Below are extracts from the comprehensive write-up at http://inmortalkwanyin.blogspot.sg/#!
Guan Yim is usually shown in a white flowing robe - white being the symbol of purity -, and usually wearing necklaces of Indian/Chinese royalty.
In the right hand is a water jar (as the Sacred Vase the water jar also one of the Eight Buddhist Symbols of good Fortune) containing pure water, the divine nectar of life, compassion and wisdom, and in the left, a willow branch to sprinkle the divine nectar of life upon the devotees as to bless them with physical and spiritual peace.
The willow branch is also a symbol of being able to bend (or adapt) but not break.
The crown usually depicts the image of Amitabha Buddha (Fully Conscious Infinite Light), Guan Yim's spiritual teacher before she became a Bodhisattva.
A bird, mostly a dove, representing fecundity is flying toward her.
A necklace or rosary is associated with her calls upon Buddha for succour, each bead of it representing all living beings and the turning of the beads symbolises that Guan Yim is leading them out of their state of misery and repeated rounds of rebirth into nirvana, hence the beads represent enlightenment.
The willow branch is also a symbol of being able to bend (or adapt) but not break.
The crown usually depicts the image of Amitabha Buddha (Fully Conscious Infinite Light), Guan Yim's spiritual teacher before she became a Bodhisattva.
A bird, mostly a dove, representing fecundity is flying toward her.
A necklace or rosary is associated with her calls upon Buddha for succour, each bead of it representing all living beings and the turning of the beads symbolises that Guan Yim is leading them out of their state of misery and repeated rounds of rebirth into nirvana, hence the beads represent enlightenment.
Should a book or scroll of papers be within the portrayal, it is representing the Dharma, the teaching of Buddha or the sutra, the Buddhist text, Guan Yim is said to have constantly recited from.
Guan Yim is often depicted either alone, standing atop a dragon, accompanied by a bird, flanked by two children, or flanked by two warriors.
The two children are called Long Nue and Shan Tsai.
The two warriors are the historical character Guan Yu who comes from the ‘Three Kingdoms’ period and the mythological character Wei Tuo who features in the Chinese classic 'Canonisation of the Gods'.
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