7/21/2019 Guanyin

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/guanyin 1/1

Nicholas Chew

Section 24

Topic #3 Guanyin's various portrayals

Throughout the years the god Avalokitesvara has taken any shapes and !or s"ore co only known now as Guanyin$ this particular god has taken the !or o! ayoung an with a s all ustache to a thousand ar wo an with %eauti!ul!eatures" & %elieve all her changes were eant to garner ore appeal !ro theasses %y %eco ing what they wanted her to look like" Sure the otus Sutra saysshe has the power to change !or s %ut the ost likely reason !or the changes arethe reactions the people who were (rst introduced to her had" )or a god o!co passion$ why have a an %e Guanyin when en are supposed to %e strong andpower!ul %eings who (ght in %attle" A ore appropriate representation would %ethat o! a wo en$ a kind and al ost otherly (gure that looks a!ter you" A!teresta%lishing a o like (gure that shows ercy and co passion as a other woulddo$ Guanyin's power had to %e e phasi*ed" ay%e changing Guanyin into a !e alegave her a weaker appearance" &' sure people during the ti es o! early China+uestioned the power and reach this !e ale god had over everyone's li!e" ,owcould this one god %e capa%le o! showing ercy to all hu ans across the world- Todispel this idea and give her ore authority she was given the story o! hershattering ar s which lead to her depiction with thousands o! ar s" ,er everchanging appearance can all %e attri%uted to the idea that a god ust look the part"Guanyin is .ust one e/a ple o! how the depiction o! a god is catered to theirworshippers" To satis!y the e/pectations o! what Guanyin was capa%le o! ande/pected to act like$ her i age was altered"