Xiqu Centre, West Kowloon Cultural District｜Be Lovely Buddha

Description

General Miao Zhuangwangdong went on a western expedition and killed countless enemies. His third daughter, Miaoshan, was a vegetarian and a Buddhist who was gifted with extraordinary wisdom since birth.

One day, when Miao Zhuangwang's commander, Wei Hu, returned from a hundred battles, he encountered a nine-tailed fox with a thousand years of cultivation. He captured the magical fox and presented it to Miao Zhuangwang as a gift for his birthday. As it was believed that the meat of a nine-tailed fox could prolong one's life by a hundred years, Miao Zhuangwang was about to eat it. However, Miaoshan released the fox and advised her father to stop killing and waging wars that bring suffering to the people. This disagreement caused a rift in their father-daughter relationship over a kasaya.

Miaoshan decided to leave the bloody imperial city and retreat to the deep mountains for cultivation. Along the way, she witnessed the stark contrast between the palace and the outside world, resembling heaven and hell. She developed a compassionate aspiration to benefit the country and its people, putting aside her personal interests and cultivating a greater sense of selflessness. Her sincerity moved the heavens, and she attained supernatural powers. With her wisdom, she also touched the Northern King who had intended to attack, thus resolving a potential crisis for her father.

At this time, Miao Zhuangwang's slaughtering had invoked a strange illness, causing his body to resemble that of a beast. Deceived by the eldest princess and influenced by the slanderous words of a Taoist priest, he demanded Miaoshan's eye and hand as medicinal ingredients. He assigned Wei Hu, who admired Miaoshan, to carry out the task. Out of deep love for her father, Miaoshan willingly accepted the punishment, barely escaping a plot against her life. In the nick of time, the nine-tailed fox returned to repay Miaoshan's kindness.

A year later, Miaoshan achieved enlightenment. However, the Taoist priest, intending to help the eldest princess ascend the throne, once again cast a spell. Through Wei Hu's hand, they plotted to assassinate Miaoshan in the bamboo forest. The sky turned dark, the water stank, and crows cawed, creating a perilous atmosphere. But Miaoshan, now an enlightened Guanyin, used her great wisdom and compassion to resolve a court disaster for her father and enlighten Wei Hu. She also realized that Guanyin embodies both the stern father and the compassionate mother, subduing evil with her wrathful form. Through this, Guanyin attained Buddhahood, revealing a profound philosophy that has been praised throughout the ages.