From Abstract Form to Concrete Materialization: An Analysis of Mazu’s Image in Statues and Images

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

In this paper, the author tries to argue that the visual representations of Mazu are materialized carrier of culture and religion of different times. This is certainly true to virtually all images of gods. The point is to show how the changes of Mazu images reflect different culture and religious ideas. However, this is not clearly argued in the paper.

 

--There are abundant studies on Mazu, and especially those in western language, that the author failed acknowledge.

 --The author stated in the beginning, “the Mazu image runs through the whole process of Mazu from human to witch (nüwu女巫) and from witch to goddess.” (Lines 28-29) In the visual representations, what makes an image a “human”, what makes an image a “wu” 巫, and what makes an image a goddess?  The author is not clear. In fact, the author lacks the training to conduct visual analysis of images. Images are mostly discussed without illustrations, but with direct quotes of second-hand descriptions, and followed by a big conclusion. This reveals the next problem of the paper, the method of making argument. The author needs to provide the primary evidence, and set up clear criteria so to build up the discussion before jump into conclusion.

 --The references in Chinese are given by English translations as if they were originally written in English. This is a wrong way to do reference.

 

 

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

The paper "From Abstract Form to Concrete Materialization: An Analysis of Mazu's Image in Statues and Images" has a high academic innovation value by selecting to study the political, social, religious and folklore factors involved in the changing image of Mazu, which has been less explored in the academic world. The paper can deepen the topic of the changing image of Mazu by synthesizing the multidisciplinary knowledge of history, religion, art, and iconography to study this issue. In this paper, based on the Mazu image concluded by anthropological researchers, that is, homeland god, official god, and maritime god, three significant images of Mazu are proposed, namely, the initial image, the transformation image and the typical image, along with analysis around its evolution and relationship. It conforms to academic norms, and the conclusions are reasonable and innovative. However, some details need to be added and modified:

(1) The entire paper revolves around the changing image of Mazu, borrowing from Mr. Li Bozhong's argument about the changing image of homeland god, official god, and maritime god, but this is not reflected in the paper's abstract.

(2) In the third part of the paper, "3.2. Mazu's transformation image: hundreds of infinite forms (百無定式)", there is a sentence: "Since the Ming dynasty, foreign missionaries came to China one after another, and when they returned to their homeland, they wrote monographs on what they had seen and heard in China". In fact, many of the Ming dynasty missionaries' monographs about China were written while they were still in China, such as the De Christiana expeditione apud Sinas.

(3) In the fourth section of the paper, "4.2. The typical Mazu image: the golden body is like one (金身如一)", there is the sentence "The typical Mazu image has the common characteristics of female deities such as Avalokitesvara, Lady Linshui, Lady of Blue Clouds (Bixiayuanjun碧霞元君) and Golden Mother of Yaochi (Yaochi jinmu 瑤池金母), which have significant influence among the people". However, in the article, the author does not introduce female gods such as the Lady of Blue Clouds and Golden Mother of Yaochi, which can be supplemented appropriately.

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

no further comments

Author Response

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