Guanyin
![](/Images/godic/202501/16/Kuan-yan_bodhisattva,_Northern_Sung_dynasty,_China,_c._1025,_wood,_Honolulu_Academy_of_Arts4227.jpg")
![Bodhisattva Guanyin; 11th/12th century A.D.; Polychromed Wood - Wood with multiple layers of paint, H : 241.3 x L : 165.1 cm.; Chinese; Shanxi Province; Liao Dynasty (A.D. 907-1125) Nelson-Atkins Museum Collection; Kansas City, Missouri](/Images/godic/202501/16/Liao_Dynasty_Avalokitesvara_Statue_Clear4228.jpeg")
![Early Indian statue of Avalokitasvara Bodhisattva. Gandhāra, 3rd century](/Images/godic/202501/16/Avalokitesvara_Gandhara_Musée_Guimet_2418_14228.jpg")
![Guanyin, sitting in the lotus position. The damaged hands probably performing dharmacakramudra, a gesture that signifies the moment when Buddha put the wheel of learning in motion. Painted and gilded wood. China. Song/Jin period, late 13th century.](/Images/godic/202501/16/Guanyin4229.jpg")
Guanyin is an East Asian spiritual figure of mercy, and a bodhisattva associated with compassion as venerated by Mahayana Buddhists. The name Guanyin is short for Guanshiyin, which means "Perceiving the Sounds (or Cries) of the World". She is also sometimes referred to as Guanyin Bodhisattva (Chinese:觀音菩薩, Guān Yīn Pú Sà). Some Buddhists believe that when one of their adherents departs from this world, they are placed by Guanyin in the heart of a lotus, and then sent to the western pure land of Sukhāvatī.