Guan Yin Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
| Guan Yin | |
|---|---|
| Chinese Name | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Guān Yīn, Guān Shì Yīn |
| Wade-Giles | Kuan Yin, Kuan Shih Yin |
| Chinese characters | 觀音, 觀世音 |
| Cantonese | Kun Iam |
| Japanese Name | |
| Romaji | Kannon, Kanzeon |
| Kanji | 観音, 観世音 |
| Korean Name | |
| Revised Romanization | Gwan-eum, Gwan-se-eum |
| McCune-Reischauer | Kwan-ŭm, Kwan-se-ŭm |
| Hanja | 觀音, 觀世音 |
Guān Yīn (literal meaning: "Observes the sounds (of the world)"), also written Kuan Yin or Kwan-yin, is the bodhisattva of compassion as venerated by East Asian Buddhistss. Guan Yin is also reverenced by Chinese Taoists as an Immortal.
In Japanese, Guan Yin is called Kannon (観音) or more formally Kanzeon (観世音); the spelling Kwannon, resulting from an obsolete system of romanization, is sometimes seen. In Korean, she is called Kwan-um or Kwan-se-um.
Guan Yin is the Chinese name for the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara. However, folk traditions in China and other East Asian countries have added many distinctive characteristics and legends. Most notably, while Avalokitesvara can be depicted as either male or female, Guan Yin is usually depicted as a woman, whereas Avalokitesvara in other countries is usually depicted as a man.
Along with Buddhism, Guan Yin's veneration was introduced into China as early as the 1st century CE, and reached Japan by way of Korea soon after Buddhism was first introduced into the country from the mid-7th century.
Representations of the bodhisattva in China prior to the Song Dynasty (960-1279) were masculine in appearance. Images which later displayed attributes of both genders are believed to be in accordance with the Lotus Sutra, where Avalokitesvara has the supernatural power of assuming any form required to relieve suffering and also has the power to grant children. Because this bodhisattva is considered the personification of compassion and kindness, a mother-goddess and patron of mothers and seamen, the representation in China was further interpreted in an all female form around the 12th century. In the modern period, Guan Yin is most often represented as a beautiful, white-robed woman, a depiction which derives from the earlier Pandaravasini form.
One Buddhist legend presents Avalokitesvara as vowing to never rest until he had freed all sentient beings from samsara. Although with strenuously effort, he realized that still many unhappy beings were yet to be saved. After comprehending the great demand, he became overwhelmed and his head split into thousands of pieces. Fortunately, a Buddha assembled him back together again. With eleven heads gazing to the front and sides, Avalokiteshvara possesses the unique gift to see everywhere at once and reach out to the needy.
In China, it is said that fishermen used to pray to her to ensure safe voyages. The titles 'Guanyin of the Southern Ocean' and 'Guanyin (of/on) the Island' stem from this tradition.
Another story, possibly Taoist in origin, describes Guan Yin as the daughter of a cruel father who wanted her to marry a wealthy but uncaring man. She begged to be able to enter a temple and become a nun instead. Her father allowed her to work in the temple, but asked the monks to give her very hard chores in order to discourage her. The monks did that: they forced Guan Yin to work all day and all night, while others slept, in order to finish her work. However, she was such a good person that the animals living around the temple began to help her with her chores. Her father, seeing this, became so frustrated that he attempted to burn down the temple. Guan Yin put out the fire with her bare hands and suffered no burns. Now struck with fear, her father ordered her to be put to death. After she died she was made into a goddess for all of her kindness and began her journey to heaven. She was about to cross over into heaven when she heard a cry of suffering back on earth. She asked to be sent back and vowed to stay until all suffering had ended.
One version of this legend states that, at the point of Guan Yin's father's execution of her, a supernatural tiger took Guan Yin to one of the more hell-like realms of the dead. However, instead of being punished by demons like the other inmates, Guan Yin played music and flowers blossomed around her. This managed to completely surprise the head demon. The story says that Guan Yin, by being in that hell, turned it into a paradise.
Due to her symbolising compassion, in East Asia Guan Yin is associated with vegetarianism. Chinese vegetarian restaurants are generally decorated with her image, and she appears in most Buddhist vegetarian pamphlets and magazines.
Many observers have commented on the similarity between Guan Yin and the Blessed Virgin Mary of Christianity. The Tzu-Chi Foundation commissioned a potrait of Guan Yin and a baby that resembles the typical Madonna and Child painting.
During the Tokugawa shogunate period in Japan, when Christianity was banned and punishable by death, some underground Christian groups venerated the Virgin Mary disguised as a statue of Kannon; such statues are known as Maria Kannon. Many had a cross hidden in an inconspicuous location.History
Legends
Guan Yin and the Virgin Mary