佛经谓观音菩萨有三十三个不同形象的法身，画作观水中月影状的称水月观音。见《法华经·普门品》。后用以喻人物仪容清。
元·王实甫《西厢记》第一本第一折：“兰麝香仍在，佩环声渐远。东风摇曳垂杨线，游丝牵惹桃花片，珠帘掩映芙蓉面。你道是河中开府相公家，我道是南海水月观音现。”
示例：吴宫西子不如，楚国南威难赛。若比～，一样烧香礼拜。 明·冯梦龙《喻世明言》第一卷。
水月观音为三十三观音之一。由于此尊观音之形像，多与水中之月有关，故被称为水月观音。 　　
水月观音，又称水吉祥观音，或水吉祥菩萨。这是观世音一心观水相的应化身。其形像有多种。有一种是站立在莲瓣上，莲瓣则漂浮在海面，观世音正在观看水中之月。另一种是以莲华坐姿趺坐在大海中的石山上，右手持未敷莲华，左手作施无畏印，且掌中有水流出。此外又有坐相、三面六臂相等种。其所以命名为水月观音的缘由，也有不同的说法，有说是因为其形像作观看水中之月状，也有说是由于其形像浮在海上，犹如水中之月云云。 　　
水月观音的图像在敦煌千佛洞中曾被发现。法国罗浮宫美术馆收藏有其中最古老的一种，相传是唐代中叶所作。

一天，观音菩萨来到姑苏城（今南京），看到因为战火，有数十万百姓遭到金兵的杀害。 　　
观音菩萨心生慈悲，要施法力解救这些冤魂。于是，菩萨化作一个美丽的妇人，手持杨柳净瓶，来到冤魂集中的地方。她用石头叠成数丈高的高台，然后跏趺于石台之上，念诵《大悲咒经》。每念一千遍，菩萨便用杨柳在净瓶中蘸一下甘露，洒向空中；然后插好杨柳，继续诵念。 　　
当地百姓看见一个美丽的妇人建台念经，十分不解，于是在旁围观，并且议论纷纷。观音菩萨对众人说道：“你们现在受金人欺侮，有数十万人冤死，非常可怜。这些亡魂三界不收，六道不管，流散在外。我今天有缘来到此地，决心超度他们，所以发愿筑台，诵经四十九天，遍洒杨柳甘露，使他们早日脱离苦海。我既不是要募捐，也不是要化斋。等四十九天后，我再与你们详细解说。”众人知道她是在无偿替姑苏人做功德，就不再议论了。 　
四十九天后，菩萨诵经期满，众人也如期而至。观音菩萨向众人详细解说了所诵经文。其中一人悟到：这个美丽的妇人就是观音菩萨的化身。于是，他走上前拜道：“我听说观音菩萨时常云游人间，常常现出宝相，不知今天我们是否有福气得见您的真身？”菩萨说道：“可以。”然后指了指河边：“那河水中央不就是菩萨吗？” 　　
众人顺着菩萨指的方向望去，看见水中有一个影子，呈现出观音菩萨的宝相。众人急忙下拜。当时水中正巧有一轮月影，非常明亮，菩萨的宝相渐渐隐没于月影中，慢慢消失了。等到大家起身，发现石台上美丽的妇女也消失了。众人这才明白，美丽的妇女正是观音菩萨的化身。于是，众人在菩萨诵经的地方建造了一座寺庙，观中供奉着一尊观音菩萨诵经洒水的法像，民间称之为“洒水观音”或“滴水观音”。 　　
在河边看到菩萨现出宝相的人中有一位擅长绘画的人，名叫丘子靖。他为了让世人看到菩萨的宝相，就将菩萨在水月中的呈现的宝相用工笔画出，所绘制的画作出神入化，栩栩如生，众人无不叫绝。这幅水月中显现的观音菩萨像，世人称之为“水月观音”。后来，百姓纷纷向丘子靖求画，并在家中供奉。 　
至今，苏杭一带的民间所供仍以水月观音居多。

在首都博物馆“古代瓷器艺术精品展”的元代展厅内，有一件观音菩萨像特别引人注目，它就是元代景德镇窑青白釉水月观音菩萨像——首都博物馆的镇馆之宝。

这件瓷塑像高67厘米，1955年出土于西城区定阜大街西口。菩萨像头戴宝冠，宝冠上有小化佛，已残。额头宽阔，双目微闭，端庄慈祥，气质高雅。右腿支起，左腿下垂，右臂放在右膝上，神态优美，这种姿势的观音一般称为水月观音。观音上身穿袈裟，下身着长裙，胸前及衣裙上饰联珠璎珞，手腕戴臂钏，全身装饰十分繁缛。通体施青白釉，釉色白中泛青，胎质洁白细腻。

水月观音之由来，目前学术界一致认为与中唐画家周昉有关。周昉根据玄奘《大唐西域记》记载的布呾洛迦山中的观自在菩萨，而“妙创水月之体”，并在各地很快流传开来，成为后世三十三观音之一。晚唐、五代时期水月观音像已在各地寺院壁画中能够见到。北宋以后水月观音的影响日渐扩大，成为后世观音造像最常见的表现形式之一。

“水月”意为“水中之月”，在佛经中寓意佛法皆无实体。身后的一轮圆月可以说是水月观音的标志。水月观音在早期佛教经典中并没有出处，是佛教传到中国后，与中国本土文化融合而产生的。五代时期所见的水月观音为男性形象，面部有胡须。宋代人们对水月观音的崇拜已深入到民间各个阶层，表现形式多种多样，所见水月观音形象已演变为女性形象，面容娇美，体态婀娜多姿，雍容典雅，充满了智慧和慈爱。

元代元世祖信仰藏传佛教，将藏传佛教视为国教，于是在全国范围内广建寺庙，塑造佛像。同时在景德镇和龙泉窑也烧造了大量的瓷质佛像，如释迦牟尼佛像、观音菩萨像、佛龛等，水月观音菩萨像便是在这种背景下产生的。

青白瓷是宋代景德镇窑创烧的釉色品种，青白釉来源于瓷器的釉色，又称影青，是介于青白之间的一种釉色，青中泛白或白中闪青，故称。釉面莹润如玉，敲之声音如磬，被当时人称为“假玉器”。多见刻花、划花及印花装饰，并有各种各样的瓷塑。元朝在瓷业产区景德镇设浮梁瓷局，专门生产宫廷及皇家用瓷，烧造出了像青白釉观音菩萨像、青白釉多穆壶及一些艺术水平较高的青花瓷，对景德镇制瓷业进行了统一管理，促进了元代瓷业的发展。

瓷塑的烧造是一个较为复杂的过程，面部模印，头部以工具刻划出发丝，身前璎珞纹采用联珠装饰贴塑而成。水月观音菩萨像的制作采用了模印、刻划、贴塑等多种工艺相结合的手法，充分表现出元代瓷塑的特点。

The Buddhist that Avalokiteshvara has thirty-three different image Dharmakaya, paintings view the moon in the water like that elegant and delicate. See the "Lotus Sutra", of the goods. After the use of a metaphor for the instrument.
Yuan Wang Shifu "westernchamber" first the first fold: "Musk orchid still, Peihuan sound gradually far. Dongfeng swaying chueiyang line, gossamer curtain shade pull Jalan peach slices, hibiscus. You are in the river with my way home ', is the South China Sea is elegant and delicate."
Example:: West as, Chu Southwell difficult to match. If more than, burn incense worship. Ming Feng Menglong "Yushi Mingyan" first volume.
As one of the thirty-three elegant and delicate guanyin. Because the image of Guanyin, associated with the moon in water, it is known as the elegant and delicate.
Elegant and delicate, also called water Guanyin Bodhisattva auspicious auspicious, or water. This is a water phase should be the embodiment of avalokitesvara. There are many kinds of images. One is standing on the lotus, lotus, floating in the sea, like watching the moon in the water. The other is a drop in the ocean of the lotus sitting on the hill, right hand left hand without the lotus, fearless India, and the palm of water outflow. In addition, there are seats, three sides of the same kind of six arm. The so named for the elegant and delicate reason, also have different view, that is because of its image as a watch in the water of the month, also said that due to the image floating in the sea, like the moon in the water and so on.
Elegant and delicate images had been discovered in Dunhuang thousand Buddha cave. The French Louvre Museum of art is one of the oldest, the middle is a legend in the Tang dynasty.

One day, Avalokiteshvara came to the city of Suzhou (now Nanjing), see because of war, one hundred thousand people were killed several jinbing.
Avalokiteshvara is the heart of compassion, to save these ghosts shifali. So, Buddha turned into a beautiful woman holding willow net bottle, then came to the place of concentration. She folded several meters high tower of stone, and then in Shitai, chanting "mantra.". Each read one thousand times, is used in the bottle net Bodhisattva willow dip nectar, sprinkle into the air; then insert willow, continue to recite.
The local people saw a beautiful woman in Taiwan chanting, very puzzled, then watched, and There were many discussions. Avalokiteshvara said to the crowd: you now have one hundred thousand people's bullying, unjustly, very poor. These souls do not accept the six realms, no matter in the diaspora. I have come here today to turn them, so to build Taiwan, chanting forty-nine days, sprinkle over the willow nectar, make their misery as soon as possible. I am neither to donations, nor to huazhai. Forty-nine days later, I'll explain it to you." Everyone knew she was free for the Suzhou people to do good deeds, no longer talking.
Forty-nine days later, Buddha chanting menstrual full, all also rujierzhi. Avalokiteshvara and a detailed explanation of the song texts. One of them realized that this beautiful woman is the embodiment of Avalokiteshvara. So, he went up to worship: "I hear Avalokiteshvara often wandering the world, often a treasure, do not know whether we are lucky today to see your body?" Buddha said: "you can." Then pointed to the river: "the river is not the center of the Buddha?"
All along the Bodhisattva refers to the direction of gaze, saw a shadow in the water, showing Avalokiteshvara with. And they bowed down in haste. When the water just has a moon, very bright, with gradually disappearing in the shadow of Bodhisattva, slowly disappeared. When we got up, we found that the beautiful women in Shitai had disappeared. All this just understand, beautiful woman is the embodiment of Avalokiteshvara. So, they built a temple in the Buddha chanting, in view of where a statue of Avalokiteshvara water like chanting, folk called "water Guanyin" or "dripping guanyin".
See a Bodhisattva is good at drawing people with people on the river, named Qiu Zijing. In order to let the world see him with the Buddha, Bodhisattva in the moon with with painting, drawing pictures and all reach the acme of perfection, true to life, wow. This picture shows the moon like Avalokiteshvara, called "elegant and delicate". Later, the people have to ask Qiu Zijing painting, and at home worship.
So far, Suzhou area folk for still elegant and delicate.

At the Capital Museum of ancient porcelain art exhibition "in the exhibition hall, there is a Avalokiteshvara like special attention, it is the Jingdezhen kiln blue and white glaze elegant and delicate Bodhisattva - the town of the Capital Museum Museum treasures.
This piece of porcelain statue is 67 centimeters high, unearthed in 1955 from the Xicheng District Fu Street west. Bodhisattva, like wearing a crown, the crown has a small Buddha, has been disabled. Broad forehead, eyes slightly closed, dignified kind, elegant temperament. A right leg, left leg drooping, right arm on the right knee, look beautiful, this position is generally referred to as elegant and delicate guanyin. Guanyin wearing a robe, wearing a dress, chest and dress decorated bead necklace. Wrist arm bracelet, the body decoration is very complex. The application of blue and white glaze, white glaze in the blue, white and delicate taizhi.
Elegant and delicate of the origin, the current academic consensus that related to the painter Zhou fang. According to Zhou Fang Xuan Zang "Buddhist records" records of the cloth and Luojia mountain Avalokitesvara, and "Miaochuang moon", and in the country quickly spread, become one of the thirty-three generations of guanyin. The late Tang Dynasty and Five Dynasties like elegant and delicate in various parts of temple murals can see. After the Northern Song Dynasty elegant and delicate influence expands gradually, become one of the most common forms of later generations of Guanyin statues.
"Water" means "water", meaning no entity in Buddhist dharma. Behind the moon is said to be a symbol of elegant and delicate. In the early Buddhist scriptures in the elegant and delicate and no source, is Chinese after Buddhism spread to local culture, and Chinese fusion produced. The Five Dynasties is elegant and delicate male image, facial hair. The Song Dynasty people worship of the elegant and delicate has penetrated into all sectors of civil society, a variety of forms, the elegant and delicate image has evolved into a female image, charming face, posture is very pretty and charming, graceful and elegant, full of wisdom and love.
Yuan Shizu believe in Tibetan Buddhism, the Tibetan Buddhism as the state religion, and within the scope of national wide Buddha temple built building. At the same time in Jingdezhen and also in Longquan porcelain statues of Buddha, such as Shakya Muni, Avalokiteshvara, like shrines, elegant and delicate Bodhisattva is produced in this context.
Blue and white porcelain is the Song Dynasty Jingdezhen kiln firing glaze varieties, enamel from porcelain glaze, also known as the green shadow, is a bluish white glaze from the white or white green flash of green, it said. Glazed shiny jade, knocking sound like a thunderbolt, was known as the "fake jade". See more carving, scratching and printing decoration, and there are a variety of porcelain plastic. In the Yuan Dynasty porcelain production areas of Jingdezhen Fuliang porcelain Bureau, specializing in the production of the court and the Royal Porcelain, produced like enamel, enamel like Avalokiteshvara domou pot and some high artistic level of blue and white porcelain, Jingdezhen porcelain are unified management, and promote the development of the Yuan Dynasty porcelain.
Porcelain Shaozao is a complicated process, facial impression, head to tool carved hair, front lines with decorative plastic bead necklace and. Elegant and delicate Bodhisattva by making molds, carving, plastic and other technology combination of tactics, fully demonstrated the characteristics of porcelain in Yuan dynasty.