24 | Standing figure of Guanyin carved from white marble Liao dynasty, 916 – 1125 Height: 95.5 cm | 37 5/8 in Click image for full-size version The figure stands foursquare on a simple low D-shaped base. Two bare feet protrude from below an elaborate pleated skirt, covered by a second plain layered skirt – both tied low around the waist with a long scarf. The torso is bare – apart from an elaborate beaded and bejewelled necklace that descends in loops to a central disk at stomach level, and falls to the ground in three separate strands. The shoulders and arms are covered by a large shawl that rises over the top of the head; an elaborate scrolling crown is centred by an image of Amitabha Buddha. The oval face imparts a feeling of deep introspection and serenity; it is delicately carved with a smooth high finish – the features sharp and crisp, with open eyes and a closed pouting mouth. The two missing hands might have been held in dharmachakra mudra – the gesture of teaching – and placed in front of the figure, between chest and waist. Similar examples: La Sculpture Chinoise du V au XIV Siecle, volume IV by Osvald Siren, 1926, plate 601 – illustrates a figure from a stone grotto at Yen Sia tong. Also illustrated, in the same volume of Siren, is another standing figure in gilt bronze – from the University Collection of Philadelphia, plate 577; this is further illustrated in Orientations – volume 32, no. 2, February 2001, pages 47 – 50. The Orientations article mentioned above, entitled ‘A White-robed Guanyin as the Embodiment of a Liao Ideal’ by Marilyn Gridley, presents a number of interesting points that are worth mentioning – as the two figures are so stylistically close. The proposed date for the University of Pennsylvania bronze is 1004 AD; this is based on the style being earlier than the figures in the Bhagavat Sutra Hall, Datong dated 1038, but later than the Tang inspired figures at the Guanyin Hall in Dule Si – dated to 984. The robe pulled up over the head, and the crown-like cowl, identify the figure as the white-robed manifestation of Guanyin. The very vertical nature of the carving gives the impression of a deity who is a ‘tower of strength’ – a characteristic in Liao sculpture that was not seen in images created by the contemporary Northern Song, who controlled the South of China (their images being altogether more relaxed in posture). The white-robed Guanyin was worshipped by the Liao ruling family (the Qidan, a semi-nomadic people) as their family deity. In their hands – and particularly their ruler, Taizong – the ‘bodhisattva of compassion and mercy’ (thought to embody both male and female characteristics) was endowed with military power and worshipped before battle – as the belief was that success or failure lay in Guanyin’s hands.