Cihang Dashi, the previous incarnation of Guanyin, made a great vow before the Buddha to be reborn in the human world to awaken sentient beings, enlighten them in the way of goodness, and lead them out of the sea of suffering. Just as Cihang Dashi was reborn as Miaoshan, the Third Princess of the Kingdom of Miaozhuang, the black-clad witch (the Demon Carp) also rolled up dark clouds and, surrounding the auspicious cloud, fell with it into King Miaozhuang's bedchamber. She claimed that the Third Princess was possessed by a demon and that unless the princess was eliminated the kingdom could not be preserved, bewitching ministers and commoners with this rumor. Prime Minister Huo Yu, bent on seizing the throne, also used this as a pretext to force the king to throw the infant girl into the sea... After the Third Princess was rescued, the black-clad witch, still harboring evil intentions, pursued her to Daxiang Mountain and used magic to cause illness and injury in the family of Mother Yin, who had risked danger to rescue and carefully raise Miaoshan, threatening the Yin couple. When this plot failed, she pushed Yin Miao and her father off a cliff, intending to put Miaoshan to death. Miaoshan survived various trials and grew up, attending morning and evening devotions and devoting herself wholeheartedly to Buddhism. She received guidance from the Buddha and, together with her adoptive father, did her utmost to heal the sick and relieve the suffering of the mountain people, living in harmony and kindness with her neighbors. When the witch learned that Huo Yu was even more eager to usurp the throne, she told him the whereabouts of the Third Princess and said that Third Princess Miaoshan was the greatest obstacle to the treacherous prime minister's seizure of the throne. Thus the witch and the treacherous minister colluded and staged one sinister and brutal outrage after another. In Guanyun Cave, they were finally subdued and destroyed by Miaoshan using a treasure casket and a pure vase bestowed by the Buddha. Miaoshan asked King Miaozhuang to rebuild Baique Temple. She and her two disciples attained enlightenment and ascended to the heavenly realm, where the Buddha bestowed on her the title of the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guanyin Bodhisattva Who Saves from Suffering and Distress.
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