Guanyin is a common Chinese name of the Bodhisattva associated with compassion known as Avalokiteśvara. Guanyin is short for Guanshiyin, which means “The One Who Perceives the Voices of the World”. Originally regarded as male in Indian Buddhism, Guanyin has been more commonly depicted as female in China and most of East Asia since about the 12th century. Due to socio-geographical factors, Guanyin may also be historically depicted as genderless or androgynous. On the 19th day of the sixth lunar month, Guanyin’s attainment of Buddhahood is celebrated. Guanyin has been incorporated in other religions, including Taoism and Chinese folk religion. Some Buddhists believe that when one of their adherents departs from this world, they are placed by Guanyin in the heart of a lotus and then sent to the Western Pure Land of Sukhāvatī. Guanyin is often referred to as the “most widely beloved Buddhist Divinity” with miraculous powers to assist all those who pray to her, as is mentioned in the universal gate chapter of the Lotus Sutra and the Kāraṇḍavyūha Sūtra.

Several large temples in East Asia are dedicated to Guanyin, including Shaolin Monastery, Longxing Temple, Dule Temple, Puning Temple, Nanhai Guanyin Temple, Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple, Shitennō-ji, Sensō-ji, Kiyomizu-dera, Sanjūsangen-dō, and many others. Guanyin’s abode and bodhimaṇḍa in India are recorded as being on Mount Potalaka. With the localization of the belief in Guanyin, each area adopted its own Potalaka. In Chinese Buddhism, Mount Putuo is considered the bodhimaṇḍa of Guanyin. Naksansa is considered to be the Potalaka of Guanyin in Korea. Japan’s Potalaka is located at Fudarakusan-ji. Tibet’s is the Potala Palace. Vietnam’s Potalaka is the Hương Temple. There are several pilgrimage centers for Guanyin in East Asia. Putuoshan (Mount Putuo) is the main pilgrimage site in China. There is a 33-temple Guanyin pilgrimage in Korea, which includes Naksansa. In Japan, there are several pilgrimages associated with Guanyin. The oldest one of them is the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, a pilgrimage through 33 temples with Guanyin shrines. Guanyin is beloved by most Buddhist traditions in a nondenominational way and is found in most Tibetan temples under the name Chenrézik (Wylie: Spyan ras gzigs). Guanyin is also beloved and worshipped in the temples in Nepal. The Hiranya Varna Mahavihar, located in Patan, is one example. Guanyin is also found in some influential Theravada temples, such as Gangaramaya Temple, Kelaniya, and Natha Devale, near the Temple of the Tooth in Sri Lanka. Guanyin can also be found in Thailand’s Temple of the Emerald Buddha, Wat Huay Pla Kang (where the huge statue of her is often mistakenly called the “Big Buddha”), and Myanmar’s Shwedagon Pagoda. Statues of Guanyin are a widely depicted subject of Asian art and are found in the Asian art sections of most museums in the world.

Avalokitasvara

(Qianshou Guanyin) at Baodingshan at the Dazu Rock Carving in Chongqing, China. Guānyīn is a translation from the Sanskrit Avalokitasvara, the name of the Mahāyāna Bodhisattva. Another name for this Bodhisattva is Guānzìzài, from the Sanskrit name Avalokiteśvara. It was initially thought that early translators mistook Avalokiteśvara for Avalokitasvara and thus mistranslated Avalokiteśvara as Guānyīn, which explained why Xuanzang translated Avalokiteśvara as Guānzìzài. However, the original form was indeed Avalokitasvara which contained morpheme svara (“sound, noise”) and was a compound meaning “sound perceiver”, literally “he who looks down upon sound” (i.e., the cries of sentient beings who need help). This is the exact equivalent of the Chinese translation Guānyīn. This etymology was furthered in the Chinese by the tendency of some Chinese translators, notably Kumārajīva, to use the variant Guānshìyīn, literally ” One who perceives the world’s lamentations”—wherein lok was read as simultaneously meaning both “to look” and “world”. Direct translations from the Sanskrit name Avalokitasvara include Chinese: Guanyin, and Guanshiyin.

The name Avalokitasvara was later supplanted by the Avalokiteśvara form containing the ending, īśvara, which does not occur in Sanskrit before the seventh century. The original form Avalokitasvara appears in Sanskrit fragments of the fifth century. The original meaning of the name “Avalokitasvara” fits the Buddhist understanding of the role of a Bodhisattva. While some of those who revered Avalokiteśvara upheld the Buddhist rejection of the doctrine of any creator god, Encyclopædia Britannica does cite Avalokiteśvara as the creator god of the world. This position is taken in the widely used Karandavyuha Sūtra with its well-known mantra, Om Mani Padme Hum. In addition, in the Lotus Sutra, the name Avalokiteśvara is mentioned for the first time. Chapter 25 of the Sutra refers to him as Lokeśvara, “Lord God of all beings”, and Lokanātha, “Lord, Protector of all beings”, and ascribes extreme attributes of divinity to him. Direct translations from the Sanskrit name Avalokiteśvara include Chinese: Guānzìzài, Tibetan: Chenrézig Wangchuk.

In Korean, Guanyin is called Gwan-eum, or Gwanse-eum. In Khmer, the name is Preah Mae Kun Si Im, “Goddess Mother Si Im”, or Preah Neang Kun Si Im, “Goddess Princess Si Im”. Her full name is always used. When referring to her more than once, the name can be shortened down to her title, Preah Mae (Goddess Mother). In Thai the pronunciation is a duplicate from Teochew Kuang Im, Phra Mae Kuan Im (พระแม่กวนอิม; Phra Mae means “goddess”) or Chao Mae Kuan Im, Chao Mae usually means “madam”, but here, means “goddess”). In Burmese, the name of Guanyin is Kwan Yin Medaw, literally meaning Mother Kwan Yin (Goddess Guanyin). In Indonesian, the name is Kwan Im or Dewi Kwan Im. She is also called Mak Kwan Im “Mother Guanyin”. In Sinhala, the name is Natha Deviyo. In Hmong, the name is Kab Yeeb. In Nepali, the name is Seto Machindranath In these same countries, the variant Guanzizai “Lord of Contemplation” and its equivalents are also used, such as in the Heart Sutra, among other sources. The Lotus Sūtra is generally accepted to be the earliest literature teaching about the doctrines of Avalokiteśvara. These are found in the twenty fifth chapter of the Lotus Sūtra. This chapter is devoted to Avalokitesvara, describing him as a compassionate bodhisattva who hears the cries of sentient beings, and who works tirelessly to help those who call upon his name. The Buddha answered Bodhisattva Akṣayamati, saying: “O son of a virtuous family! If innumerable hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭis of sentient beings who experience suffering hear of Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara and wholeheartedly chant his name, Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara will immediately perceive their voices and free them from their suffering”.