Page 40 - Art D'Asie Paris

Serenity and Compassion A Rare Song Dynasty Guanyin
Rosemary Scott, International Academic Director Asian Art

This graceful fgure of the bodhisattva Guanyin sits in fg. 1a & 1b - Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Chefs d’Oeuvre
de la Curiosité du Monde, 2ème Exposition Internationale
a variation of the pose known in Indian iconography as de la C.I.N.O.A, Paris, 10 June - 30 September 1954,
rajalilasana, or ‘royal ease’. The left leg is pendant, while Exhibition Catalogue, n° 409.
the right is bent and raised, so that, at just below shoulder
height, the bodhisattva’s right arm is able to rest casually
on the knee. The torso leans very slightly to the left, giving
the impression that the left arm, which is straight, appears
to take the full weight of the body. The fgure does, indeed,
appear completely at ease – relaxed, but retaining a quiet
dignity and serenity. This pose is often associated with
one of the most popular aspects of the bodhisattva –
‘Guanyin of the Southern Seas’ or ‘Water-Moon Guanyin’.
This name is a reference to Guanyin residing on the
mythical Mount Potalaka, which was believed to exist in
the seas of the southern coast of India. This particular
imagery was introduced into China in the 5th century
with the frst complete translation of the Avatamska Sutra
(full name - Mahāvaipulya Buddhāvata saka Sūtra, The
Flower Adornment Sutra 大方廣佛華嚴經), one of the most
infuential sutras of Mahayanist Buddhism.

The bodhisattva Guanyin, whose name in Sanskrit is
Avalokitesvara, is an important fgure in the Mahayanist
Buddhist tradition. The Sanskrit name derives from two
parts – avalokita, meaning ‘seen’ – and ishvara, meaning
‘lord’. The meaning is therefore either ‘the lord who is seen’
or ‘the lord who sees’. In either case it is the presence of the
deity amongst the people of the world, and his accessibility,
that is emphasised. The full name in Chinese is Guanshiyin
觀世音 – ‘one who hears the sounds [prayers] of the world’.
The impression is of an omnipresent deity to whom mortals
may turn in times of trouble. Guanyin is a bodhisattva, which
means that he is one who has attained enlightenment, but
who has deferred entering nirvana and Buddhahood in
order to help allay the sufering of others and help them
to attain enlightenment. In the Chinese translation of the
Saddharma Pundarīka Sutra (Lotus Sutra 妙法蓮華經), the
Indo-Iranian Kumarajiva (ca. AD 350-410) refers to Guanyin
as the ‘Bodhisattva of Infnite Compassion’. With the rise
of the Pure Land School of Buddhism in China in the 7th
century, Guanyin became one of the most prominent fgures
in the Chinese Buddhist pantheon. In the Song dynasty,
when this sculpture was created, Guanyin was still depicted
as an androgynous male, but later in the 12th century
the bodhisattva began to be associated with a female
manifestation, which gained momentum in the succeeding
centuries until Guanyin was seen as the ‘Goddess of mercy’.

38 13282 · ART D'ASIE · 14 DÉCEMBRE 2016