Two Precious Scroll Narratives of Guanyin and Her ... - Khamkoo

Introduction 17
The author of The Precious Scroll of Incense Mountain does not
for a moment assume that Miaoshan’s choice will have the automatic
support of either her kith and kin or of his audience.
Miaoshan has a lot of explaining to do. While her opponents sing
the praises of a life of luxury and indulgence, Miaoshan counters
by stressing the transience of human life and the inevitability of
death and the karmic punishments that will inevitably follow. While
the virgin saints look forward to the blessings of heaven where they
will be united with their heavenly groom (blessings that are often
described in titillating physical detail), Miaoshan’s positive motivation
is highly abstract. Nevertheless, one finds references to a heavenly
marriage, if only in an ironic way. When her father orders her
to marry and asks her what kind of husband she would prefer, she
replies that she will not marry unless he can find her a physician
who can cure all the ills of the world—the Buddha. Miaoshan may
ask for such a husband, but it is clear that nowhere in the world will
her father be able to find him. And when, after her return from the
Underworld, the god of the Morning Star in the guise of a Daoist
hermit jokingly suggests to her that they devote themselves to religious
exercises as a couple, she indignantly rejects his proposal.
Miaoshan does not aspire to be the Buddha’s bride, and she certainly
does not want to preserve her virginity merely for his sake:
she rejects all physical comforts, including the pleasures of the
flesh. Rather, Miaoshan asserts her (near) equality with the Buddha
as his younger sister. 61
Although it is true that the dialogues between Miaoshan and
her interlocutors take up much of the text, one should note that
the author has taken care to include speakers of both sexes and
from different social classes. While Miaoshan usually remains respectful
when she replies to her parents, she is much more direct
when she counters the arguments of her sisters and the other palace
ladies, and she is downright sarcastic when she addresses her social
inferiors, such as the prioress and her father’s officials. These contrasting
attitudes adopted by Miaoshan may have provided a skilled
narrator ample opportunity to enliven his performance. One of the
very first instructions to the performer in the shorter version reads
‘‘It is essential to imitate the sounds of suffering, joy, and sadness’’
(kule aiyin xuyao xiangxiang), although this could also be translated
as ‘‘It is essential to imitate suffering and joy, sadness and accents.’’
62 It also may be noted in passing that while the editor of