As we saw the last time, Longnü made her first appearance in a Buddhist Sutra, the Lotus Flower. In that text, she was transformed by the Buddha into a man to become a Bodhisattva; the irony of this tale being that her own associated Bodhisattva, Avalokateshvara, had already been culturally transformed into a female, now known as Guānyīn .

Story 2:

The first folklore tale of Longnü occurs in the Complete Tale of Avalokiteśvara and the Southern Seas (Nánhǎi Guānyīn Quánzhuàn); here she plays a subtle part, rescuing her brother from certain death.

Her brother, Sudhana, had gone swimming, and taken the form of a fish, a carp to be precise. In this form he was caught by a fisherman, and being on land, was unable to transform back into his dragon form.

The fisherman took Sudhana to the market to be butchered. However, given his…