Guanyin - Names in Other Asian Countries

Names in Other Asian Countries

Due to the devotional popularity of Guanyin in East Asia, she is known by many names, most of which are simply the localised pronunciations of "Guanyin" or "Guanshiyin":

• In China, Guanshiyin was changed to Guanyin due to the unacceptability of the original under the naming taboo of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, whose personal name was Li Shimin (contains the Chinese character shi 世).
• In Macau, Hong Kong and Guangdong, the name is pronounced Kwun Yum or Kun Yum in the Cantonese language.
• In Japanese, Guanyin is pronounced Kannon (観音), occasionally Kan'on, or more formally Kanzeon (観世音, the same characters as Guanshiyin); the spelling Kwannon, based on a pre-modern pronunciation, is sometimes seen. This rendering was used for an earlier spelling of the well-known camera manufacturer Canon, which was named for Guanyin.
• In Korean, Guanyin is called Gwan-eum (관음) or Gwanse-eum (관세음).
• In Thai, she is called Kuan Im (Thai: กวนอิม), Phra Mae Kuan Im (Thai: พระแม่กวนอิม), or Chao Mae Kuan Im (Thai: เจ้าแม่กวนอิม).
• In Vietnamese, the name is Quan Âm or Quán Thế Âm.
• In Indonesian, the name is Kwan Im or Dewi Kwan Im referring the word Dewi as Devi or Goddess. She is also called Mak Kwan Im referring the word Mak as Mother.
• In Khmer, the name is "Preah Mae Kun Ci Iem".

In these same countries, the variant Guanzizai (觀自在 lit. "Lord of Contemplation") and its equivalents are also used, such as in the Heart Sutra, among other sources.