Page 170 - Fine Chinese Art Christies London May 2018

INFINITE COMPASSION - A MAGNIFICENT FINELY
CAST GILT BRONZE FIGURE OF GUANYIN

ROSEMARY SCOTT, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL ACADEMIC CONSULTANT

This magnifcent fgure with its beautiful detailing Ming period is frequently androgynous. The Lotus Sutra
represents the most popular and most venerated describes Avalokiteśvara as a bodhisattva who can take
bodhisattva in Mahayanist Buddhism – Avalokiteśvara, the form of any type of God, any type of Buddha, any type
known in China as 觀音Guanyin, short for 觀世音 of King, any kind of Heavenly Guardian, and can appear
Guanshiyin, ‘The one who perceives the sounds of the with any gender male or female, showing the bodhisattva’s
world’. The name refers to the compassionate bodhisattva’s limitless transcendence beyond gender, in order to
ability to hear the cries of all mankind, and to strive teach the Dharma (teachings of the Buddha) to sentient
endlessly to help those who ofer prayers. In China beings. In the Ming dynasty it was popularly believed
Guanyin appears in both male and female form, but in the that in accordance with descriptions in the Avalokiteśvara

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