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Guanyin
Northern Song Dynasty wood carving of Guanyin, c. 1025
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	觀音
Simplified Chinese	观音
Transcriptions Gan - Romanization Guon In Hakka - Romanization Guān Rhīm Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin Guānyīn - Wade–Giles Kuan-yin Min - Hokkien POJ Koan-im Cantonese (Yue) - Jyutping Gun1 Jam1 - Yale Romanization Gūnyām
Alternative Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	觀世音
Simplified Chinese	观世音
Literal meaning	Observing the Sounds (or Cries) of the World
Transcriptions Hakka - Romanization Guān Shè Rhīm Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin Guānshìyīn - Wade–Giles Kuan-shih Yin Min - Hokkien POJ Koan-sè-im Cantonese (Yue) - Jyutping Gun1 Sai3 Jam1 - Yale Romanization Gūnsai Yām
Vietnamese name
Quốc ngữ	Quan Âm Quán Thế Âm
Thai name
Thai	กวนอิม
Korean name
Hangul	관음 관세음
Hanja	觀音 觀世音
Transcriptions - Revised Romanization Gwan-eum Gwan-se-eum
Japanese name
Kanji	観音 観世音
Transcriptions - Romanization Kannon Kanzeon Kwannon (archaic)
Burmese name
Burmese	ကွမ်ရင် (pronounced: [kwàɴ jɪ̀ɴ])

Guanyin is the bodhisattva associated with compassion as venerated by East Asian Buddhists, usually as a female. The name Guanyin is short for Guanshiyin which means "Observing the Sounds (or Cries) of the World". She is also sometimes referred to as Guanyin Pusa (simplified Chinese: 观音菩萨; traditional Chinese: 觀音菩薩; pinyin: Guānyīn Púsà; Wade–Giles: Kuan-yin Pu-sah; literally "Bodhisattva Guanyin").^[1] Some Buddhists believe that when one of their adherents departs from this world, they are placed by Guanyin in the heart of a lotus then sent home to the western pure land of Sukhāvatī.^[2]

It is generally accepted among east Asian adherents that Guanyin originated as the Sanskrit Avalokiteśvara (अवलोकितेश्वर), which is her male form. Commonly known in English as the Mercy Goddess or Goddess of Mercy,^[3] Guanyin is also revered by Chinese Taoists (sometimes called Daoists) as an Immortal. However, in Taoist mythology, Guanyin has other origination stories which are not directly related to Avalokiteśvara.

Etymology[link]

Guānyīn is a translation from the Sanskrit Avalokitasvara, referring to the Mahāyāna bodhisattva of the same name. Another later name for this bodhisattva is Guānzìzài. It was initially thought that the Chinese mis-transliterated the word Avalokiteśvara as Avalokitasvara which explained why Xuanzang translated it as Guānzìzài (Ch. 觀自在) instead of Guānyīn (Ch. 觀音). However, according to recent research, the original form was indeed Avalokitasvara with the ending a-svara ("sound, noise"), which means "sound perceiver", literally "he who looks down upon sound" (i.e., the cries of sentient beings who need his help; a-svara can be glossed as ahr-svara, "sound of lamentation").^[4] This is the exact equivalent of the Chinese translation Guānyīn. This etymology was furthered in the Chinese by the tendency of some Chinese translators, notably Kumarajiva, to use the variant Guānshìyīn (Ch. 觀世音), literally "he who perceives the world's lamentations" -- wherein lok was read as simultaneously meaning both "to look" and "world" (Skt. loka; Ch. 世, shì).^[4] This name was later supplanted by the form containing the ending -īśvara, which does not occur in Sanskrit before the seventh century. The original form Avalokitasvara already appears in Sanskrit fragments of the fifth century.^[5]

The original meaning of the name fits the Buddhist understanding of the role of a bodhisattva. The reinterpretation presenting him as an īśvara shows a strong influence of Śaivism, as the term īśvara was usually connected to the Hindu notion of Śiva as a creator god and ruler of the world. Some attributes of such a god were transmitted to the bodhisattva, but the mainstream of those who venerated Avalokiteśvara upheld the Buddhist rejection of the doctrine of any creator god.^[6]

Names in other Asian countries[link]

Due to the devotional popularity of Guanyin in East Asia, she is known by many names, most of which are simply the localized pronunciations of "Guanyin" or "Guanshiyin":

• In China Guanshiyin, changed to Guanyin due to the unacceptability of the original under the naming taboo of Tang Taizong.^{[citation needed]}
• In Macau, Hong Kong and Guangdong Province the name is pronounced Kwun Yum or Kun Yum in the Cantonese language.
• In Japanese, Guanyin is pronounced Kannon (観音), occasionally Kan'on, or more formally Kanzeon (観世音, the same characters as Guanshiyin); the spelling Kwannon, based on a pre-modern pronunciation, is sometimes seen. This rendering was used for an earlier spelling of the well-known camera manufacturer Canon, which was named for Guanyin.^[7]
• In Korean, the Bodhisattva is called Gwan-eum (관음) or Gwanse-eum (관세음).
• In Thai, she is called Kuan Im (Thai: กวนอิม), Phra Mae Kuan Im (Thai: พระแม่กวนอิม), or Chao Mae Kuan Im (Thai: เจ้าแม่กวนอิม).
• In Vietnamese, the name is Quan Âm or Quán Thế Âm.
• In Hmong, the name is "Kabyeeb" (Ka-Yeng) or "Dabpog" (Da-Paw). Often time, the word "Niam-Txiv" (Nhia-T'xi) is associated. Niam-Txiv means "Mother-Father." Niam-Txiv Kabyeeb (Nia-T'xi Ka-Yeng) is depicted as a couple. They are considered the Fertility Deities, Celestial Guardian Parents, and Protectors of Children in Hmong beliefs. It is believed that they deliver the souls of the newborn to the womb of the mother. After 3 days after birth, Niam-Txiv Kabyeeb are worshiped. They play a significant role in Hmong birth.
• In Indonesian, the name is Kwan Im or Dewi Kwan Im referring the word Dewi as Devi or Goddess. She is also called Mak Kwan Im referring the word Mak as Mother.

In these same countries, especially Japan, the variants Kanjizai ( 観自在) and Kanzejizai (観世自在) are also found in the Heart Sutra, among other sources. Within Tibetan Buddhism, she is Tārā, a Bodhisattva of compassion and action. She is the female aspect of Avalokitesvara (Jainraisig).

Depiction[link]

An early Indian statue of Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva. Gandhāra, 3rd century

Guanyin with bare chest. Japan, 12th century

Guanyin is the Chinese name for Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva. However, folk traditions in China and other East Asian countries have added many distinctive characteristics and legends. Avalokiteśvara was originally depicted as a male bodhisattva, and therefore wears chest-revealing clothing and may even sport a moustache. Although this bare-chested and moustached depiction still exists in the Far East, Guanyin is more often depicted as a woman in modern times. Additionally, some people believe that Guanyin is androgynous (or perhaps neither).^[8]

The Lotus Sūtra (Skt. Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtra) describes Avalokiteśvara as a bodhisattva who can take the form of any type of male or female, adult or child, human or non-human being, in order to teach the Dharma to sentient beings.^[9] This text and its thirty-three manifestations of Guanyin, of which seven are female manifestations, is known to have been very popular in Chinese Buddhism as early as in the Sui Dynasty and Tang Dynasty.^[10] Additionally, Tan Chung notes that according to the doctrines of the Mahāyāna sūtras themselves, it does not matter whether Guanyin is male, female, or genderless, as the ultimate reality is in emptiness (Skt. śūnyatā).^[10]

Representations of the bodhisattva in China prior to the Song Dynasty (960–1279) were masculine in appearance. Images which later displayed attributes of both genders are believed to be in accordance with the Lotus Sutra, where Avalokitesvara has the supernatural power of assuming any form required to relieve suffering, and also has the power to grant children (possibly relating to the fact that in this Sutra, unlike in others, both men and women are believed to have the ability to achieve enlightenment^{[citation needed]}). Because this bodhisattva is considered the personification of compassion and kindness, a mother-goddess and patron of mothers and seamen, the representation in China was further interpreted in an all-female form around the 12th century. In the modern period, Guanyin is most often represented as a beautiful, white-robed woman, a depiction which derives from the earlier Pandaravasini form.

In some Buddhist temples and monasteries, Guanyin's image is occasionally depicted as that of a young man dressed in Northern Song Dynasty Buddhist robes sitting gracefully. He is usually depicted looking or glancing down, symbolising that Guanyin continues to watch over the world.

In China, Guanyin is sometimes shown in a white flowing robe and usually wears necklaces of Indian/Chinese royalty. In her left hand is a jar containing pure water, and the right holds a willow branch. The crown usually depicts the image of Amitabha Buddha.

There are also regional variations of Guanyin depictions. In the Fujian region of China, for example, a popular depiction of Guanyin is as a maiden dressed in Tang Dynasty style clothing carrying a fish basket. A popular image of Guanyin as both Guanyin of the South Sea and Guanyin With a Fish Basket can be seen in late 16th century Chinese encyclopedias and in prints that accompany the novel Golden Lotus.

In Chinese art, Guanyin is often depicted either alone, standing atop a dragon, accompanied by a white parrot, flanked by two children, or flanked by two warriors. The two children are her acolytes who came to her when she was meditating at Mount Putuo. The girl is called Long Nü and the boy Sudhana. The two warriors are the historical character Guan Yu who comes from the Three Kingdoms Period and Skanda Bodhisattva who features in the Chinese classic Canonisation of the Gods. The Buddhist tradition also displays Guanyin, or other buddhas and bodhisattvas, flanked with the above mentioned warriors, but as bodhisattvas who protect the temple and the faith itself.

Veneration[link]

Guanyin Shan (Guanyin Mountain) in Dongguan, China

In Chinese Buddhist iconography, Guanyin is often depicted as meditating or sitting alongside one of the Buddhas and usually accompanied by another bodhisattva. Which buddha or bodhisattva usually depends upon which school it represents. In the Pure Land school, for example, Guanyin is frequently depicted as standing alongside Amitabha Buddha and bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta. Temples that revere the bodhisattva Ksitigarbha usually depict him meditating alongside the Buddha and Guanyin.

Along with Buddhism, Guanyin's veneration was introduced into China as early as the 1st century CE, and reached Japan by way of Korea soon after Buddhism was first introduced into the country in the mid-7th century. Some Taoist records claim Guanyin was a Chinese female who became immortal during the Shang Dynasty.

More recently in Europe and America, a new wave of believers have spread a devotional cult beyond Buddhism, Taoism and folk traditional beliefs. Guanyin is not only a bodhisattva or a god but a focus of devotion by some Eastern New Age movements.

Guanyin, sitting in lotus position. The damaged hands probably performing dharmacakramudra, a gesture that signifies the moment when Buddha put the wheel of learning in motion. Painted and gilded wood. China. Song/Jin period, late 13th century.

Legends[link]