Two Precious Scroll Narratives of Guanyin and Her ... - Khamkoo
Two Precious Scroll Narratives of Guanyin and Her ... - Khamkoo
Two Precious Scroll Narratives of Guanyin and Her ... - Khamkoo
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The <strong>Precious</strong> <strong>Scroll</strong> <strong>of</strong><br />
Good-in-Talent <strong>and</strong><br />
Dragon Girl<br />
Edited by the Angler <strong>of</strong> the Misty Waves<br />
We unroll <strong>and</strong> open this precious scroll, proclaim the true traces,<br />
The golden burner’s incense smoke spreads an auspicious aroma.<br />
Listen with pious reverence, you good men <strong>and</strong> faithful women:<br />
It dispels disaster, lengthens your life, <strong>and</strong> brings endless fortune.<br />
The story <strong>of</strong> this precious scroll took place during the Qianfu reignperiod<br />
(874–879) <strong>of</strong> the Tang dynasty (618–906). In the Immortal<br />
Peach village <strong>of</strong> Hanyang prefecture <strong>of</strong> the Huguang area lived a<br />
certain gr<strong>and</strong> historian named Chen Debao. His <strong>of</strong>fice was <strong>of</strong> the<br />
highest rank, his position exceeded that <strong>of</strong> all other <strong>of</strong>ficials, <strong>and</strong><br />
he was in charge <strong>of</strong> the great affair <strong>of</strong> court protocol. He was able<br />
to influence the ruler above <strong>and</strong> to benefit the people below. Each<br />
<strong>and</strong> every civil <strong>of</strong>ficial <strong>and</strong> military <strong>of</strong>ficer at court respected him.<br />
He was as pure as water <strong>and</strong> as bright as a mirror, <strong>and</strong> his fame reverberated<br />
through all the four directions. But at the age <strong>of</strong> fifty, he<br />
still had no heir to play at his feet. His wife, Lady Han, was already<br />
forty years <strong>of</strong> age. Wise <strong>and</strong> virtuous, proper <strong>and</strong> upright, she <strong>of</strong>ten<br />
urged the gr<strong>and</strong> historian to take a concubine, but he adhered to<br />
the proper, <strong>and</strong> never wavered in his devotion. As his wife saw no<br />
other way out, she urged the gr<strong>and</strong> historian to join her in making<br />
a pious pilgrimage to the Mahāsattva <strong>of</strong> the Southern Sea <strong>and</strong> pray<br />
in front <strong>of</strong> her lotus throne for a son to continue the ancestral sacrifices<br />
<strong>of</strong> the Chen family. What did the gr<strong>and</strong> historian think <strong>of</strong> that?<br />
When Lady Han alerted him to this possibility by her words,<br />
The gr<strong>and</strong> historian, hearing this, secretly sighed to himself:<br />
‘‘Day <strong>and</strong> night I keep wondering why I as yet have no son,<br />
It must be because I made mistakes in discharging my duties.<br />
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