White-Robed Guanyin
Zhang Yuehu (Chinese, active 1200s)
late 1200s
Medium
Hanging scroll; ink on paper
Dimensions
195.4 × 56.6 cm · image: 104 × 42.3 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Chinese Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund
Accession Number
1972.160
Tags
male
About this artwork
The figure here sits on a rocky elevation representing Potalaka in the Southern Sea, Avalokitesvara’s island home. A vase with a bamboo sprig holds pure water, the nectar of life. Bamboo shines through the figure’s halo, a way of seeing the illusionary world through the Buddhist truth. Avalokitesvara (Guanyin in Chinese), the bodhisattva of compassion, was integrated into the Chan Buddhist canon of venerated beings. In this context, the bodhisattva is often depicted in its female manifestation a...