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

30 Introduction
despite his formal display of gratitude, she reveals her identity to
her mother, when the latter washes her wounds. But whereas Miaoshan
may demonstrate her exceptional character as a saint by her
willingness to donate her limbs to a father she will go on to berate
at length for his moral turpitude, her mother shows herself to be a
truly compassionate human being. Miaoshan may show what one
may be capable of if, transcending all attachments, one frees oneself
of all anger, but her mother demonstrates the strength of a love that
grows from attachment. That may be why The Precious Scroll of
Incense Mountain in its final pages devotes quite some space to
the king’s future buddhahood but has nothing further to say about
the queen.
Guanyin’s Acolytes: The Precious Scroll of Good-in-Talent
and Dragon Girl
In popular iconography of the Ming and Qing dynasties the Whiterobed
Guanyin is often accompanied by two young acolytes, one
male and one female. While triads of deities are common in medieval
Chinese Buddhist iconography, it is not usual to find a buddha
or bodhisattva accompanied by both a male and a female disciple.
For instance, on a Northern Song–dynasty painting from Dunhuang,
now in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Avalokiteśvara is
still accompanied by a shan tongzi (youth [keeping track] of good
deeds) and an e tongzi (youth [keeping track] of evil deeds). 102
Many scholars therefore assume that the representation of Guanyin
with one male and one female acolyte was inspired by the iconography
of the Jade Emperor, the highest deity in the traditional Chinese
pantheon, who is often accompanied by the Golden Lad and
the Jade Maiden. However, irrespective of their ultimate origin,
Guanyin’s acolytes soon became identified as Shancai (Good-in-
Talent, Sudhana) and Longnü (Nāgakanyā, Dragon Daughter). 103
Both Shancai and Longnü have a well-established scriptural
pedigree. The same Lotus Sutra that in chapter 25 elaborates on
the miraculous powers of Avalokiteśvara devotes a large part of
chapter 12 to a description of the precocious wisdom of Dragon
Girl. She is there described as the eight-year-old daughter of the
Dragon King Sāgara; she achieves instantaneous enlightenment
and offers a pearl to the Buddha. 104 While the Lotus Sutra does not