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Guanyin and a demon carrying a child, from an album of twenty-four portraits of Guanyin
Guanyin and a demon carrying a child, from an album of twenty-four portraits of Guanyin

Guanyin and a demon carrying a child, from an album of twenty-four portraits of Guanyin

Artist (Chinese, active ca. 1565–1585)
Datelate 16th century
MediumAlbum pages: gold ink on dyed paper
DimensionsImage (each): 11 9/16 × 8 11/16 inches (29.4 × 22.1 cm);
Sheet: 14 9/16 × 22 inches (37 × 55.9 cm);
Mat: 22 × 28 inches (55.9 × 71.1 cm)
CultureChina
PeriodMing dynasty
ClassificationsCalligraphy
Credit LineAcquired through the generosity of Judith Stoikov, Class of 1963, supplemented by the George and Mary Rockwell Fund, and gift of Warner L. Overton, Class of 1922, by exchange
Terms
  • Calligraphy
  • Chinese
  • Ink
  • Buddhism
  • Bodhisattvas
  • Avalokitesvara
  • Children
  • Demons
  • Clouds
  • Paper
Object number2002.012.015
Label CopyAs is the case with many Chinese women artists, little is known of Miss Qiu’s biography beyond the fact that she was the daughter of the famous painter Qiu Ying (active 1530–1550). These pages come from an album illustrating twenty-four transformations of Guanyin, the bodhisattva of compassion. Guanyin is considered a guardian of women, and in Ming-dynasty China women formed various Guanyin recitation groups to express their devotion to this bodhisattva. Each painting in the museum’s album is paired with a four-line gatha (Buddhist verse). The verse here is translated as: The flower garland Is abundantly auspicious (beautiful). It causes you to have the notion of the emotion of love, Resulting in erroneous thinking and delusive ideas. You become entangled in one hundred mental perversions, And afflictions appear. Good man, do not have this perception. This gatha is a reminder not to commit adultery, one of the five fundamental precepts of a bodhisattva.
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