Currently not on view
Thousand-armed, Thousand-eyed Guanyin,
1758 (stone); late 19th to first half of 20th century (rubbing)
Jizhi 寂智, carving agent, active 18th century
Information
1758 (stone); late 19th to first half of 20th century (rubbing)
Asia, China
Seated in the center on a lotus base is the Thousand-armed, Thousand-eyed Guanyin with ten faces rising up to a small seated figure of Amitabha. Countless arms emanate around the deity forming a circular halo composed of open hands with an eye in each palm. Some of the arms immediately around Guanyin also hold various symbols and ritual implements. The seated deity is raised on a polygonal dais, and on sides is a lion in the center flanked by two strongmen (lishi 力士) on each side. Two guardians stand to the side in front of the dais, which is accompanied by four bodhisattvas and four heavenly kings. Directly over Guanyin are three small buddhas and a canopy, and in the sky are clouds and flying apsaras. Below Guanyin in front of the dais is a 16-character inscription reading: “The imperial throne will reign over this great dominion forever, the Emperor’s path brings everlasting prosperity, the brilliance of the Buddha increases daily, and the Wheel of the Buddhist Law will constantly roll [overcoming everything].” At the bottom is a lotus pond with the overlooking figures of Sudhana (善財童子) on the right and Dragon Girl (龍女) on the left. In the bottom left and right corners, respectively, are rectangular panels with dedicatory inscriptions naming the head abbot Haiguan Liangzhou and disciple Jizhi, whose roles may be distinguished from the history of the pictorial stone.
The stone was made by imperial order for the Maitreya Monastery 彌勒庵 inside the Xizhi Men 西直門 gate on Nanxiao Jie 南小街 street in Beijing. In front of the monastery was a Ming dynasty stele with an image of the Guanyin as the Nine-Lotus Bodhisattva九蓮觀音像. The rubbing’s Thousand-armed, Thousand-eyed Guanyin image was engraved on the back of this stele. In 1758 when the Thousand-armed, Thousand-eyed Guanyin image was cut into stone, the head abbot was Haiguan Liangzhou 海觀量周. The disciple Jizhi may have been the sponsor or supervisor of the carving. His inscription panel is given equal importance with the head abbot’s, so he it is unlikely that he was the stone carver.
