The
bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara was a male in India. He was worshipped in the realm
of Amitabha Buddha. The Lotus Sutra lists his thirty-three transformations from
male to female; which illustrates the infinity of means of salvation in his great
compassion to rescue faithfuls from perils. Around the time of Sui dynasty in
the 6th century, Avalokiteshvara began to transformed into a female deity, and
identified in Chinese as Quan Yin (Kannon in Japanese). There are numerous forms
of Quan Yin throughout China and Asia. Generally appear as a youthful feminine
mother figure cloaked in white robe, her other popular manifestations including
a thousand eyes and thousand armed Tantric form known as Da-bei, the Great Compassion
Quan Yin. The seated bodhisattva in royal ease on Mount Portalaka is known as
Nanhai (South Seas) Quan Yin, an original Chinese design established since the
Tang Dynasty (618-906 A.D.)
Depicting here is yet another important representation, the Water-moon
(Shui-yue ) Quan Yin floating above a lotus pond. The statue is an unbelievably
detailed and expressive work. The carver is a brilliant and meticulous carver,
whose composition succeeded rendering the subject in sublime beauty from multiple
angles. The Goddess of Great Compassion is standing above and in front of the
wind blown clouds, the richly ornated bodhisattva gazes downward into a reflection
of the moon, her right hand in varada mudra, a vase in her left pouring a stream
of life-giving nectar, which winds in a large curve and reached down to the lotus
pond, among the upturning waves an unfolding leaf along side an elaborately carved
lotus flower, with its crenellated petals range from full bloom to not yet open,
each petal is separately undercut, brilliant carved and textured to a life-like
thickness in an amazing technical feat of naturalism. The execution is staggeringly
impressive; through suffered from an old break on the base, the minutely detailed
carving is awe inspiring and defying emulation.