In Chinese legend, the princess Miao-shan defied her father by refusing to marry, pursues her austere religious vocation to the death, but returned to life to be his saviour and the saviour of all mankind. The story is inseparable from the female bodhisattva Kuan-yin, whose cult dominated religious life at all levels in traditional China.
This book is the first full monograph on the subject. It deals with the story's background, early history and more developed later versions; it analyses the basic source material and the overall pattern of development; and it finally offers a range of interpretations.
The book is addressed primarily to students of Chinese popular literature and religion, but also to folklorists, who will find here a version of the 'King Lear' story, and to those interested in the position of women in traditional society.
The author is Lecturer in Modern Chinese at Oxford University.
