Guānyīn statue

Bodhisattva Guānyīn, single piece

Bronze, height 240mm, weight 1071g.

Guānyīn (Guan Yin, Guanshiyin, Kwan-yin or Kuan Yin) is one of the most important bodhisattvas of Pure Land Buddhism in China.

Symbol meaning

Guānyīn is the bodhisattva of fertility and femininity, the patron saint of fishermen, sailors and merchants, but also of children and the sick. Guānyīn is the Chinese equivalent of the goddess of mercy and compassion, Avalokiteśvara. Guānyīn's Chinese name is "Guanshiyin", roughly translated as "He who perceives the sounds of the world". Guānyīn is seen as a bodhisattva with the ability to take countless different forms. In perhaps the most famous figure, Guānyīn appears as a young or middle-aged woman with noble features, dressed in a bewitching white robe (white is the color of purity), wearing the luxurious necklaces of royalty around her neck. In his right hand, in addition to the traditional lotus, he has an often depicted fish basket, or holy cup (the cup or pot is also one of the eight Buddhist symbols of happiness), which contains the purest water, the divine nectar of life, compassion and wisdom. In the fingers of his left hand, he holds a willow branch with which he sprinkles water on people, blessing them with physical and spiritual, all-encompassing peace. The willow branch as an object symbolizes the bodhisattva's ability to bend but not break.