When Nie Yinniang was just ten years old, a Buddhist nun came by her house place to beg for food. The nun saw Yinniang and was delighted. She said to her father, "Sir, I beg you to let me take this girl away and teach her." Her father was furious and rebuked the nun. The nun said, "Even if you kept her in an iron chest, I would still take her away." That night, sure enough, Yinniang disappeared. Her father was panic-stricken, and ordered his men to search for her, but there whe and his wife thought of their daughter, they could only face each other and weep.

Five years later the nun escorted Yinniang back home. She told him, "My teaching is complete, you can have her back."