Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s3.t2.3

v1.c7.s3.t2.3

Mount Putuo has a close link with the belief in Avalokitesvara (Guanyin). In a Buddhism scripture, *The Sutra on the Completion of Brightness*, translated by Zhiyao, a foreign eminent monk in the Later Han Dynasty, the name of Guanyin was mentioned. The book was translated in the Zhongping second year of Emperor Ling of Han (185 CE). After that, in *Infinite Life Sutra* translated by Kang Sengkai in 252 CE, Guanyin was the retinue of Amitabha. In 406 CE, Kumarajiva successfully translated *Saddharmapundarika Sutra* in which, not merely did Guanyin have magic power but was able to change into 33 different shapes and save ordinary people out of disasters and suffering with different identities. From then on, the influence of Guanyin was drastically enhanced. Around 420 CE, the earliest clay sculptures of Guanyin were built in the 169 caves in the Bingling Temple of Gangsu province. In the meantime, people along the regions south of the Yangtze River also began to establish its statues which showed the Chinese people had begun to worship Guanyin. Among the mythical stories created during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, there were some stories about Guanyin helping people in distress. In 663 CE, Master Heun Sang finished the translation of *Mahā-prajñāpāramitā-sūtra* which further propelled the Chinese people’s belief in Guanyin. Since the mid-6th century CE, under the influence of Esoteric Buddhism, the images and statues of Guanyin with multiple arms and heads showed up. During this period, Yaogupta translated the *11th-side Avalokitesvara Mantra Sutra* and *Avalokiteshvara Amoghapasha Mantra*. Later, from the Tang Dynasty to Song Dynasty, a large number of similar Buddhism classics were translated by Master Xuanzang, Vajrabodhi, Amoghavajra, Bodhiruci, Fatian, Tianximie and Dharmabhadra thus ushering the Chinese Esoteric Buddhism into its prime and endowing the image of Guanyin with so many changes.