The worship of important goddesses such as Ma-tsu (familiarly known as “Granny”), Pi- hsia Yüan-chün (Niang-niang or “Nanny”), and the Unborn Mother flourished after Kuan-yin became feminine during the Sung and came to serve some of the needs of Chinese people that had gone unfulfilled by the territorial and bureaucratic male gods.

ethogram; ethospecies

chick + -en → chicken

'[…] I remember a lady coming to inspect St. Mary's Home where I was brought up and seeing us all in our lovely Elizabethan uniforms we were so proud of, and bursting into tears all over us because it was wicked to dress us like charity children.[…]'