White-Robed Guanyin
late 1200s–early 1300s
Medium
hanging scroll; ink on paper
Dimensions
164 × 33.5 cm · painting: 78.7 × 31.7 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Chinese Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Accession Number
1978.47.1
Tags
About this artwork
Guanyin, the bodhisattva of infinite compassion (Avalokiteshvara, in Sanskrit), reveals himself in many forms. According to Buddhist belief, one such manifestation is the white-robed Guanyin sitting on a rock on the island of Putuo (Potalaka, in Sanskrit), located along the coast not far from Ningbo, in Zhejiang Province, China. Here, the figure was swiftly drawn in only a few ink lines. The inscription above is by Zhongfeng Mingben, perhaps the most widely respected and influential Chan (Zen in...