Guanyin

**Guan Yin** (also spelled _Kwan Yin_) is the Chinese name of Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva and incarnation of compassion and mercy.

Her full name is **Guanshiyin** which means "Observing the sounds (or cries) of the world." She represents mercy and compassion and is popular in the East and the West.

She takes various forms all over the world, in different eras and various forms. She can appear in the world as either male or female.

## Names in Asian langauges

- In Macau, Hong Kong, and southern China she is called  **Kwun Yum** or **Kun Yum**.
- In Meitei she is called **Lailempi Kwaan Yeen** (ꯂꯥꯢꯂꯦꯝꯄꯤ ꯀ꯭ꯋꯥꯟ ꯌꯤꯟ).
- In Japanese she is called **Kannon**(観音) , **Kan'on**, or **Kanzeon**(観世音) .
- In Korean she is called **Gwan-eum**  (관음) or **Gwanse-eum** (관세음).
- In Thai she is called **Kuan Im** (กวนอิม), **Phra Mae Kuan Im** (พระแม่กวนอิม), or **Chao Mae Kuan Im** (เจ้าแม่กวนอิม).
- In Indonesian she is called  **Kwan Im** or **Dewi Kwan Im**. The word _Dewi_ in the name is referring as _Devi_ or _Goddess_. Sometimes she is called **Mak Kwam** which means Mother Kwan Yin.
- In Vietnamese she is called  **Quan Âm, Quán Thế Âm** or **Quán Thế Âm Bồ Tát**.
- In Khmer, he is called  **"Preah Mae Kun Ci Iem".**
- In Tibet (Vajrayana Buddhism), she is called Chenrezig and the Dalai Lama is often regarded as a present reincarnation.

## Iconography

The Threefold Lotus Sutra describes Guan Yin as a Bodhisattva who can take any form. She can transform into a male, female, adult, child, elder, human, or non-human, in order to teach the Dharma. The _Threefold Lotus Sutra_ states that Guan Yin has 33 different manifestations. Seven of these are female.

Representations of Guan Yin in the Song Dynasty were masculine in appearance. Images and statues of Guan Yin during this time later became both genders because of the Lotus Sutra. Because Guan Yin is considered to be the personification of compassion and kindness, and a mother-goddess as well as a patroness of mothers and sailor, the representation of the Bodhisattva became mostly female around the 12th century. In the modern period, Guan Yin is often depicted as a beautiful, young white-robed woman, a depiction which derives from the earlier _Pandaravasini_ form.

In China, she is often depicted as young and beautiful, wearing white robes and a necklace of Indian/Chinese royalty. In the left hand she holds a vase that contains the elixir of immortality and in the right hand, she holds a willow branch. Guan Yin wears a crown with an image of Amitabha Buddha.

Guan Yin is a prominent figure in Journey to the West. One of the four classics of Chinese literature, it tells the tale of Tang Dynasty monk Chen Hui's epic pilgrimage with three other traveling companions. Guan Yin enlists Monkey King (Sun Wukong), previously imprisoned by the Buddha, to aid Chen Hui in his pilgrimage to India for Sutra and Reliquary. She later recruits Zhu Bajie (Pigsy) after his defeat at the staff of Monkey King, and Sha Wujing (Sandy) as a body guard for Chen Hui.

## Six Guanyin

Guanyin has six parts representing her six qualities

This is the Japanese list

1. Great Mercy - **Āryāvalokiteśvara** (聖觀音 / 正觀音, _Shèng Guānyīn_ / _Zhèng Guānyīn_; Jp. _Shō-Kannon_)
1. Great Compassion - **Sahasrabhuja** (千手觀音, _Qiānshǒu Guānyīn_; Jp. _Senju Kannon_)
1. Horse Head - **Hayagrīva** (馬頭觀音, _Mǎtóu Guānyīn_; Jp. _Batō Kannon_)
1. Great Light - **** (十一面觀音, _Shíyīmiàn Guānyīn_; Jp. _Jūichimen Kannon_)
1. Divine Hero - **Cundī** (準提觀音, _Zhǔntí Guānyīn_; Jp. _Jundei_ / _Juntei Kannon_ or 准提佛母, _Zhǔntí Fómǔ_; Jp. _Jundei_ / _Juntei Butsumo_)
1. Mahābrahmā - **Cintāmaṇicakra** (如意輪觀音; _Rúyìlún Guānyīn_; Jp. _Nyoirin Kannon_)

The Japanese Tendai school eventually adopted the new list, replacing **Cundī** with Amoghapasha (不空羂索觀音, _Bùkōng Juànsuǒ Guānyīn_; Jp. _Fukū Kensaku_ / _Kenjaku Kannon_)

## Related pages

- Bodhisattva