Artwork Page for White-Robed Guanyin

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White-Robed Guanyin

白衣觀音菩薩像

late 1200s–early 1300s

Jueji Yongzhong 絕際永中

(Chinese, active around 1300)
inscription by

Zhongfeng Mingben 中峰明本

(Chinese, 1263–1323)
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Culture
China, Yuan dynasty (1271-1368)
Medium
hanging scroll; ink on paper
Measurements
Painting: 78.7 x 31.7 cm (31 x 12 1/2 in.); Overall with knobs: 164 x 38 cm (64 9/16 x 14 15/16 in.)
Credit Line
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1978.47.1
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
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Did You Know?

The CMA collection includes a drawing by a Japanese priest, CMA 1978.47.2, inspired by this composition.

Description

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 Japanese) master in the Yuan dynasty. The artist’s signature is a single line below on the left: Huanzhu Yongzhong.
A vertical hanging scroll on cream paper depicts White-Robed Guanyin, a deity sitting cross-legged and facing right. Rendered in minimalist black outlines, Guanyin wears a hooded robe, eyes downcast, with a thin circular halo behind their head. Above, columns of dark Japanese calligraphy are boldly brushed into the space. A small signature is tucked in the bottom-left corner.

White-Robed Guanyin

late 1200s–early 1300s

Jueji Yongzhong, Zhongfeng Mingben

(Chinese, active around 1300), (Chinese, 1263–1323)
China, Yuan dynasty (1271-1368)

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