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Course: Art of Asia > Unit 2
Lesson 13: Song dynasty (960–1279)- Song dynasty (960–1279), an introduction
- The art of salvation—Mt. Baoding, Dazu rock carvings
- An Introduction to the Song dynasty (960–1279)
- Master of the (Fishing) Nets Garden
- Gu Kaizhi, Nymph of the Luo River
- Chinese landscape painting
- Mountings: hanging scrolls, handscrolls, fans and the album leaf
- Neo-Confucianism & Fan Kuan, Travelers by Streams and Mountains
- Emperor Huizong, Auspicious Cranes, handscroll
- Attributed to Zhang Zeduan, Along the River during Qingming Festival, handscroll
- Liang Kai, Poet Strolling by a Marshy Bank
- Liang Kai (attributed), White Egret
- Ding ware bowl, Northern Song dynasty
- Ceramic pillow
- Guan ware long-necked vase
- Bowl with “oil spot” glaze
- Bowl with brown mottling
- Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara (Chinese: Guanyin)
- Arhat (Chinese: luohan)
- “Bodhisattva of Compassion Seated in Royal Ease”
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Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara (Chinese: Guanyin)
Guanyin is the Chinese form of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara. Bodhisattvas are enlightened, compassionate beings who assist the spiritual goals of others. They are often distinguished from Buddhas by their princely clothing and adornments, indicating their continued presence in the human world. The figure of Avalokiteshvara can be traced back to India. His name means “the lord who looks down with compassion.” In China, Guanyin is believed to hear the sorrows of humanity. The bodhisattva is strongly associated with a chapter of the Lotus Sutra, a popular Buddhist text that lists 33 forms that the deity can take in order to help people in their time of need. The worship of Guanyin in China began around the fifth or sixth century.
Originally a foreign, male deity from India, this Buddhist deity was eventually transformed into many forms (often with feminine features) with pronounced Chinese characteristics. The image illustrated here, while perhaps appearing slightly androgynous by Western standards, are male in gender and reflect the ethereal, transcendent figure type of many early Buddhist images.
Want to join the conversation?
- Where I come from in Taiwan, Guanyin is definitely female. Is that a modern thing?(2 votes)
- She's female across almost all of North-East Asia.(2 votes)