The Marian–Guanyin nexus in China, Japan, and the Philippines : interreading, boundaries, and comparative pathways / Ma Nan

Published in Religions 2026, 17(2), 250

Abstract
Focusing on China, Japan, and the Philippines, this article examines how Marian–Guanyin cross‐reading takes shape in images, stories, and ritual practice within different legal and political regimes. Rather than presuming doctrinal equivalence, the analysis treats cross‐ reading as a practice‐driven process structured by five variables: dominant–subaltern relations, legal regime, media, theological thresholds, and intergenerational transmission. Three findings follow. First, analogy and transfer occur mainly in images and devotional practice, rather than doctrine. Second, social context determines both direction and limit: in China, plural traditions allow for devotional coexistence without doctrinal merger; in Tokugawa Japan, Marian–Guanyin likenesses serve as protective cover within underground devotion and take the form of small, portable image types; in the Philippines, Buddhist and folk religions join Catholic social rhythms through functional equivalence in imagery and rite. Third, these patterns lead to three outcome types: intericonic coexistence, type‐formation under repression, and inculturation driven by practice and emotion. By distinguishing functional and perceptual equivalence from doctrinal change, and by separating official theology from community narration, the article narrows the scope of “syncretism” and proposes a transferable framework for explaining how images and ritual procedures simultaneously mark boundaries and enable boundary‐crossing in unequal religious fields.