In more recent representation, Guan-yin is often depicted with distinct feminine features, an effect of Taoistic and Tantric influences from the 8th to 10th century. She is often depicted as the Thousand Armed, Thousand Eyed bodhisattva, and later in a form inspired by the Virgin Mary figures from the West. In many representations, Guan-yin has a child on one arm or appears in the company of a maiden who holds a fish basket or is shown together with Wei-tuo. In other depictions Guan-yin is shown standing on clouds or riding a dragon in front of a waterfall. As Guan-yin of the Southern Sea, she stands on a cliff in the midst of flaming waves and rescues shipwrecked persons from the sea (which symbolizes samsara, the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth). She usually holds a lotus blossom or a willow twig and a vase containing heavenly dew or the nectar of immortality.
Guan-yin is also worshipped in Japan as the goddess Kannon by both Buddhist and Shinto groups.
