Northern Dynasties
Height: 22 cm
Preserved in Pingliang Municipal
Museum
Bodhisattva Guanyin possesses a
comely face with high crown on head, wreaths on body and silk belt on shoulder.
It wears close-fitting dress standing barefooted on the round pallet with
four-foot square base beneath. There is a peach-type head light behind the head
of the Buddha on which three Bodhisattva are triangularly arranged. The main
statue is flanked by Bodhisattvas attendant under which each have a disciple.
This statue is uniquely designed as male appearance. There is no difference
between male and female appearance in image of Bodhisattvas. Bodhisattva Guany
appears as a man before the Tang Dynasty and appears as a woman in order to
enlighten sentiment beings after Tang Dynasty, therefore it is depicted as a
image of a middle-aged woman. As an important post house on the north way of the
eastern section of the Silk Road, many Buddhist relics have been preserved in
Pingliang area and then unearthed in a large quantity, and this statue is one of
the best among them.