Lotus means holy,it is said that Kwan-yin was born from the lotus,which is a form of holy birth.In Ming and Qing dynasty literature,the mercy of Kwan-yin is the highest spirit transformation based on of the elementary character of protection from the Great Mother.In conclusion,I will discuss Nuwa,the Queen Mother of the West,Kwan-yin,because all of them are the Great Mother,standing for the worship of life,immortal thought and the spirit of mercy.