Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara as the Water-Moon Guanyin

Charles Lang Freer bought this sculpture in 1913 with complete confidence in the inscribed date of 1091. A decade later, the Freer Gallery's first director, John Ellerton Lodge, mused that the piece seemed "crude and not so early." In the 1960s the sculpture was reevaluated and the date of 1091 was confirmed by relating the sculpture to similar works in Chinese and foreign collections.

The long inscription on the reverse identifies the deity as Guanyin, an identification  supported by the special attributes of the sculpture, including his seated posture on a stone ledge, the vase of willow branches, and the bowl of lotus flowers. The precipice refers to Guanyin's supposed residence on a rocky island, and the coiled dragon, a denizen of the seas and special friend of Guanyin, indicates the presence of water.

Animals and human figures surround the deity, alluding to Guanyin's merciful powers to help all living creatures. The monkey holding out a bowl, at left, refers to a story about a primate who experienced such elation after the Buddha accepted an offering of wild honey from him that he accidentally killed himself performing joyous stunts. In reward for his charity to Buddha, he was reborn as a holy man.