Bodhisattva Guan Yin. Legends about Guan Yin first appeared in the Middle Kingdom more than two thousand years ago. Her popularity exploded around the Song Dynasty (960–1279), and she continues to be hailed and worshipped as the “Goddess of Mercy” to this day. In Chinese Buddhism, Guan Yin is synonymous with the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, the pinnacle of mercy, compassion, kindness, and love.
(Bodhisattva- being of bodhi or enlightenment, one who has earned to leave the world of suffering and is destined to become a Buddha, but has forgone the bliss of nirvana with a vow to save all children of God.