Guanyin Becoming a Nun
In ancient times，there was a Xingmin kingdom，and Guanyin was born in the king's palace.
This king was called Miao Zhuang King，whose jurisdiction was over 3,000 miles.He had three daughters.The eldest daughter，Miao Ying，was born smart.The second daughter was called Miao Yu and was beautiful.Although the third daughter was more beautiful than her two elder sisters，she was sentimental and compassionate.She pitied the caged birds in the palace from an early age.Whenever she saw the birds in the cage，she let them go.She also shed tears of sympathy when she saw the goldfish that were not free in the fish tank.Sometimes her father went hunting and brought back some deer and rabbits，the third princess always took them to the wild and said to them，“Poor little creatures！Your mother must be waiting for you in anxious.Go home quickly.”
The third princess was so kind that people in the palace called her Miao Shan Princess（Miao Shan means having a good heart）.
When the three princesses grew up，the eldest sister recruited her husband and the second sister got married.And the third princess was old enough to choose a husband.The king planned to promise the third princess to a fat and bulky son of a wealthy family，but the third princess refused.“I am determined not to marry，and I have vowed to become a nun.”said she.Her father and mother did not agree with that and said to her，“As a princess，how can you be a nun？”From then on，the princess Miao Shan secretly lived on a vegetarian diet and chanted Buddhism in the back garden.Her father knew about it and said to her，“In the cold days of winter，if you can water the withered flowers in the garden alive，you will be allowed to become a nun，or you will be executed.”She said，“I will do what you said.”So she watered the flowers every day.Her sincerity moved the goddess of flower.With the help of the goddess of flower and by the hard work of Miao Shan，a year later，a miracle appeared in the garden：The withered flowers turned green and the dead flowers became alive.In the heavy snow，all flowers in the garden were in full bloom.The king had no choice but to ask the other princesses to persuade their younger sister.They said to her，“A-mei（means younger sister），why not enjoy the splendor and wealth but ask for trouble？”The third princess said，“I want to become a nun.I will not change my will forever.I will be willing to suffer any trouble.”The king said to her，“If you want to become a nun，you have to do three more things.”Firstly，her father asked her to water the vegetable field.Her feet were small，and her shoes were uncomfortable.It was painful for her to climb the hillside，but she did it.Secondly，her father asked her to plant three dou and three litres of sesame seeds，and she agreed.Her sincerity moved 500 village gods.The mountain god，the land god，the bridge god and the road god were ordered to help her plant the sesame.And all sesame grew out.Thirdly，her father ordered the servants to scatter the sesame to the hillside and told the third princess to pick them back one by one.If she failed to do that，she would be put to death.It was so hard for her that she cried desperately on the hillside.The mountain god said to her，“Third Princess，don't worry.We will help you pick it up.”With saying，the mountain god and the land god called in hundreds of birds and ordered them to pick the sesame back.And soon the same number of sesame was picked up.
The king had no choice but to go to the abbot of Baique Temple personally to ask for some advice.He said to the abbot，“My third princess is determined to become a nun.I have no other choice but ask the master to accept her for a pretence.You know，I don't really want her to become a nun.I hope you torture her a hundred times，try your best to make her unable to endure the pain，and then she will return to the secular life.If you can persuade her，I'll reward you.If you can't do it，I'll have your head cut off.”
In this way，the princess Miao Shan was granted permission by her father to become a nun.When she came to Baique Temple，the abbot ordered her to cook for more than 500 monks and carry water and the firewood.The abbot told her，“If you can do it，you will stay and practise Buddhism.If you can't do it，you will be asked to return to your secular life.”Then the princess Miao Shan carried water，cut wood and cooked every day.She was so tired that she was almost out of her breath，but she gritted her teeth and persevered.One day，she was too exhausted to take a nap.In a trance，she saw a Dharmapala in front of her and said to her，“Princess，you have sincerely practiced and moved Amitabha.Now go to see Buddha.”The Third Princess followed the Dharmapala to a Buddhist temple，where she saw a Buddha with a benignant look sitting and a monk standing beside.With kowtowing to them，the Third Princess said，“Honorable Buddha，please accept my respects.”Buddha said，“You are dedicated to self-cultivating and perseverance.I would like to accept you as my disciple，so that you can transform into a man or a woman and benefit others.”With saying this，the Buddha pushed the monk beside him and said，“This is your senior brother.His name is Manjusri Bodhisattva.I give you a Buddhist monastic title Guanshiyin（Avalokitesvara），and also Guanzizai.Go now！”
When Guanyin woke up，she was very happy.She took great pains to fetch water and cook for ten days in a row.One night，she undressed and went to bed to sleep.The nun living with her uncovered her quilt and was shocked to see that she transformed into a man.She went to report it to the elder and the elder reported it to the king.The king flew into a rage and said，“I'm the king of the country.How dares she do such a shameless thing！”The king decided to burn Baique Temple and his daughter.
On the day when Baique Temple was set on fire，Guanyin hid in the bamboo forest behind the temple and did not be burnt.Then her father sent soldiers to catch her and ordered to execute her.The king personally oversaw the execution.On the execution ground，when the executioner killed Guanyin with one knife，the knife was cut off into two sections.The king thought the executioner didn't do it hard enough，so he killed the executioner and ordered to hang Guanyin with a white silk.
After the third princess died，the queen，her mother，came to the execution ground and said to the king，“Since my daughter is dead，let me see her body.”When her mother walked to the front of her body，suddenly there was thunder and lightning.In the strong storm and heavy rain，a white dragon flew away with carrying her body.
Amitabha ordered Manjusri Bodhisattva to take her to Xiangshan Mountain and they became Amitabha's two disciples，known as the Left and the Right Waiter.
Guanyin went to Xiangshan Mountain and practiced devoutly.The king burned Baique Temple and 500 innocent nuns.He became so angry that his body got 500 nameless sores.No doctor in the palace could cure his illness，so he had to post a list to ask for the famous doctors around the world.
After hearing this news，Guanyin dressed up as a male doctor and came to the palace to help the king cure the sores.Guanyin said，“Your Majesty，this sore can be cured only by combining two medicinal inducers.”“What are they？”“Only when one hand and one eye of your biological daughter are matched，then can you be cured.”
The king immediately ordered her eldest daughter to give him one hand and one eye as medicinal inducers.The eldest daughter said，“I'm willing to do anything to help cure your illness.”However，her husband refused，“If she loses one hand and one eye，what will she be like？It is outrageous to use this kind of prescription.Your honour，please don't trust the crazy doctor.I don't want her to do this.”So the king had to asked his second daughter to give him one hand and one eye as the medicinal inducers.The son-in-law agreed，but the second daughter cried bitterly，“You'd better kill me than let me give you my hand and my eye.”She cried so loudly that the king had no choice but to burst into tears.The doctor said to him，“My honour，don't worry about it.You'd better go to Xiangshan Mountain，where you can find the medicinal inducers.”
The king immediately sent the prime minister to Xiangshan Mountain.At the front of the temple，a monk told the prime minister，“Are you here to seek the medicinal inducers to cure the king's sores？I'll tell you the truth.The king's third princess is not dead，and she is living in the temple.You may ask her for help.”Then the prime minister told the third princess what had happened to her father.Without saying a word and any hesitation，the third princess went into the meditation room and cut off a hand，dug out an eye and handed them to the prime minister，who brought them back to the king at once.After taking it orally and using it externally as instructed by the doctor in the palace，the king recovered from his illness.The doctor told the king，“Since your sores have been cured，please go to Xiangshan Mountain personally to redeem the vow.”
Half a month later，the king took his family and courtiers to Xiangshan Mountain to pay their respects and visited the third princess.The third daughter asked，“Father，is it better for you to be a king or for me to become a nun？”The king felt guilty and walked towards to hug his daughter，crying loudly.The eldest daughter and the second daughter felt ashamed and cried，“We are not even as good as beasts comparing with our younger sister.”In a blink of an eye，the eldest daughter turned into a lion and the second daughter into an elephant.When Buddha knew about this，he sent a white parrot to preach the Buddha's decree：To name Guanyin as“the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara with Extra Hands and Eyes”.However，the white parrot made a mistake and sent the word to“with thousands of hands and eyes”instead of“with extra eyes and hands”.Therefore，Guanyin became“the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara with Thousands of Hands and Eyes”.