According to legend Miaoshan was the youngest daughter of the emperor. Unlike her two older sisters she did not wish to marry.
She was a devout Buddhist and wished to dedicate her life to the pursuit of enlightenment. This angered her father so much that he
hounded her mercilessly. He set fire to the convent where she had taken refuge and he finally
ordered her execution. Because of her devotion to attaining buddhahood, she was carried off to heaven on the back of a tiger at the moment of her death.
As punishment for his cruel treatment of his daughter, the heavenly beings sent a terrible illness on her father. Moved
by compassion inspite of his treatment of her, Miaoshan healed him. Miaoshan evolved in Chinese history to become Kuan Yin,
the bodhisattva of mercy, and goddess of women and protector of children.
