Guanyin is the bodhisattva associated with compassion as venerated by East Asian Buddhists, usually as a female.

The name Guanyin is short for Guanshiyin, which means " Observing the Sounds ( or Cries ) of the World ".

She is also sometimes referred to as Guanyin Pusa ().

It is generally accepted among East Asian adherents that Guanyin originated as the Sanskrit Avalokiteśvara ( अवल ो क ि त े श ् वर ).

Commonly known in English as the Mercy Goddess or Goddess of Mercy, Guanyin is also revered by Chinese Taoists ( or Daoists ) as an Immortal.

Due to the devotional popularity of Guanyin in East Asia, she is known by many names, most of which are simply the localised pronunciations of " Guanyin " or " Guanshiyin ":

* In Japanese, Guanyin is pronounced Kannon (), occasionally Kan ' on, or more formally Kanzeon (, the same characters as Guanshiyin ); the spelling Kwannon, based on a pre-modern pronunciation, is sometimes seen.

* In Korean, Guanyin is called Gwan-eum ( 관음 ) or Gwanse-eum ( 관세음 ).

Guanyin is the Chinese name for Avalokiteśvara.

Although this depiction still exists in the Far East, Guanyin is more often depicted as a woman in modern times.

Additionally, some people believe that Guanyin is androgynous ( or perhaps neither ).

This text and its thirty-three manifestations of Guanyin, of which seven are female manifestations, is known to have been very popular in Chinese Buddhism as early as in the Sui Dynasty and Tang Dynasty.

Additionally, Tan Chung notes that according to the doctrines of the Mahāyāna sūtras themselves, it does not matter whether Guanyin is male, female, or genderless, as the ultimate reality is in emptiness ( Skt.

In the modern period, Guanyin is most often represented as a beautiful, white-robed woman, a depiction which derives from the earlier Pandaravasini form.

He is usually depicted looking or glancing down, symbolising that Guanyin continues to watch over the world.

In China, Guanyin is sometimes shown in a white flowing robe and usually wears necklaces of Indian / Chinese royalty.

In the Fujian region of China, for example, a popular depiction of Guanyin is as a maiden dressed in Tang Dynasty style clothing carrying a fish basket.

In Chinese art, Guanyin is often depicted either alone, standing atop a dragon, accompanied by a white parrot, flanked by two children, or flanked by two warriors.

In Chinese Buddhist iconography, Guanyin is often depicted as meditating or sitting alongside one of the Buddhas and usually accompanied by another bodhisattva.

In the Pure Land school, for example, Guanyin is frequently depicted on the left of Amitabha Buddha, while on the buddha's right is another bodhisattva called Mahasthamaprapta ( Dàshìzhì ).

Dismayed that " the land of the South knows only greed, hedonism, promiscuity, and sins ", the Buddha instructs the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara ( Guanyin ) to search Tang China for someone to take the Buddhist sutras of " transcendence and persuasion for good will " back to the East.

Ultimately, he can only be controlled by a magic gold ring that Guanyin has placed around his head, which causes him unbearable headaches when Xuanzang chants the Ring Tightening Mantra.

The city is also only 50 km away from Xuzhou Guanyin Airport.

Guanyin as a male bodhisattva.

The buddha and bodhisattva that are portrayed together with Guanyin usually follow whichever school of Buddhism they represent.

Temples that revere the bodhisattva Ksitigarbha usually depict him meditating beside Amitabha and Guanyin.

In Chinese Buddhism, Guanyin is synonymous with the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara.

In Chinese culture, the popular belief and worship of Guanyin as a goddess by the populace is generally not viewed to be in conflict with the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara's nature.

In fact the widespread worship of Guanyin as a " Goddess of Mercy and Compassion " is seen as the boundless salvific nature of bodhisattva Avalokitesvara at work ( in Buddhism, this is referred to as Guanyin's " skillful means ", or upaya ).

The view that the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara is also the goddess Guanyin does not seem contradictory to Buddhist beliefs.

In her bodhisattva vows, Guanyin promises to answer the cries and pleas of all sentient beings and to liberate them from their own karmic woes.

** Guanyin ( also Kuanyin ): bodhisattva associated with compassion

The bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara ( Guanyin ), on instruction from the Buddha, gives this task to the monk and his three protectors in the form of disciples — namely Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing — together with a dragon prince who acts as Xuanzang's steed, a white horse.

Although he is helpless in defending himself, the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara ( Guanyin ) helps by finding him powerful disciples who aid and protect him on his journey.

The bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara ( Guanyin ) helps Xuanzang find three powerful supernatural beings-Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing-to aid and protect him on his journey.

Xuanzang usually punishes him by chanting the words of the headache spell ( 緊箍咒 ) given to Xuanzang by the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara ( Guanyin ) to control Wukong, which causes the latter's headband to contract and give him acute headaches.

* Kwun Yum or Guanyin, the bodhisattva associated with compassion as venerated by East Asian Buddhists

(, ) is the six-syllabled Sanskrit mantra particularly associated with the four-armed Shadakshari form of Avalokiteshvara ( Tibetan Chenrezig, Chinese Guanyin ), the bodhisattva of compassion.

Mahāsthāmaprāpta is a bodhisattva mahāsattva that represents the power of wisdom, often depicted in a trinity with Amitābha and Avalokiteśvara ( Guanyin ), especially in Pure Land Buddhism.

She is generally thought to have influenced the beliefs about the Buddhist bodhisattva Guanyin.

Within the main cave, dedicated to the bodhisattva Guanyin, there is a crack in the ceiling of the cave that stretches up to the surface, so that a person standing at a certain position can see a sliver of sunlight.

Named after the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara ( known as Guanyin in Chinese ), Kwanum Hall was built in 1449 and is the oldest building in the temple compound.