Kuan Yin - Goddess of Mercy

Princess Miao Shan was the third daughter of King Miao Chung towards the end of the Chou Dynasty in the Kingdom of Hsing Lin. King Miao Chung had three daughters and they were Miao Ching, Miao Yin and Miao Shan. The Queen, Po Ta, had a strange dream before the birth of Miao Shan. She saw a heavenly pearl transforming into a fiery sun which then tumbled down and settled at her feet. The King in his wisdom considered the vision of such heavenly sign to be a great omen and he looked forward to having a son to his throne. When a girl was born, he was very disappointed and this was on the 19th day of the 2nd moon and she was named Miao Shan.

Miao Shan grew up to be of extreme beauty, very religious and virtuous girl unaffected by the attractions of the worldly matters. She just yearned to have a quiet retreat in the mountains where she could practise the perfections of her virtues. She longed to bring relief to all the miserable beings on earth.

The King started to find suitable husbands for his daughters when they were of marriageable age. Her two sisters accepted their marriages but Miao Shan steadfastly refused to marry and this angered her father. Then she left the palace to retire to a nunnery called The White Sparrow. In there she continued to practise her cultivation of Tao to achieve perfection.

Her father purposely made life difficult and unbearable to his fragile daughter so as to persuade her to return to her palace. However, all his attempts failed and in his deep anger he ordered the nunnery be set on fire for such an unfilial daughter deserved to be put to death. Miraculously the fire was instantly put out by an inundating shower which saved the lives of Miao Shan and the few hundred nuns. The enraged King then decreed that Miao Shan be executed but the executioner