The Legend of the Iron Goddess
Often referred to as the ‘Goddess of Mercy’, Guanyin is a Buddhist legend and
an oolong myth, writes Adeline Teoh.
One of the most popular goddesses in Buddhism was once a man. Born mortal on the 19th day of the second month of the lunar calendar (celebrated on 12 March this year), the figure we know today as the Goddess of Mercy was an Indian bodhisattva* named Avalokitesvara.
Legend has it that, as the personification of compassion and kindness, Avalokitesvara often appeared in a form that was most comforting to those who suffered, manifesting as male, female or sometimes neither. And somewhere between India and China his compassion, considered yin or feminine, meant he was interpreted as a woman. In China she’s called Guanyin, loosely translated as ‘she who hears all the cries in the world’, but is also known by other names – such as Kuan Im, Quan Am, and Kannon – across Asia.
The Buddhist legend merged with local folk tales and soon Guanyin acquired other attributes, including the ability to grant fertility to humans and crops, and became a symbol of protection for seafarers and the troubled, including the poor, the ill and the disabled. It was some time in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) when tea producers named one of China’s most famous oolongs, tieguanyin or Iron Goddess/Guanyin, after her.
The myth features a Fujian farmer who notices a rundown temple on his way to the fields. The temple contains an iron statue of Guanyin. Disconcerted by its state of disrepair, the farmer – who is too poor to afford renovations – spends time in between farming to sweep and clean the temple. One night he has a dream of Guanyin guiding him to a great treasure in a cave behind the shrine. When he wakes, he finds the cave and the treasure is a tea shoot, which he plants in the field – the first tieguanyin plant.
A more prosaic version of this origin story is that Emperor Qianlong, sixth of the Qing dynasty who ruled in the 18th century, tasted this tea and thought its thick glossy leaves resembled iron and its graceful shape and floral fragrance reminded him of the goddess.
Today, tieguanyin or TGY is known as both a tea varietal and a type of oolong largely produced in Anxi county. With a breadth of oxidation and roasting levels – from jade to ‘traditional’ to dark – and with aging practices becoming more common, tieguanyin pleases a wide range of palates. It became very popular in the 1990s, which unfortunately prompted plantations to overuse pesticides and fertilisers in an attempt to increase yield, a practice we now recognise as unsustainable. Now the soil is in rehabilitation, and the oolong has fortunately maintained its status as one of China’s ten famous teas.
A good tieguanyin is a pleasure to drink, and I hope you will have the honour of sipping one sooner rather than later. In the meantime, the spirit of Guanyin asks us to be kind to one another and yourself – whether or not it’s your birthday or hers.
*Bodhisattva is a Buddhist term indicating a person who is on the path to Buddhahood or enlightenment but who delays entering nirvana to help guide those who are suffering.
Below: A tea pet of Guanyin (Credit: NOOLIM brand)
