gyōgetsukei 仰月形

A smile found on Buddhist images, where both ends of the mouth curve upward into the shape of a crescent moon. This smile is often seen on Chinese statues from the Six Dynasties period and Japanese works from the Asuka and early Nara periods. An example is the Yumedono Kannonzō 夢殿観音像 (see *Guze Kannon 救世観音) in Hōryūji 法隆寺, Nara. The same expression is also found in ancient Greek statues, and is known in English as the "archaic smile".