Detail of a Statue of Guanyin in the University of Pennsylvania Museum, November 2009

Guanyin
China
Stone
AD 706, Tang Dynasty, (AD 618-906)

# C443 (?)

Guanyin (Chinese) or Avalokitesvara (Sanskrit), is the bodhisattava of compassion. He is most easily identified by the seated Buddha in his headdress. He typically holds a vase which contains an elixir for immortality. This piece, by the monk Zhengdao, bears inscriptions on three sides of the base which indicate it was dedicated AD 2 December 706.

Text from the U. Penn. Museum label