觀音

“[One who] Observes Sounds”, in reference to the prayers and cries of sentient beings who need help, a calque of Sanskrit अवलोकितस्वर (avalokitasvara, literally “down-observe-sound”), the original form of अवलोकितेश्वर (avalokiteśvara, “Avalokiteśvara”), the bodhisattva who embodies the compassion of all Buddhas.

Synonymous with 觀世音／观世音 (Guānshìyīn, “One who Observes the Sounds of the World”), which interpreted the middle element of the Sanskrit compound as लोक (loka, “world”). The shorter form became more common during the Tang dynasty to avoid naming the taboo personal name of Emperor Taizong of Tang, 李世民.

Compare Tibetan སྤྱན་རས་གཟིགས (spyan ras gzigs, literally “one who looks down with an unwavering eye”).

觀音

1. (～菩薩) (Buddhism) Guanyin
2. (～區, formerly ～鄉) Guanyin (a district of Taoyuan, Taiwan, formerly a rural township)
3. (～鎮) Guanyin (a town in Yunxi, Shiyan, Hubei, China)

Although Avalokiteśvara was reckoned a male figure and Guanyin was first depicted as a male in Chinese art, she is now almost always understood to be and referenced as a goddess or female boddhisattva.

Others:

• → Burmese: ကွမ်ယင် (kwam-yang)
• → English: Guanyin
• → Indonesian: Kwan Im
• → Khmer: គង់ស៊ីអ៊ីម (kŭəngsiiʼiim)
• → Thai: กวนอิม

• 莆田市政协文化文史和学习委员会 [Culture, History and Learning Committee of Putian CPPCC], editor (2021), “观音”, in 莆仙方言大词典 [Comprehensive Dictionary of Puxian Dialect] (overall work in Mandarin and Puxian Min), Xiamen University Press, →ISBN, page 243.

觀音 • (Gwaneum or McCune-Reischauer: Kwanŭm or Yale: Kwan.um) (hangeul 관음)

1. hanja form^? of 관음 (“Guanyin”)

觀音

1. chữ Hán form of Quan Âm (“Guanyin”)