The Legend of Miao Shan
The King’s Punishment
After King Miao Chuang had burned the Nunnery of the White Bird and killed his daughter, Ch’ieh Lan Buddha presented a petition to Yü Huang praying that the crime be not allowed to go unpunished. Yü Huang, justly irritated, ordered P’an Kuan to consult the Register of the Living and the Dead to see how long this murderous King still hadhomicidal King had yet to live. P’an Kuan turned over the pages of his register, and saw that according to the divine ordinances the King should reign over Hsing Lin for twenty years, and that this time had not yet endedKing’s reign on the throne of Hsing Lin should last for twenty years, but that this period had not yet expired.1 “That which has been decreed is unchangeableimmutable,” said Yü Huang, “but I will punish him by sending him illness.” He called the God of Epidemics, and ordered him to cover the King’s body with painful soresafflict the King’s body with ulcers, of a kind which could not be healed except by remedies to be given him by his daughter Miao Shan.
The order was promptly executed, and the King could get no rest by day or by night. His two daughters and their husbands spent their time in feasting while he tossed about in agony on his sick-bed. In vain the most famous physicians were called in; the malady only grew worse, and despair took hold of the patient. He then caused a proclamation to be made that he would grant the succession to the throne to any person who would provide him with an effectiveeffectual remedy to restore him to health.
The Disguised Priest-doctor
Miao Shan had learnt by revelation at Hsiang Shan all that was taking place at the palace. She assumed the form of a priest-doctor, clothed herself in a priest’s gown, with the regulation headdress and straw shoes, and attached to her beltgirdle a gourd containing pills and other medicines. In these clothesthis apparel she went straight to the palace gate, read the royal edict posted there, and tore it down. Some members of the palace guard seized her, and inquired angrily: “Who are you that you should dare to tear down the royal proclamation?”
“I, a poor priest, am also a doctor,” she replied. “I read the edict posted on the palace gates. The King is inquiring for a doctor who can heal him. I am a doctor of an old cultured family, and propose to restore him to health.”
“If you are of a cultured family, why did you become a priest?” they asked. “Would it not have been better to gain your living honestly in practising your art than to shave your head and go loafing about the world? Besides, all the highest physicians have tried in vain to cure the King; do you imagine that you will be more skilful than all the aged practitioners?”
“Set your minds at ease,” she replied. “I have received from my ancestors the most effectiveefficacious remedies, and I guarantee that I shall restore the King to health.” The palace guard then consented to transmit her petition to the Queen, who informed the King, and in the end the disguisedpretended priest was admitted. Having reached the royal bedroombed-chamber, he sat still awhile in order to calm himself before feeling the pulse, and to have complete control of all his faculties while examining the King. When he felt quite sure of himself, he approached the King’s bed, took the King’s hand, felt his pulse, carefully diagnosed the nature of the illness, and assured himself that it could easily be curedwas easily curable.
Strange Medicine
One serious difficulty, however, presented itself, and that was that the right medicine was almost impossible to obtainprocure. The King showed his displeasure by saying: “For every illness there is a medical prescription, and for every prescription a specific medicine; how can you say that the diagnosis is easy, but that there is no remedy?”
“Your Majesty,” replied the priest, “the remedy for your illness is not to be found in any pharmacy, and no one would agree to sell it.”
The King became angry, believed that he was being deceivedimposed upon, and ordered those about him to drive away the priest, who left smiling.
The following night the King saw in a dream an old man who said to him: “This priest alone can cure your illness, and if you ask him he himself will give you the right remedy.”
The King awoke as soon as these words had been uttered, and begged the Queen to recall the priest. When the latter had returned, the King related his dream, and begged the priest to obtainprocure for him the remedy required. “What, after all, is this remedy that I must have in order to be cured?” he asked.
“There must be the hand and eye of a living person, from which to makecompound the ointment which alone can save you,” answered the priest.
The King called out in indignation: “This priest is fooling me! Who would ever give his hand or his eye? Even if anyone would, I could never have the heart to make use of them.”
“Nevertheless,” said the priest, “there is no other effective remedy.”
“Then where can I obtainprocure this remedy?” asked the King.
“Your Majesty must send your ministers, who must observe the Buddhist rules of abstinence, to Hsiang Shan, where they will be given what is required.”
“Where is Hsiang Shan, and how far from here?”
“Roughly a thousand miles or moreAbout three thousand or more li, but I myself will indicate the route to be followed; in a very short time they will return.”
The King, who was suffering terribly, was more contented when he heard that the journey could be rapidly accomplished. He called his two ministers, Chao Chên and Liu Ch’in, and instructed them to lose no time in starting for Hsiang Shan and to observe scrupulously the Buddhist rules of abstinence. He ordered the Minister of Ceremonies to detain the priest in the palace until their return.
A Conspiracy that Failed
The two sons-in-law of the King, Ho Fêng and Chao K’uei, who had already made secret preparations to succeed to the throne as soon as the King diedshould breathe his last, were greatly surprised to learnlearned with no little surprise that the priest had hopes of curing the King’s illness, and that he was waiting in the palace until the saving remedy was brought to him. Fearing that they might be disappointed in their ambition, and that after his recovery the King, faithful to his promise, would give the crown to the priest, they entered into a conspiracy with an unscrupulous courtier named Ho Li. They were obliged to act quickly, because the ministers were travelling as fast as they could marchby forced marches, and would soon be back. That same night Ho Li was to give to the King a poisoned drink, composed, he would say, by the priest in order to easewith the object of assuaging the King’s pain until the return of his two ministers. Shortly after, an assassin, Su Ta, was to murder the priest. Thus at one stroke both the King and the priest would diemeet their death, and the kingdom would pass to the King’s two sons-in-law.
Miao Shan had returned to Hsiang Shan, leaving in the palace the bodily form of the priest. She saw the two traitors Ho Fêng and Chao K’uei preparing the poison, and was aware of their wicked intentions. Calling the spirit Yu I, who was on duty that day, she told him to fly to the palace and change into a harmless soup the poison about to be administered to the King and to bind the assassin hand and foot.
At midnight Ho Li, carrying in his hand the poisoned drink, knocked at the door of the royal apartment, and said to the Queen that the priest had prepared a soothing potion while awaiting the return of the ministers. “I come,” he said, “to offer it to his Majesty.” The Queen took the bowl in her hands and was about to give it to the King, when Yu I arrived unannounced. Quick as thought he snatched the bowl from the Queen and poured the contents on the ground; at the same moment he knocked over those present in the room, so that they all rolled on the floor.
At the time this was happening the assassin Su Ta entered the priest’s room, and struck him with his sword. Instantly the assassin, without knowing how, found himself wrappedenwrapped in the priest’s robe and thrown to the ground. He struggled and tried to free himself, but found that his hands had been rendered useless by some mysterious power, and that flight was impossible. The spirit Yu I, having fulfilled the mission entrusted to him, now returned to Hsiang Shan and reported to Miao Shan.
A Confession and its Results
Next morning, the two sons-in-law of the King heard of the turn things had taken during the night. The whole palace was in a state of the greatest confusion.
When he was informed that the priest had been killed, the King called Ch’u Ting-lieh and ordered him to have the murderer arrested. Su Ta was tortured and confessed all that he knew. He and Ho Li were both sentenced to death.put to the torture and confessed all that he knew. Together with Ho Li he was condemned to be cut into a thousand pieces.Explanation: The torture, confession and death sentence remain. The modern reading omits the graphic execution method for children.
The two sons-in-law were seized and ordered to instant execution, and it was only on the Queen’s intercession that their wives were spared. The infuriated King, however, ordered that his two daughters should be imprisoned in the palace.
The Gruesome Remedy
Meantime Chao Chên and Liu Ch’in had reached Hsiang Shan. When they were brought to Miao Shan the ministers took out the King’s letter and read it to her. “I, Miao Chuang, King of Hsing Lin, have learned that there dwells at Hsiang Shan an Immortal whose power and compassion have no equal in the whole world. I have passed my fiftieth year, and am afflicted with ulcers that all remedies have failed to cure. TodayTo-day a priest has assured me that at Hsiang Shan I can obtain the hand and eye of a living person, with which he will prepare an ointment able to restore me to my usual state of health. Relying upon his word and upon the goodness of the Immortal to whom he has directed me, I venture to beg that those two parts of a living body necessary to heal my ulcers be sent to me. I assure you of my everlasting gratitude, fully confident that my request will not be refused.”
The next morning, Miao Shan told the ministers to take her left hand and eye for the King’s cure. Liu Ch’in did not dare to obey. “Be quick,” urged the Immortal. “You have been commanded to return as soon as possible; why do you hesitate?” At her insistence, Liu Ch’in carried out the painful sacrifice, and a fragrance like sweet incense spread around them.morning Miao Shan bade the ministers take a knife and cut off her left hand and gouge out her left eye. Liu Ch’in took the knife offered him, but did not dare to obey the order. “Be quick,” urged the Immortal; “you have been commanded to return as soon as possible; why do you hesitate as if you were a young girl?” Liu Ch’in was forced to proceed. He plunged in the knife, and the red blood flooded the ground, spreading an odour like sweet incense.Explanation: The sacrifice of her left hand and eye, the minister’s reluctance, her insistence and the miraculous fragrance are retained. The modern reading omits the cutting procedure, graphic blood flow and demeaning comparison with a young girl for children. The hand and eye were placed on a golden plate, and, having paid their grateful respects to the Immortal, the envoys hastened to return.
When they had left, Miao Shan, who had transformed herself in order to allow the envoys to remove her hand and eye, told Shan Ts’ai that she was now going to prepare the ointment necessary for the cure of the King. “Should the Queen,” she added, “send for another eye and hand, I will transform myself again, and you can give them to her.” No sooner had she finished speaking than she mounted a cloud and disappeared in space. The two ministers reached the palace and presented to the Queen the terriblegruesome remedy which they had brought from the temple. She, overcome with gratitude and emotion, wept freelycopiously. “What Immortal,” she asked, “can have been so charitable as to sacrifice a hand and eye for the King’s benefit?” Then suddenly her tears gushed forth even more fiercelywith redoubled vigour, and she uttered a great cry, for she recognized the hand of her daughter by a black scar which was on it.
Half-measures
“Who else, in fact, but his child,” she continued amid her sobs, “could have had the courage to give her hand to save her father’s life?” “What are you saying?” said the King. “In the world there are many hands like this.” While they thus reasoned, the priest entered the King’s apartment. “This great Immortal has long devoted herself to the attainment of perfection,” he said. “Those she has healed are innumerable. Give me the hand and eye.” He took them and shortly produced an ointment, telling the King to apply it to his left sidean ointment which, he told the King, was to be applied to his left side. No sooner had it touched his skin than the pain on his left side disappeared as if by magic; no sign of ulcers was to be seen on that side, but his right side remained swollen and painful as before.
“Why is it,” asked the King, “that this remedy, which is so effectiveefficacious for the left side, should not be applied to the right?” “Because,” replied the priest, “the left hand and eye of the saint cures only the left side. If you wish to be completely cured, you must send your officers to obtain the right eye and right hand also.” The King accordingly sent his envoys once againdispatched his envoys anew with a letter of thanks, and begging as a further favour that the cure should be completed by the healing also of his right side.
The King Cured
When the envoys arrived, Shan Ts’ai met them in Miao Shan’s injured form. He told them to take his right hand and eye as well and put them on a plate. Seeing the four terrible injuries, Liu Ch’in could not helpOn the arrival of the envoys Shan Ts’ai met them in the mutilated form of Miao Shan, and he bade them cut off his right hand, pluck out his right eye, and put them on a plate. At the sight of the four bleeding wounds Liu Ch’in could not refrain fromExplanation: The transformation, second sacrifice and four injuries remain. The modern reading omits the graphic procedure and description of bleeding for children. calling out indignantly: “This priest is a wicked man, thus to make a martyr of a woman in order to obtain the succession!”
Having thus spoken, he left with his companion for the kingdom of Hsing Lin. On their return the King was overwhelmed with joy. The priest quickly prepared the ointment, and the King, without delay, applied it to his right side. At once the ulcers disappeared like the darkness of night before the rising sun. The whole Court congratulated the King and praisedeulogized the priest. The King conferred upon the latter the title Priest of the Brilliant Eye. He fell on his face to return thanks, and added: “I, a poor priest, have left the world, and have only one wish, namely, that your Majesty should govern your subjects with justice and sympathy and that all the officials of the realm should prove themselves men of integrity. As for me, I am used to roaming about. I have no desire for any royal estate. My happiness exceeds all earthly joys.”
Having thus spoken, the priest waved the sleeve of his cloak, a cloud descended from Heaven, and seating himself upon it he disappeared in the sky. From the cloud a note containing the following words was seen to fall: “I am one of the Teachers of the West. I came to cure the King’s illness, and so to glorify the True Doctrine.”
The King’s Daughter
All who witnessed this miracle exclaimed with one voice: “This priest is the Living Buddha, who is going back to Heaven!” The note was taken to King Miao Chuang, who exclaimed: “Who am I that I should deserve that one of the rulers of Heaven should consent to come downdeign to descend and cure me by the sacrifice of hands and eyes?”
“What was the face of the saintly person like who gave you the remedy?” he then asked Chao Chên.
“It was like thatunto that of your deceased daughter, Miao Shan,” he replied.
“When you removed her hands and eyes did she seem to suffer?”
“I saw the terrible injury, and my couragea great flow of blood, and my heartExplanation: The witness’s distress remains; this repeated account omits the graphic flow of blood, consistently with the earlier scene. failed, but the face of the victim seemed radiant with happiness.”
“This certainly must be my daughter Miao Shan, who has attained to perfection,” said the King. “Who but she would have given hands and eyes? Purify yourselves and observe the rules of abstinence, and go quickly to Hsiang Shan to return thanks to the saint for this pricelessinestimable favour. I myself will beforeere long make a pilgrimage therethither to return thanks in person.”
The King and Queen taken Prisoners
Three years later the King and Queen, with the high officialsgrandees of their Court, set out to visit Hsiang Shan, but on the way the monarchs were captured by the Green Lion, or God of Fire, and the White Elephant, or Spirit of the Water, the two guardians of the Temple of Buddha, who transported them to a dark cavern in the mountains. A terrific battle then took place between the evil spirits on the one side and armies of heavenly spiritssome hosts of heavenly genii, who had been summoned to the rescue, on the other. While its outcomeissue was still uncertain, reinforcements under the Red Child Devil, who could resist fire, and the Dragon-king of the Eastern Sea, who could subdue water, finally routed the enemy, and the prisoners were released.
The King’s Repentance
The King and Queen now resumed their pilgrimage, and Miao Shan instructed Shan Ts’ai to receive the monarchs when they arrived to offer incense. She took her place on the altar, still bearing the loss of her hands and eyes.herself took up her place on the altar, her eyes torn out, her hands cut off, and her wrists all dripping with blood.Explanation: The loss of her hands and eyes remains explicit because it is central to the story. The modern reading omits the graphic state of the wounds and bleeding for children. The King recognized his daughter, and bitterly reproached himself; the Queen faintedfell swooning at her feet. Miao Shan then spoke and tried to comfort them. She told them of all that she had experienced since the day when she had been executed, and how she had attained to immortal perfection. She then went on: “In order to punish you for having caused the deaths of all those who perished in the wars preceding your accession to the throne, and also to avenge the burning of the Nunnery of the White Bird, Yü Huang afflicted you with those grievous ulcers. It was then that I changed myself into a priest in order to heal you, and gave my eyes and hands, with which I prepared the ointment that cured you. It was I, moreover, who procured your liberty from Buddha when you were imprisoned in the cave by the Green Lion and the White Elephant.”
Sackcloth and Ashes
At these words the King threw himself with his face on the ground, offered incense, worshipped Heaven, earth, the sun, and the moon, saying with a voice broken by sobs: “I committed a great crime in killing my daughter, who has sacrificed her eyes and hands in order to cure my sickness.”
As soon as these words were spoken, Miao Shan took on her normal form again. She came down from the altar andNo sooner were these words uttered than Miao Shan reassumed her normal form, and, descending from the altar, approached her parents and sisters. Her body had again its original completeness; and in the presence of its perfect beauty, and at finding themselves reunited as one family, all wept for joy.
“Well,” said Miao Shan to her father, “will you now force me to marry and prevent my devoting myself to the attainment of perfection?”
“Speak no more of that,” replied the King. “I was in the wrong. If you had not reached perfection, I should not now be alive. I have made up my mind to exchange my sceptre for the pursuit of the perfect life, which I wish to lead henceforth together with you.”
The King renounces the Throne
Then, in the presence of all, he addressed his Grand Minister Chao Chên, saying: “Your devotion to the service of the State has rendered you worthy to wear the crown: I surrender it to you.” The Court proclaimed Chao Chên the KingKing of Hsing Lin, bade farewell to Miao Chuang, and set out for their kingdom accompanied by their new sovereign.
Pardon of the Green Lion and the White Elephant
Buddha had summoned the White Elephant and the Green Lion, and was on the point of sentencing them to eternal damnation when the compassionate Miao Shan interceded for them. “Certainly you deserve no forgiveness,” he said, “but I cannot refuse a request made by Miao Shan, whose mercyclemency is without limit. I give you over to her, to serve and obey her in everything. Follow her.”
Miao Shan becomes a Buddha
The guardian spirit on duty that day then announced the arrival of a messenger from Yü Huang. It was T’ai-po Chin-hsing, who was carryingthe bearer of a divine decree, which he handed to Miao Shan. It read as follows: “I, the august Emperor, make known to you this decree: Miao Chuang, King of Hsing Lin, forgetful alike of Heaven and Hell, the six virtues, and the rebirth of soulsmetempsychosis, has led a blameworthy life; but your nine years of penitence, the filial piety which caused you to sacrifice your own body to bring abouteffect his cure, in short, all your virtues, have redeemed his faults. Your eyes can see and your ears can hear all the good and bad deeds and words of men. You are the object of my specialespecial regard. Therefore I proclaimmake proclamation of this decree of canonization.
“Miao Shan will have the title of Very Merciful and Very Compassionate P’u-sa, Saviour of the Afflicted, Miraculous and Always Helpful Protectress of Mortals. On your lofty precious lotus-flower throne, you will be the Sovereign of the Southern Seas and of P’u T’o Isle.
“Your two sisters, until nowhitherto tainted with earthly pleasures, will gradually progress till they reach true perfection.
“Miao Ch’ing will have the title of Very Virtuous P’u-sa, the Completely Beautiful, Rider of the Green Lion.
“Miao Yin will be honoured with the title of Very Virtuous and Completely Resplendent P’u-sa, Rider of the White Elephant.
“King Miao Chuang is raised to the dignity of Virtuous Conquering P’u-sa, Surveyor of Mortals.
“Queen Po Ya receives the title of P’u-sa of Ten Thousand Virtues, Surveyor of Famous Women.
“Shan Ts’ai has bestowed upon him the title of Golden Youth.
“Lung Nü has the title of Jade Maiden.
“During all time incense is to be burned before all the members of this canonized group.”
Footnotes
1 The ages given here do not agree with the earlier account: the King was twenty when he took the throne and fifty when Miao Shan was born.