bodhisattva Guanyin, Buddhism, androgynous handsome, figure’s transcendence beyond gender

Porcelain figures of the bodhisattva Guanyin and child have been made for hundreds of years for Buddhist devotion in China and Japan. This 18th-century example has a hidden story of subversion and dissent.








Ashmolean Museum──和 Giota Papanikolopoulou 及 Nghi Lam 。
2月17日下午5:16 ·

"This Chinese Buddhist figure is the Bodhisattva of ‘infinite compassion’ who remained in the world to ease suffering and help others to attain enlightenment. Loved by all Buddhist traditions, Guanyin can take many forms, appealing to a variety of people, to promote the understanding of the teachings of Buddhism.

Bodhisattvas are generally presented as androgynous handsome males. However, this sculpture can be interpreted as either male or female, showing the figure’s transcendence beyond gender. In Mahayana Buddhism physicality of gender is considered a delusion of the unenlightened."

China, 13th century.






菩薩 - Wikipedia
ja.wikipedia.org › wiki › 菩薩


菩薩（ぼさつ）とは、梵名ボーディ・サットヴァ(梵: बोधिसत्त्व, bodhisattva, 巴: bodhisatta) の音写であり、仏教において一般的には菩提（bodhi, 悟り）を求める衆生（薩埵, sattva）を意味する。菩提薩埵とも音写される。仏教では、声聞や縁覚とともに、声聞と ...