Portrait of the Bodhisattva Guanyin

Purportedly Tang dynasty (618�907), undated

Woodcut illustration; traditionally attributed to Wu Daozi (689�759), probably Ming (1368�1644) or Qing dynasty (1644�1911)

Hanging scroll, ink rubbed on paper; 109.1 x 54.9 cm

Date of rubbing unknown, Qing dynasty (1644�1911)

Inventory number: Biaozhou 236

Guanyin (literally, "Observer of Sounds"), the Bodhisattva of Compassion, whose original appellation was Guanshiyin (One Who Observes the Sounds of the World), is by far China's most popular bodhisattva.� In Indian and early Chinese Buddhism, Guanyin (Avalokitesvara in Sanskrit) had been represented as male figure, but during the Song dynasty (960-1279) he was transformed into a female deity, known as the Goddess of Mercy�giver of comfort in the face of human suffering, provider of children, and protector of all who invoke her name.� Guanyin's legendary abode is Mount Putuo, on an island off the coast of Zhejiang province.

Guanyin is believed to have no fewer than 33 manifestations (male or female, old or young, etc.) and has been depicted in numerous ways in Chinese iconography.� In this rubbing taken from a woodcut, she is portrayed with the boy pilgrim Sudhana (Shancai in Chinese).� According to the Avatamsaka-sutra; Da fang guang fo Huayan jing (Garland Sutra), Sudhana visits 53 teachers to learn the dharma, and Guanyin is the twenty-eighth one visited.� She is shown here standing on a floating lotus leaf, her demeanor supremely serene amid the billowing waves.� Shancai, on the other hand, stands on the leaf of a waterlily, looking somewhat worried and hoping for safe passage.� Though attributed at upper left to the famous Tang figure painter Wu Daozi (689�759), who used a highly linear and fluid style to render flowing robes to great advantage, this work is probably of a much later date.