| Illustrated Biography of the
Patriarch of the Kegon Sect of Buddhism |
A different take on women and serpents. In this story, a Korean woman falls in love with a Chinese priest but he is honest with her about his committment to celibacy. When the priest returns to China, she transforms herself into a dragon to safely carry him back home. Here the power of female passion has been transformed into a power for good. Not surprisingly, this illustrated tale was written for a group of aristocratic women.