Hello and welcome to the sintua thread, raggen. Allow me to answer your queries.

1. The Thousand-Hand Guan Yin is the same goddess as the regular Guan Yin. As noted earlier in the thread, Guan Yin performed an incredible act of altruism by giving up her eyes and hands for use in preparation of medicine to heal her ailing father, King Miao Zhong (despite the fact that he had tried to kill her previously). This resulted in her attainment of Bodhisattva status. Stricken with remorse, Miao Zhong decreed that his daughter be offered the reverence she deserved, and that all statues of her be depicted as 'quan shou quan yan'/全手全眼, 'whole in hand and eye', a.k.a. with their hands and eyes unblemished. The sculptor responsible for producing the statues was a deaf old man who heard the king's request as 'qian shou qian yan'/千手千眼, 'possessing a thousand hands and eyes', and sculpted the statues accordingly. In retrospect, this was not entirely in error, as the multiple hands and eyes symbolise Guan Yin's prodigious ability to 'extend a helping hand' and spot suffering people in need.

Well, this IS the folklore thread...