KWAN-YIN, kwiin'yr(n' (Chin., sound-re garding, i.e. praye•-hearing. a translation of Skt. down-gazing lord, pitying lord. misread (Ira 1°1: itas , down-gazing sound, sound-regarding). A mythical Bodhisattva, or 'Buddha-elect. who is worshiped in Sikkim, Nepal, and Tibet under the name A ra/okita, or ro/okitesh•ara; in China under the name of K wan-yin, or Kwa n-sh ih -yin, and in Japan as K wan-non. or Ki•a/I-se-On. In the first-men tioned group of countries this deity is in vested exclusively with male attributes. but in t•llina and Japan with female attributes, ellanr'e of sex which seems to date, in China at least, the twelfth] eentilry, and has never been satisfactorily accounted for. The Grand Lama of Tibet is a living incarnation of Avalo kita, the patron deity of the country and the protector of the faithful. One of his many names is Malia-1:aruna ('The Great Pities'). In China and Japan K•an-yin (Kwan-non) is known as the `Godtle:s of Mercy.' Iler worship is very copular. One of her names is Pa-nan-kwan-yin, or the compassionate goddess who succors those who are exposed to the eight kinds of suffering.
As the Sung-isr Kwan-yin she is the `Giver of Sons.' and hence is much worshiped by childless married women. Sometimes she is represented with three. or eight, or eleven faces, or with a thousand eyes and a thousand arms; the faces and eyes indicating her omniscience and the arms her omnipotence. In China the island of Pu-to, near Chnsan. is specially dedicated to Kwan-yin, and, as it dates from the year 915, many images %%lila male attributes arc found there. Thou sands of monks and other worshiper. from all parts of China, as well a. from Tibet and Mon golia. visit the place annually. The worship of Kwan-yin is peculiar to that development of which is called Mahayana, or the 'Great (onveyan•e.' See AlAll A YANA.
Consult: el, Handbook for the nt of Chinese. Buddhism (Hong Kong, 1870) ; Ed kin., Chinese Buddhism (London, Pis()) ; Wad dell, The Buddhism of Tibet (London, 1s95) : Lloyd,"The Development of Japanese in TranmiCi iOnS Of the ty of JoPoo, vol. xx. (Yokohama, 1894) ; and Griffis, The Re ligions of Jupan (New York, I595).