The immense number of images of the bodhisattva Guanyin (Avalokitesvara in Sanskrit) testifies to the popularity of this deity throughout the history of Buddhism in China. Originally depicted as a male figure, based on images of Indian princes, Guanyin is also worshipped as the female Goddess of Mercy and as a guarantor of male children. On the base of this dignified Sui dynasty Guanyin is a grid of lightly incised lines that would have contained an inscription to be carved when the image was purchased and dedicated by a private patron.
