Changes in the Iconography of the Attributes in the Thousand-handed Avalokiteśvara Paintings According to Scriptural Bases : Focusing on the Iconographies from the Tang to the Ming Dynasty

Following the introduction and spread of scriptures Thousand-handed Thousandeyed Avalokiteśvara bodhisattva in China, around seventy paintings were produced since late Tang period. There exist numerous studies on attendants different types paintings, but attributes have not been considered depth.</br>Therefore, I analyzed how described canonical scriptures—namely, Qianshou qianyan Guanshiyin pusa guangda yuanman wuai dabei xin tuoluoni jing(千手千眼觀世音菩薩廣大圓滿無礙大悲心陀羅尼經), translated by Bhagavaddharma, tuoluoni(千手千眼觀世音菩薩大悲心陀羅尼) Shewuai dabeixin da jing(攝無礙大悲心大陀羅尼經), both Amoghavajra, Qianguangyan Guanzizai mimi fa jing(千光眼觀自在菩薩祕密法經) Sanmeisupoluo(三昧蘇嚩羅),—and categorized they based on. By studying nineteen made period from to Ming Dynasty, whose could be clearly discerned, discovered that differences depicted are neither temporal nor geographical, resulted base scriptures.</br>Conclusively, this study is significant as it proposes a new criterion for iconography.