White-Robed Kannon
“[Kannon’s] miraculous spiritual power is unlimited; she is always there for us to the end.”1
Like many other of Hakuin’s paintings of the Bodhisattva Kannon, the painter’s treatment and inscription in this work highlight the feminine beauty of the deity. Technically without gender, the Bodhisattva of Infinite Compassion, or Avalokiteshvara, became associated with the female figure of Guanyin, who was popular in both Buddhist and folk religions as a beloved and caring figure. Hakuin’s emphasis on her femininity, in keeping with contemporary popular depictions of Kannon, made this figure instantly recognizable to everyday people.
—Bradley Bailey
Notes
1 John Stevens, Zen Mind Zen Brush: Japanese Ink Paintings from the Gitter-Yelen Collection (Sydney: Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2006), 38. In his discussion of this work, Stevens also suggests that the fine condition of the painting and high quality of the silk mount may indicate a wealthy commissioner, such as a merchant.