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Guan Yin
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In Chinese Buddhism, the popular myth and worship of Guan Yin 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 Guan Yin as a "Goddess of Mercy and Compassion" is seen as the boundless salvific nature of bodhisattva Avalokitesvara at work. The Buddhist canon states that bodhisattvas can assume whatsoever gender and form is needed to liberate beings from ignorance and dukkha. With specific reference to Avalokitesvara, he is stated both in the Lotus Sutra and the Surangama Sutra to have appeared before as a woman or a goddess to save beings from suffering and ignorance. Some Buddhist schools refer to Guan Yin both as male and female interchangeably.
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Guan Yin is the bodhisattva of compassion as venerated by East Asian Buddhists, usually as a female. She is ... known as the Chinese Bodhisattva of Compassion. Photographed on a rainy night in Keelung
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Due to the widespread influence of Chinese culture, Guan Yin has become arguably the most popular and well-known bodhisattva in the world. This can sometimes lead to confusion as people erroneously equate Guan Yin with bodhisattva. For instance, quite a few people have already mistranslated the Chinese name of the performance to Thousand-Hand Bodhisattva.
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Guan Yin was originally a male figure that evolved over time into a more female form. This Guan Yin, or Goddess of Mercy, has lost all traces of masculinity. She sits here now, a little worn by the centuries, but still as graceful and beautiful as any figure could be. She was lovingly crafted in Shan Xi province in the mid-Qing dynasty, around 1750. Her center is wood. Straw, terracotta, and wire are used to form her appendages and apparel.
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Hearing this cry, Guan Yin quickly sent Shan Tsai to recover the fish and gave him all the money she had. The fish at this point was about to be sold in the market. It was causing quite a stir as it was alive hours after being caught. This drew a much larger crowd than usual at the market. Many people decided that this prodigious situation meant that eating the fish would grant them immortality, and so all present wanted to buy the fish. Soon a bidding war started, and Shan Tsai was easily outbid.
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Guan Yin was born four months into the journey of Zetsumei Mitsukai. The kunoichi, hungry and tired from training, came upon the concealed village of Shangri-La, a sacred religious village somewhere between a canyon that separated Kaze no Kuni and Tsuchi no Kuni. She can not really say, because she was disoriented and thirsty, and thought that she was most likely seeing mirages after her long trek across the desert. As she passed out in what she thought was an oasis, she had no idea was being watched by someone.
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Guan Yin