 |
|
Guan Yin of the
South Sea in Sanya, China
|
In another popular story about Guanyin the Precious Scroll of Fragrant Mountain a beautiful princess Miaoshan believed to be
an incarnation of Guanyin, tries to avoid an arranged marriage to a
rich, but mean-spirited man. Her father is outraged by her refusal of this profitable
arrangement and exiles her to a life of hard labor and starvation. When she begs her father to let her become a Buddhist
nun, he sends her to work in in the temple, instructing the monks have no pity on her and they set about to work her
to death.
Nevertheless, she manages to survive and he attempts to kill her by burning down the temple. Whereupon, she puts out the flames with her own hands without suffering any harm. Next he sends an executioner to kill her, but when he tries to behead her, his axe shatters in a thousand pieces. He strikes her with a sword but it breaks in two. He shoots her with arrows, but they all veer off leaving her unharmed. These stories are intended to illustrate her immortality.
Nevertheless, she manages to survive and he attempts to kill her by burning down the temple. Whereupon, she puts out the flames with her own hands without suffering any harm. Next he sends an executioner to kill her, but when he tries to behead her, his axe shatters in a thousand pieces. He strikes her with a sword but it breaks in two. He shoots her with arrows, but they all veer off leaving her unharmed. These stories are intended to illustrate her immortality.
