Lovely.This is a dance depiction of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva,the Bodhisattva of compassion,who is very popular in China in female manifestation,and known as Kuan-Yin.She takes various forms but her image in China now often closely resembles that of the Virgin Mary in Christian iconography - visually at least.This more ancient version is supposed to have 1000 arms,with each hand containing an eye (which I think the dancers have too).It means that the compassion of the Bodhisattva can extend everywhere. Gordon
|