On September 28, 2004, the dance of "Thousand Hands Avalokitesvara" stunned the closing ceremony of the Athens Paralympic Games and shocked the world. Then at the 2005 Spring Festival Gala, we saw this dance full of artistic charm and humanistic feelings presented by 21 deaf-mute actors with an average age of 21. Through superb skills, beautiful dance movements, coupled with technical means such as sound, light and beautiful dance, the actors demonstrated the image characteristics of the thousand-handed Guanyin with thousands of hands and thousands of eyes and universal salvation to all living beings, which is amazing. As the dance has attracted much attention, the image of the thousand-handed Guanyin has become more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

Guanyin is a well-known image in traditional Chinese culture. It represents beautiful connotations such as mercy, kindness, wisdom, holiness, and tranquility. In Chinese history, its image has appeared in large numbers in various places in paintings, sculptures, words or other forms, which is enough to prove people's respect and piety for it in their hearts.

If it is possible to embody the image of a thousand hands and thousands of eyes and express it in the form of stone carving art, what can be called the most is the thousand-handed Guanyin statue located in the Dazu Stone Carving in Baoding Mountain, Dazu, Chongqing. Walking into Dafo Bay on Baodingshan, as soon as you entered the Great Compassion Pavilion, you were shocked by the statue of the Thousand-handed Guanyin in front of you, which is 7.2 meters high, 12.5 meters wide, and has an area of 88 square meters. The main image of the Thousand-handed Guanyin is 3 meters high and sits in a lotus position. The seat is in the Vajra Meru style and is 0.7 meters high. The four strong men lifted their seats left and right. The forehead of Guanyin was opened upright. Eight small Buddhas were decorated on the crown. Two streamers hung from the top of the crown to the shoulders. The eight hands on the chest were either pressed together, or placed seals, or stroked knees. Guan Yin Hui looks down with a kind face and has a benevolent mind to save all living beings from suffering. Thousands of arms spread out from the cliff one after another, like waves surging, like a peacock opening its screen.

Among the grottoes in Sichuan and Chongqing, there are many well-preserved Thousand Hand Guanyin statues. The stone carvings of thousand-handed Guanyin in Wofogou and Qianfo Village in Anyue, Luohan Cave in Fushun, Chonglong Mountain in Zizhong, and Qianfo Rock in Jiajiang are all outstanding works, but they are not as big as Dazu Baoding Qianshou Guanyin in scale, exquisite craftsmanship and far-reaching influence.

This thousand-handed Guanyin statue has a history of nearly a thousand years. It was dug between Chunxi and Chunyou in the Southern Song Dynasty (1174-1252 AD). After nearly a thousand years of wind, frost, rain and snow, how did this statue of Guanyin be preserved so well and present such a spectacular scene? In fact, before June 13, 2015, this masterpiece had long been "plagued by all kinds of diseases" over the long years, leaving behind traces of weathering, peeling, discoloration and even blurred facial features, falling off fingers, and incomplete statue. It was full of scars and bruises, and it lost its luster in its twilight years.

From July 2008 to January 2011, the China Academy of Cultural Heritage joined forces with Dunhuang Research Institute, Dazu Rock Carving Research Institute, Peking University, Tsinghua University, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) and other scientific research institutions to establish an expert team. The State Administration of Cultural Heritage identified the restoration work as the "No. 1" protection project. On June 13, 2015, Chongqing Dazu Stone Carving World Cultural Heritage Expo Park held the completion ceremony of the rescue and protection project of the thousand-handed Guanyin statue, which means that the country's first grotto restoration project and the Chongqing Dazu Stone Carving thousand-handed Guanyin statue that lasted nearly 8 years. The restoration project was completed and officially open to tourists.

During the restoration process, we not only discovered the hidden "mystery" of this statue of Guanyin, but also truly understood how many hands this thousand-handed Guanyin has. During the restoration process, cultural relics experts found hidden compartments in the stone repair area of the weak interlayer on the abdomen of the main statue, containing ceramic fragments, gold foil fragments, tangible stone fragments, etc. The "secret grid" sealing stone brick is 30cm long and 8cm wide. It carries a text on both sides. It records that in the forty-fifth year of Qianlong, a virtuous scholar named Zhang Longfei, in Zhong 'an Village, Suining County, renovated the Lord of the Thousand Hand Guanyin. Chen Huili, deputy director of the Dazu Stone Carving Cultural Relics Protection Center, said that this is the first time that a chronological inscription has been discovered on the Thousand-Hand Guanyin statue, which confirms what is recorded in the inscription of Weimo Hall of Shengshou Temple in Baodingshan.

Generally speaking, as long as the statue of Guanyin has ten hands, it can be called a "thousand-handed Guanyin". Most of the common thousand-handed Guanyin are made with thirty-two hands or forty-eight hands to show the thirty-second disguise of Guanyin and the forty-eighth great wishes. Other hands are expressed in the form of backlight to achieve the meaning of "thousand".

As for the number of hands in Baodingshan, skilled craftsmen in the past have different statistical methods. Until 2009, it was rumored that there were 1007 hands. Experts explained that a monk craftsman in the Qing Dynasty was responsible for pasting gold foil on the Dazu stone carving of the thousand-handed Guanyin. In order to count the hands of the thousand-handed Guanyin, he threw a bamboo stick into the barrel every time he finished pasting the gold foil on one hand. After completion, the bamboo sticks were counted and 1007 were found. In 2009, cultural relics experts from all over the country used projectors to take photos and survey on the spot. They entered all images of the Thousand Hand Guanyin into a computer, numbered them one by one, and counted 829 hands. During the restoration work, experts used archaeological methods to divide the plane of the Thousand Hand Guanyin into 88 exploration squares, repeatedly sorted out each piece, and finally counted 830 bergamot trees. This eternal mystery was finally settled. And why was there 830 instead of 829? The originally ignored bergamot is actually half an arm located above and hidden among many bergamot and magic tools. If you don't use a differential method, it will be difficult to find it.

Standing in front of the Thousand-handed Guanyin statue, I am not aware of its solemn expression, and shocked by its ever-changing hands and eyes. Nearly a thousand arms are radially embossed from the side of the main statue and directly above it. There is an eye in the palm of each arm, and each hand also holds an object: sun, moon, treasure, sword, clean vase, poplar branch, white brush, treasure vase, shield, axe, number beads, diamond pestle, lotus flower, treasure mirror, treasure seal, five-color cloud, silk rope... etc., etc., its posture is extended, bent, upright, or sideways, truly showing the infinite changes of thousands of faces, thousands of hands, and thousands of eyes.

The wisdom of the ancients is not only based on the art of statues, but also in the connotation of statues. The thousand-handed Avalokitesvara's thousand eyes represent infinite wisdom, and the thousand-handed Avalokitesvara's thousands of hands represent boundless magic power. The thousand-handed Avalokitesvara's thousands of eyes allow them to see thousands of hardships and see through everything. As far as today's situation is concerned, thousands of eyes are knowledge, and thousands of hands are practice. If everyone plays their own role, they will become thousands of hands and thousands of eyes.