Embroidery of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva as an Old Woman
Silk
Embroidery of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva as an Old Woman
CHINA
This silk embroidery was created by Shen Shou. The upper register contains the Heart Sutra, dated 1918, and calligraphed by Zhang Jian who was a contemporary statesman. In the lower register, there is an image of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva. An unusual and distinctive portrayal, the Bodhisattva is shown as slightly hunched back, wearing a red ocher hooded cloak, and carrying a long staff. The head is lowered and the face is indistinct.
This interpretation of Avalokitesvara by Shen Shou is a bold departure from traditional images of the famous figure.
For more details, go to the Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Artifacts, page 72.
Cite this article:
Hsingyun, et al. "Embroidery of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva as an Old Woman." Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Artifacts , vol. 18, 2016, pp. 72.
Hsingyun, Youheng, Youji, Stefanie Pokorski, Mankuang, and Wen Fan. 2016. "Embroidery of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva as an Old Woman" In Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Artifacts , 18:72.
Hsingyun, Youheng, Youji, Pokorski, S., Mankuang, & Fan, W.. (2016). Embroidery of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva as an Old Woman. In Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Artifacts (Vol. 18, pp. 72).
@misc{Hsingyun2016,
author = Hsingyun and Youheng and Youji and Pokorski, Stefanie and Mankuang and Fan, Wen,
booktitle = {Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Artifacts },
pages = 72,
title = {{Embroidery of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva as an Old Woman}},
volume = 18,
year = {2016}}
author = Hsingyun and Youheng and Youji and Pokorski, Stefanie and Mankuang and Fan, Wen,
booktitle = {Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Artifacts },
pages = 72,
title = {{Embroidery of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva as an Old Woman}},
volume = 18,
year = {2016}}