Kannon 観音

Also Kanzeon 観世音, Kanjizai 観自在. The bodhisattva *bosatsu 菩薩 who personifies compassion. One of the most popular Buddhist deities. Significant as an active emanation of *Amida 阿弥陀, and the more prominent of Amida's two attendant bodhisattvas, Kannon is also worshipped independently as a savior and model. Most commonly, Kannon is represented wearing a crown decorated with a small image of Amida *kebutsu 化仏 and holding a lotus or a water vase. In addition to the basic, and simplest form of Kannon *Shōkannon 聖観音, esoteric forms *henge Kannon 変化観音 with many arms and heads entered Japan even before the formal introduction of Esoteric Buddhism mikkyō 密教 in the early 8th century. The origin of Kannon is unclear, but like many other deities in the Mahayana Buddhist pantheon, he is thought to have been a popular deity in India who was given Buddhist significance and was absorbed into Buddhism. The location of Kannon's paradise *Fudarakusen 補陀落山, most commonly placed near the southern tip of India, suggests a south Indian origin for this deity. Kannon appears to have had two sources that can be traced in art:
1. in a princely figure holding a lotus, found as one of the Buddha's attendants in early sculpture: and 2 in Shiva, whose other name Isvara is probably a component of the name Avalokitesvara. The name Avalokitesvara was translated into Chinese as Kōzeon 光世音 or Kanzeon (and shortened to Kannon). Kannon has been used widely in East Asia, since it is given in the most popular translation of Lotus Sutra Hokekyō 法華経 by Kumarajiva's (Jp: Kumarajū 鳩摩羅什, ca. 350-410). Isvara is translated as Jizai 自在 in Chinese, and Xuanzhuang (Jp: Genjō 玄奘, 600/602-664) translated Avalokitesvara as Kanjizai. The first part of the name means "to regard", and the meaning of the name is usually said to be "Lord who regards (sentient beings with compassion)". There are many texts concerning Next Editing Starts Here Kannon. He is described as an attendant of Amida in the Kanmuryōjukyō 観無量寿経. He is one of those visited by Zenzai dōji 善財童子 in the Kegonkyō 華厳経, and he is the main figure in short and magical Hannya shingyō 般若心経 (Heart Sutra). The most important text in Japan concerning the belief in Kannon is the 25th chapter of the Lotus Sutra, the Kanzen bosatsu fumonbon 観世音菩薩普門品, also known independently as the Kannongyō 観音経, which recounts, in both prose and verse, Kannon's responsiveness to those in need of help. The prose section includes a list of the forms that Kannon may take to aid those in need. This list is the origin of the concept of the 33 forms of Kannon *sanjūsanshin 三十三身 and of the mutability of form of this deity. Different strands of belief contributed to the meaning of Kannon. Several 6th-8th century Indian sculptures of uncertain date and provenance show an ascetic figure somewhere between Shiva and Avalokitesvara in iconography. The belief that Kannon could save those in trouble is conveyed in a sculpture in the caves of Kanheri; a large figure of Kannon is surrounded by vignettes in which he rescues people from various calamities. Strong associations with kingship are also part of Kannon belief, and rulers have been considered incarnations of Kannon. Kannon is the Mahayana ideal, the model of the perfectly enlightened bodhisattva who perfects his enlightenment yet never leaves the active world. Forms of Kannon are often worshipped as main images in temples. The name Avalokitesvara is masculine in form, but particularly in China Kannon was identified with female native deities and was often considered female. In India and Tibet he was thought to have two female attendants, of whom the more prominent was Tara *Tara Bosatsu 多羅菩薩. Tara also was considered his female equivalent. Kannon was not shown as a woman in Japan, and Tara Bosatsu was not worshipped independently. Yet, some forms of Kannon such as *Juntei 准胝 are at times described as female, and female Shinto deities *kami 神 were usually identified as forms of Kannon, particularly Shōkannon and *Jūichimen Kannon 十一面観音. Kannon was the first Buddhist deity to have been shown in esoteric forms in India. Already in the 7th century, some of the esoteric forms can be found in Buddhist sculpture. Most esoteric forms appear in the Kannon Section (Kannon'in 観音院, also called Rengein 蓮華院) of the Matrix Mandala *Taizōkai mandara 胎蔵界曼荼羅. By the mid-8th century in Japan texts about esoteric Kannon were available. The first known text dealing with Jūichimen is the Jūichimenkyō 十一面経 (733). In 753 the Fukūkenjaku shinpen shingonkyō 不空羂索神変真言経, a major esoteric text that speaks of *Dainichi 大日 and first mentions *Fudō Myō'ō 不動明王, enters Japanese records. Texts concerning *Senju Kannon 千手観音, *Nyoirin Kannon 如意輪観音 and *Batō Kannon 馬頭観音 date from the same time. Images of Kannon were made as part of Emperor Shōmu's 聖武 (701-56) effort impose Buddhist structure on Japan. Temples dedicated to Kannon were founded, many following the apparition of the deity or the miraculous appearance of an image. A temple dedicated to Kannon was often built in a mountain, beside a rock formation, near a spring, or near some other remarkable landscape feature, suggesting that the site was already sacred and was adapted to Buddhist use. Stories of such images and temples abound among engi 縁起 (origin stories) and setsuwa 説話 (religious stories), and they found expression in accompanying paintings (see *shaji engi-e 社寺縁起絵). The mountain temples particularly were considered sites of Kannon's paradise Fudaraku, fully Japanizing the deity, as Putoshan 普陀山 in Zhejiang had been revered in China. Varieties of practice connected with belief in Kannon ; Kannon shinkō 観音信仰 were: the practice of group confession, worship of the Six Kannon *Roku Kannon 六観音 as a means of salvation in all the Six Realms of transmigration (see *rokudō-e 六道絵), and pilgrimage to sites of Kannon images. By the end of the 10th century, Ishiyamadera 石山寺, Kiyomizudera 清水寺, Kuramadera 鞍馬寺, Hasedera 長谷寺, Tsubosakadera 壷坂寺, Kokawadera 粉河寺, and many other sites were widely known and visited Kannon temples in the Kansai 関西 region (Kyoto-Osaka). In the 11th and 12th centuries, other sites were included to make the pilgrimage circuit of 33 temples that came to be known as the saigoku junrei 西国巡礼. Following the establishment of the Kamakura bakufu 鎌倉幕府 in the 13th century, the circuit of 33 temples in the Kantō 関東 region (modern Tokyo metropolitan area) was established. A third circuit was added and its number of temples altered to 34 to give in all a circuit 100 Kannons. The images of Kannon, especially those in the saigoku junrei, are so holy that some are kept secret *hibutsu 秘仏 and are shown infrequently or, in several cases, not at all. Activities associated with the worship of Kannon have been (as with other deities) focused through devotional confraternities known as kō 講. These had a more important function in earlier times when members could not go on pilgrimage without group support, but they continue today. Popular art such as horse painting *ema 絵馬, printed talismans, printed books, white coats, and printed scrolls on which to enter the seals and brushed names of the 33 sites are associated with pilgrimages and with kō activities. Images of Kannon are perhaps more common than those of any other deity in Japan. The earliest are bronzes that show a simple figure, wearing a crown and often holding a jewel, usually identified as *Guze Kannon 救世観音. The first painting of Kannon is on a wall of Hōryūji *Kondō 法隆寺金堂 in Nara. Kannon's paradise was painted by the mid-8th century. Sculptures of Kannon from late 7th and 8th centuries are amongst the most famous Japanese sculptures, including fine large pieces such as the Shōkannon of Tōindō 東院堂 in Yakushiji Tōindō 薬師寺東院堂 and the *Fukūkenjaku Kannon 不空羂索観音 of *Hokkedō 法華堂 (also known as Sangatsudō 三月堂) in Tōdaiji 東大寺, both in Nara. A tradition of plain wood sculpture, modeled on Indian sandalwood sculpture *danzō 檀像, produced the Hokkeji 法華寺 Jūichimen Kannon (mid-9th century). Both esoteric and exoteric paintings were made and Kannon was shown alone as well as in groups. In Pure Land Buddhism, Jōdokyō bijutsu 浄土教美術 Kannon appears in paintings of Amida descending to receive dying souls, raigō 来迎, and also in Kannon raigō 観音来迎. With the transmission of Zen 禅 Buddhism in the late 12th century a new set of images of Kannon entered Japan. These include the heavily robed figures of *Byakue Kannon 白衣観音 and *Yōryū Kannon 楊柳観音, solitary figures meditating in the wilderness. Since around the 14th century, illustrations of the stories of Kannon temples and images were produced in abundance. Kannon continued to be the single most popular Buddhist figure. In addition, images apparently of Kannon called *Maria Kannon マリア観音, functioned as Christian images in the secret worship of Christianity during the Edo period. Today, images such as the giant Kannon of Tsubosakadera in Nara may testify to a continuing interest in this deity.