Kuan-Yin is the Goddess of Mercy. As the legend goes, there was an old temple dedicated to her in the Sand County, and a certain tea-grower named Mr. Wei passed the temple every day on his way to and from work. He was distressed by the decrepit condition of the temple, and although a poor man without the means to properly repair it, he would sweep the halls, polish the statues, and burn incense. The goddess Kuan-Yin came to him one night in a dream and told him of a treasure which lay in the cave behind the temple. 

She said that the treasure would last for generations, but cautioned him to be generous and to share it with his neighbours. When he awoke the next morning, Mr. Wei ran to the cave to search for the treasure. To his disappointment, all that he found was a tiny tea shoot, but he planted it in his garden anyway. After two years of carefully tending the small tea plant, Mr. Wei decided to try some. He was much excited by the unusual fragrance of the steeped tea, and the flavour, which kept its strength after many steepings. He worked hard, and after another two years had passed, he had generated over 200 tea shrubs from his one original plant. 

The tea merchants were impressed with Mr. Wei's tea, which he had named "Kuan-Yin," after the iron statue. Mr. Wei became very prosperous and repaired the old temple. Not forgetting what the goddess had told him, the old tea-grower generously gave away tea shoots to all of his neighbours, who in turn, enjoyed great prosperity.