Kirti Gour, Vinod Kumar Jaiswal, Wasino Wasino
This study examines the function of Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara in Chinese Buddhist settings, notably the deity’s evolution and importance as guardian divinity of merchants through old Asian trading paths. This research shows the way that Avalokiteśvara’s kind ethics became integrated into business actions, building structures which uphold ethical commerce by studying sacred writings, symbolic depictions, and past archives. Since the study examines just how this transformation reflected changing cultural plus commercial needs along the Silk Road, it traces the deity’s evolution from the male Indian Bodhisattva to the female Chinese Guanyin. This paper contends Avalokiteśvara’s mercantile patronage established durable tenets for sympathetic business. These principles remain relevant to contemporary global trade organisations. Textual analysis regarding the Lotus Sutra’s Universal Gate Chapter as well as iconographic examination related to Padmapani representations have demonstrated this. Buddhist devotional practitioners shaped symbiotic links that did join spiritual merit with material prosperity because their practices impacted socio-economic structures throughout ancient trade networks in addition to modern ones. © 2026 The Author(s).
Department of AIHC & Archaeology, Varanasi, India; History Department, Faculty of Social Sciences and Politics, Universitas Negeri Semarang, Indonesia
