Eternal Unborn Mother

The Eternal Unborn Mother was a sort of messianic goddess (a Maitreya Bodhisattva) that was worshipped by a Chinese Buddhist sect in the 18th and 19th centuries. The idea was that the Eternal Unborn Mother would come down to Earth to save the Chinese people from problems that they encountered in their day-to-day lives. This belief ultimately led to a series of rebellions against the Qing government culminating in the 1813 revolution, which resulted in 100,000 believers in this religion attacking the Forbidden City in Beijing. The rebels managed to get inside the emperor's palace as they were let in by eunuchs who sympathized with their cause. This rebellion was unsuccessful and was brutally put down by the Manchus, and its leader was executed. 
==Source==
*Lectures at the University of Washington given in February 2007.
Category:Buddhist deities, bodhisattvas, and demons