Teaching Materials - Lesson - a Comparison of Images

"Gentle Gwan Yin"
(From Noah and the Golden Turtle Stories from the East and West for the ESL Student by Sarah Skinner Dunn)

1 To many Chinese, Gwan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy, is the symbol of the perfect mother. She watches over those in danger and listens to the prayers of all who suffer or are frightened. She gives children to the childless. She brings the faithful to Paradise, yet she refuses to enter herself as long as any living being is excluded. This is her story.

2 In earliest times there lived an Emperor whose name was Po Chia. As he had no sons, he decided that the husband of one of his daughters would become Emperor upon his death. His favorite daughter was the youngest, who was called Miao Shan. Since Po Chia loved her best, he wanted her husband to become the nest Emperor, and thus she would become Empress. But Miao Shan did not wish to marry. She told him, "I know that it is wicked to disobey my honorable father, but the glory of being an Empress is like the light of the moon reflected in a stream. Moring comes and it is gone. I only wish to sit quietly and pray to the gods that I may become perfect. I wish to care for the sick and help the poor."

3 Her father was furious, but she would not change her mind. Instead she begged his permission to go to the convent of the White Sparrow. He consented but sent word to the mistress of the convent that she was to be put in the kitchen and made to scrub floors and carry great pails of water. When these hardships did not discourage her, her father became even more enraged and sent his troops to burn the convent, but Miao Shan prayed and, in answer to her supplications, a deluge of rain put out the flames.

4 The Emperor then brought her back to the palace and gave her the choice between life and death. She preferred death and even after hours of torture refused to change her mind. She was at last strangled. But the Emperor of Heaven had again heard her prayers and sent the God of the Neighborhood in the form of a tiger to rescue the princess. He carried her away into the forest and from there she descended into hell. When she opened her eyes, all was dim and still. There were no plants or flowers. No sun, moon, or stars lighted the sky. No sound was heard. No hen cackled. No dog barked. Then a young man appeared and greeted her.

5 "You have come to the underworld, Miao Shan," he said. "Here, men are punished for the wrongs they have done upon the earth. The Emperor of Darkness has sent me to show you through his realm."

6 When Miao Shan saw all the poor creatures who were being punished, she began to pray for them. In answer to her prayers, the darkness wa lifted and the dim underworld became a paradise of light and beauty. In fact, it was so lovely that it became entirely useless as a place of punishment and Yen-lo, the Emperor of darkness had to ask her to depart.

7 When she came back to earth, Miao Shan sought a quiet spot where she might think and pray and become good enough for the Heavenly Kingdom. As she wandered about, she met an old man with a huge bulging forehead. In one hand he carried a stick of gnarled wood; in the other, a peach. It was old Long Life himself, the god who can make a man live forever. Old Long Life greeted Miao Shan and put the peach into her hands. "When you have eaten this peach, you will no longer feel hunger or thirst, and you will live forever," he said.

8 After Miao Shan received the gift of immortality, the God of the neighborhood was again commanded by the Emperor of Heaven to take the form of a tiger. Upon his back he carried Miao Shen safely on a long journey to a rocky island called Pu To, which lies in the Southern Sea and where she found peace at last. For none years the maiden prayed there. She thought only good thoughts, and at last she became perfect. Then, one day spirits and gods assembled from all the corners of the earth from the Eastern Mountain, from the Western mountain, from the mountains of the North and the South and from the mountain in the center of the world they came to honor Miao Shan. The gods of the wind, the rain, and the thunder, the spirits of heaven and earth, all gathered to see her take her seat upon her golden throne, which was shaped like the lotus blossom. The Emperor of Heaven then sent her a message, telling her that she could now leave the earth and enter his kingdom. She was just about to set foot inside the shining gates of heaven when she looked back at the earth. She heard the cries of millions of poor people who were sad or in trouble, and she turned back to help them. From that time, her name was changed from Miao Shan to Gwan Yin, which means "She Who Hears Prayers."

9 On her rocky island in the Southern Sea there is a small temple called "The home of Gwan Yin, who would not go away." It was built by a sailor whose life was saved by the goddess. One day this sailor was out in his boat when suddenly he found it caught in a mass of lily blossoms that covered the sea like a carpet. They grew so thickly that he could not force his way through them. Like other wise seamen, this sailor had on his boat a stature of Gwan Yin. He kowtowed befor ethis saying. "Oh gentle Gwan Yin, come to my aid! Open a way through these tangled lilies. If you would go with me to my own land, so be it. Or if you would that I go to your shores, show me the way." A gentle breeze blew over the the lilies. Their leaves rustled like silk as their blossoms closed tight. They sank beneath the clear water and a straight path was opened. The boatman followed its course, which led to Gwan Yin's Island of Pu To. There he built a little temple and put in it the statue of Gwan Yin that had saved his life.

10 Gwan Yin did many wonderful things for her people. Temples were erected throughout the land to this gentle goddess. Women brought her offerings of incense and paper money. Near her statues they laid finely embroidered slippers and tiny dolls dressed like babies in the hope that she would hear their prayers for children. But her special home was always the Island of Pu To, where pilgrims came by the thousands to visit her sacred shrine.