photo by nlamore
Miao Shan was a legendary Chinese Princess who’s is considered an incarnation of the bodhisattva of compassion, Guan Yin. Her tale reminds me of many western fairy tales, she is subjected to harsh conditions and yet holds her head high with dignity and continues to show kindess, generousity, compassion and selflessness despite her unfair treatment.
As the story goes, Miao Shan was born the third daughter of a king. Despite this she lived very simply, wearing plain clothes and eating only one meal a day (not something I’d reccomend!) she had a pure heart and was greatly loved by her people, however the King took displeasure in her ways and decided it was time she got married. Miao Shan agreed to get married on the condition that her marriage would prevent three misfortunes. When asked what these were she said that the first was the suffering people endure as they grow old, the second was the suffering endured when they fell ill and the third is the suffering caused by death.
This made her Father angry and he forced her to work hard in the gardens and reduced her food and water. Miao shan took this calmly however and her Mother and Sisters appealed to the King to allow her to become a nun, the path she wished for. The King agreed but told the other nuns at the monastry to treat her harshly and make her work very hard so she would regret this decision. They did so, and Miao shan worked long in to the night but it is said that the animals took pity on her and came to help her with her chores and that while she was there the vegetables flourished even in winter.
Finally, her cruel Father ordered her execution for she would not obey him. Here there are many variants of the story. Some say she was killed and carried by a tiger to one of the hell like realms, but when she entered that land flowers grew and it became a heaven due to her presence and many souls were saved. Other versions say that the blade of the executioner shattered in to a thousand pieces and the Princess escaped instead to Fragrant Mountain where she lived in peace.
I think there is a beautiful message to this story. Although the behaviour of the king may seem hard to explain, we have to understand that culturally for Miao shan, disobeying her father was a huge deal, and yet she went on to do what she felt was right and follow the path she believed was her destiny. She might seem like a passive Princess, but she worked hard even when the conditions were not fair and it takes a lot of strength and courage to not give in to others and stay true to what you believe in. I think Miao shan is a beautiful example of a Princess.
Many thanks to Lauren for reccomending this legend for a Princess Profile! I’ve really enjoyed learning about Miao shan and I can see why she is one of your role models.
