Existing comment:
From Male to Female
The pale standing figure holding a leaf-shaped tray of fruit most likely represents Guanyin, whose temple this painting once adorned. Guanyin is the East Asian form of Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion.
In India, Avalokiteshvara is male. In China, the bodhisattva was frequently depicted in ways that make its gender ambiguous. Over time, Guanyin came to be seen as a female figure who provides protection and children to her devotees |