Over 300 years of Sung history is divided into the two periods of Northern and Southern Sung. Because of the barbarian occupation of northern China the second half of the Sung rule was confined to the area south of the Huai River. Artistic and intellectual output increased enormously. Sung thinkers turned back to the Confucian classics, attempting to purge them of Han and Tang accretions. The resulting Neo-Confucianism was most concerned with good government, and the hierarchical but compassionate ordering of society. Yet, this era was also heavily influenced by Buddhist ideals of compa

ssion and kinship with all sentient beings and by the Buddhist/Taoist concept that the two are mutually interactive, making Sung the most egalitarian of all periods in China’s dynastic history.

Icons created for new Buddhist establishment give sufficient evidence of sculptural creativity during Sung. Guanyin was the most popular deities at that time, particularly in the newer embodiments based on the Lotus and Flower Garland sutras. Over time, Guanyin combined major elements from Chinese folk culture, including a growing feminization of the image type and its increasing association with aid in conception and childbirth.

Some topics in this essay:
Dynasty Guanyin, AD Guanyin, Han Tang, Unlike Buddha, Sung Dynasty, Guanyin People, Guanyin Sung, Flower Garland, Shih Yin, Lee Chap, sung dynasty, indian origin, reason change, people able, chinese people, painted gilded, dynasty rulers,