Guan Yin
ORIGIN
Along with Buddhism, Guan Yin's veneration was introduced into China as early as the 1st century AD, and reached Japan by way of Korea soon after Buddhism was first introduced into the country from the mid-7th century.
Representations of the Bodhisattva in China prior to the Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD, Northern - and Southern Song Dynasty) were masculine in appearance.
It is generally accepted that Guan Yin originated as the Sanskrit Avalokitesvara, which is her male form, since all representations of Bodhisattva were masculine.
Later images might show female and male attributes, since a Bodhisattva, in accordance with the Lotus Sutra, has the magical power to transform the body in any form required to relieve suffering, so that Guan Yin is neither woman nor man. In Mahayana Buddhism, to which Chinese Buddhism belongs, gender is no obstacle to Enlightenment.
As the Lotus Sutra relates, the Bodhisattva Kuan Shih Yin, "by resort to a variety of shapes, travels in the world, conveying the beings to salvation."
The representation in China was further interpreted in an all-female form around the 12th century, during the Ming Dynasty (1368- 1644 AD).
The twelfth-century legend of the Buddhist saint Miao Shan (see below), the Chinese princess who lived in about 700 B.C., is widely believed to have been Kuan Yin, reinforced the image of the Bodhisattva as a female.
In the modern period, Guan Yin is most often represented as a beautiful, white-robed woman, a depiction which derives from the earlier Pandaravasini form. In Sanskrit she's known as Padma pani - "Born of the Lotus", the lotus symbolizing purity, peace and harmony.
Another version suggests she originated from the Taoist Immortal Ci Hang Zhen Ren, (Chinese: 慈航真人; pinyin: Cíháng Zhēnrén; literally "Compassion Travel/Navigate True Person"), a Taoistic ‘perfect person’ having an endless willingness and sparing no effort in helping those in need.
Commonly known in the West as the Goddess of Mercy, Guan Yin is also revered by both the Taoists and Buddhists