– BJOAF Bd. 33, 2009 –

The Mulian San Shi Baojuan (Precious Volume on Maudgalyāyana’s Three Life-Cycles): Interplay of Performative Genres and Traditional Values within a Complex Plot System

Rüdiger Breuer

The story of Mulian (Maudgalyāyana) rescuing his sinful mother from Hell has been

consistently reworked and extended for more than fifteen centuries and has been textualised in the form of theatrical plays and performative literature. One comparatively late example of such texts, the Mulian san shi baojuan, belongs to the so-called hou Mulian plot system, which mainly concerns Mulian’s journey through Heaven and Hell and the restoration of karmic balance over three life-cycles. The article demonstrates that Mulian san shi baojuan is of composite nature and has incorporated large amounts of materials not only from Mulian plays but also from unrelated narrative fiction, which were fit into a religious agenda that combined theologian aspects, religious policy, and popularized views of the netherworld. A piece of didactic literature that attracted audiences by enhancing the story’s entertaining aspects, the baojuan, in an easily accessible fashion, tried to demonstrate to the lay believer the consequences of not adhering to the precepts of the Buddhist religion. As such, it is a meaningful example of the amalgam of values practised beyond the confines of doctrinal religion.

‘Mulian rescues his mother’: sources and the early tradition The story of Siddhārtha Gautama’s disciple Maudgalyāyana (P. Moggallāna,

Chin. Mulian, Mujianlian, Muganlian, Mugaluo, Mugalüe, and others) rescuing his sinful mother Nilādhi (Chin. Qingti) from Hell has been circulating in China since at least the 5th century A.D. Early adaptations of the Mulian theme for the theatre included shadow plays (yingxi), attested as early as the Song period (960–1279), and ‘Nilādhi slapstick’ (da Qingti), which was performed during the Jin Dynasty (1126–1233). Still extant are an anonymous Yuan period (1260–1368) zaju drama Xing xiaodao Mulian jiu mu (Maudgalyāyana, exercising the filial way, saves his mother) as well as a Ming (1368–1644) ‘Southern play’ (xiwen) in 100 scenes by Zheng Zhizhen, Mulian jiu mu xing xiao xiwen (Mulian saves his mother and exercises filial duty; first printing in 1582), which required six or seven days to perform. A Qing Dynasty (1644–1911) version of the latter play titled Quan shan jinke (Golden norms exhorting to goodness) by Zhang Zhao (1671–1745) even has 240 scenes and would have taken ten days to perform.1

1 See Guo (2005: 103–148) for a lengthy analysis of Quan shan jinke. For biographical data on Zhang Zhao see ECCP (I: 24f.).

Other theatrical formats from more recent times that have adapted the Mulian saga include exorcistic folk-plays, local operas (especially from Anhui, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang Provinces) as well as Peking opera. Such plays are still performed today in several places during the Chinese Ghost Festival (Yulanpen or Zhongyuan) on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month (Mair 1986–87: 89; Zeng 2002).

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But the story has also been a favourite subject outside the theatre in almost every known type of Chinese performative literature, including bianwen (transformation texts), zidishu (young bannermen’s books), baojuan (precious volumes), guci (drum rhymes), foqu (Buddhist tunes), suqu (popular tunes), and tanci (plucking rhymes). Performances of baojuan are still alive in Gansu Province, as are gushu, tanci, lianhualao, muyushu, tanhuang, and other oral-performative formats in other parts of China (Che 2000: 6, 411f.; Zhu 1993: 42f.).

My purpose in this paper is to explore a late example of a performative text treating the popular theme, the Mulian san shi baojuan or Precious volume on Maudgalyāyana’s three life-cycles (or incarnations). The heterogeneous text is clearly of composite nature and stems from a story tradition that over the course of time has incorporated large amounts of materials from theatrical plays and narra-tive fiction, which were brought to fit with a religious agenda that combined theo-logian aspects, religious policy, and popularized views of the netherworld. While Mulian operas and another baojuan (Mulian jiu mu youming baochuan or Precious legend of Mulian rescuing his mother from Hell; see below) have already been the subject of extensive research, a discussion of Mulian san shi baojuan is conspicu-ously absent not only from Western but also from Chinese scholarship, with the exception of a few short references. The text has been rendered in a short synopsis by Chen Fangying (1983: 100–105), but is not further discussed by him. A lengthier synopsis in English and a list of all baojuan on the Mulian theme known to date, compiled from various catalogues, have been appended to this article for the convenience of the reader.

The term baojuan, literally ‘precious volumes’ (alternative terms used in titles in-clude juan, zhenjing, baojing, zhuan, baochuan, keyi, baochan, fa, and falun), refers to a corpus of extended narrative texts in the ‘prosimetric’ or ‘chantefable’ format, i.e., texts that are written largely in a characteristic mixture of prose with verse for chanting or singing. Apart from this formal feature, which indeed they share with other types of prosimetric literature, the many extant baojuan defy common charac-teristics. The most extensive bibliography of baojuan today, Che Xilun’s Zhongguo baojuan zongmu (2000), lists 1585 texts in more than 5000 editions, the bulk of them from the later years of the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911). The texts range from religious works with doctrinal content or mildly moralistic stories for personal edification to secular narratives read or performed purely for entertainment.

Given the composition dates of the earliest extant works and their literary format, baojuan probably developed from the practice of ‘telling the sutras’ (shuo jing) that was popular in the Song dynasty. In this tradition, Buddhist monks used to explain or to preach sacred texts to the lay people by narrating religious subjects, either in a serious or in a comic fashion. The tradition of composing baojuan texts probably goes back to the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368). The ritual of baojuan performances, which is still practiced in some parts of China, is known as xuan juan (proclaiming

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[precious] volumes).2 The recitals of baojuan took place in temples and market-places, but more commonly in small group sittings inside private households.3

In terms of content and form, it is possible to distinguish between two general types of baojuan. Production of the first type, which included liturgical and homiletic pieces that strictly adhered to formal features, faded out during the 18th century. Modern research has progressively revealed that many of these early baojuan propagated the teachings and social values of various kinds of heterodox popular groups. These associations, of which the ‘White Lotus’ (Bailian) is merely the most famous example, made their first appearance during the Yuan Dynasty. Their teachings syncretically combined Buddhist with Daoist and Confucian ideas, enriched by figures and religious practices like the worship of the ‘Heavenly Mother of the West’ (Xi Wangmu), the ‘Never-begotten Old Mother’ (Wusheng Laomu), the Hearth God, and Mount Tai.

Considering the tendency of organized religions to codify their teachings in canonical writing, the existence of oral-related religious texts and their ritual performance are striking phenomena indeed, but as David Johnson, historian and specialist in Chinese popular culture, has stated, the oral performance of Chinese religious literature “had [always] priority over text, except perhaps in the highest reaches of the organized religions, where they were coequal. Scriptures themselves, on the popular level, were intended to be performed – they were scripts as much as they were scriptures” (Johnson 1995a: 31).

4

The chief scriptural sources for the Mulian saga are the Sutra of the (food) basin in requital for kindness (Bao en feng pen jing; T 686) and its reworking, the Sutra on the Yulanpen Festival (Yulanpen jing; T 685).

More recent baojuan were more narrative in structure, stressed the entertainment aspect, and softened the original formal requirements. The majority of these texts, which were usually printed by commercial publishers during the last decades of the Qing Dynasty, concern secular material and are based on legends, folk-tales, or opera plots, even though they often sustain a moralistic, religious tone. Compared to the first category, the genre has evolved here into stories that display a more literary character and no longer adhere to sectarian values.

5

2 A specific local tradition of such performances in the Jingjiang area of Jiangsu Province is known as jiangjing (telling the scriptures; see Bender 2001).

The latter text was supposedly first

3 See Shek (1980: 161). Home recitals of baojuan and other types of devotional literature are, for instance, mentioned in chapters 39, 51, 73, 74, and 82 of the late 16th century novel, Jin Ping Mei cihua (Sawada 1975: 285–299; Carlitz 1986: 59–66; Johnson 1995: 60–64). 4 Among several publications on this subject, see Overmyer (1985) and Sawada (1972). Li (1957: 166–169) lists 72 baojuan which he attributes to 11 different sects and one “neutral” category. 5 The exact meaning of the term yulanpen (Middle Chin. wuǎ lan bwɘn) has been widely de-bated and shall be of no concern here. It is probably a transliteration of Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit ullambana (suspended; upside down; hanging down), Pāli ullampana (salvation; rescue; merciful), or else Iranian urvan or Sogdian rw’n or ‘rw’n (soul). The third character, pen, may

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translated into Chinese during the Western Jin period by the Indoscythian Dharma-rakṣa (Chin. Zhufahu; fl. 265–313), but was more likely composed in China itself during the 5th century.6 Both sutras relate how Mulian unsuccessfully tried to ease the lot of his mother, who had been reborn as a hungry ghost. His attempts were in vain, however, since all the food and drink he offered turned into fire as soon as his mother touched it. Mulian then appealed to Śākyamuni, the historical Buddha, who in his compassion advised Mulian to establish the Yulanpen Festival: On the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, after the end of the monks’ summer retreat, the faithful should give food and clothing to the clergy who would in turn say prayers and recite sutras. The merit gained by this joint action would benefit the ancestors staying in the nether regions and on earth.7

Sutras like the Yulanpen jing were elemental in demonstrating the compatibility of Buddhism with the traditional “Confucian” value system, and it is not farfetched to assume that such texts were composed with a view to strengthening the standing of Buddhism and the Buddhist order in society (Nakamura 1987: 227; Guo 2005: 92). Indian Buddhism, when it was first introduced to China, did not particularly emphasize the precept of filial duty or piety (xiao), but in the sutras and in the Mulian story in all of its variations, one of the most compelling charges by Confucian scholars against Buddhism, namely, that it violated the precept by encouraging monasticism, was turned into its opposite: Only by becoming a monk, attaining enlightenment and acquiring spiritual powers had Mulian been able to accumulate enough merit to overcome the karmic entanglement (saṃsāra) and rescue his mother. With the obligation of filial duty standing at the centre of the plot, the “Mulian” character had thus become an allegory of any Buddhist monk who by seemingly disregarding the traditional values was in fact engaging in the ultimate ancestral service. Late Ming and Qing baojuan texts and ritual operas alike are prime examples of the harmonised propagation of Buddhist beliefs and traditional Confucian values side by side (Guo 2005: 213f.).

Buddhist monks, owing to their accumulated spiritual energy, were thus accorded the role of ideal inter-mediaries between the immanent and the transcendent (Teiser 1989: 193).

(or may not) refer to the “bowl” in which offerings were placed during the Ghost Festival. For an early detailed discussion of the term see, for instance, De Visser (1935: 59–68). Teiser (1988: 3f., 21–23) offers a succinct description of various explanations for the etymology. 6 See Teiser (1988: 48–56) for a translation and comparative analysis of the two sutras. 7 The historic Maudgalyāyana, to whom the Maudgalyāyana of the legend arguably is related only by name, joined the new Buddhist order in his late thirties. A few years before Siddhārtha Gautama’s death, he was slain in an attack by religious cultists or by robbers. For more historical-biographical information on Maudgalyāyana see the entry in the Encyclopaedia of religion and ethics (1908–1926, VIII: 768–770).

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The Mulian story as represented in Mulian san shi baojuan The Mulian story was discovered for the performative genres at an early stage. The

first extant written specimens of Mulian storytelling are nine Tang period bianwen (transformation texts) discovered in the Dunhuang caves in the early 20th century, together with other types of popular literature on the subject such as yuanqi (nidāna; chain of causation) narratives.8

The first pinnacle of complexity was probably reached with Zheng Zhizhen’s South-ern style drama Mulian jiu mu quan shan xiwen (first edition 1582), mentioned above. The opera differs considerably from previous versions of the story, including the still distinctively “theologian” Yuan/Ming period baojuan, in that it is a balanced combina-tion of secular story matter with religious concerns, of “supernatural beings and human ethics, entertainment and inculcation, and goodness and evil” (Guo 2005: 114).

There can be no doubt that there must already have been an established tradition of the Mulian saga before any of these texts were put down in writing, i.e., the bianwen represent merely a fraction of the oral spectrum. In the course of time, the story gained more and more complexity. Elements from the syncretic system of popular belief and traditional ethics fused with the earlier plot and expanded it broadly. In some respects, this process appears to be very similar to the development of other story chains in Chinese literary history, like the legends of Wu Zixu, first mentioned in the Shi ji (Records of the historian) by Sima Qian, of the White Snake (Baishe zhuan), of Meng Jiangnü, and others. Of course, this accumula-tive enlargement of basic plots or ‘metatexts’, to use Eugene Eoyang’s (1971) term, is a phenomenon commonly observed in Chinese literature.

Mulian stories from around the 14th century on expanded the original plot in one of two directions, which resulted in two distinct albeit interrelated plot systems: the first kind focuses on Mulian’s ancestors and is known as qian Mulian or ‘former Mulian’ in secondary literature, while the second category (hou Mulian, ‘later Mulian’) mainly concerns Mulian’s journey through Heaven and Hell and the restoration of karmic balance over three life-cycles.

Among the texts of the first type is Mulian jiu mu chuli diyu sheng tian baojuan (Precious volume of Mulian rescuing his mother from Hell and ascending to Heaven), which also happens to be the earliest extant text carrying the designation baojuan in its title. It was composed in the late Yuan or early Ming, i.e., still before Zheng Zhizhen’s play, and appears to have been polished by a scholar. In terms of its Buddhist values, it is closer to the doctrinal bianwen versions than to the Ming-Qing operas in that it exhorts listeners to follow Mulian’s example in being dutiful

8 See Mair (1986–97: 83). Chen (1983: 7–23) offers detailed information on the sources for these bianwen stories. One of them, The Great Maudgalyāyana rescues his mother from Hell (Da Muganlian mingjian jiumu bianwen; Dunhuang bianwen manuscript P2319) has been trans-lated by Eugene Eoyang in Ma/Lau (1978: 443–455).

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to their parents and repay their kindness, recite the name of the Buddha, and observe a vegetarian diet.9

David Johnson (1995b) has described another baojuan of the first type, the Mu-lian jiu mu youming baochuan (Precious legend of Mulian rescuing his mother from Hell), which was first printed in 1881 and likewise relates to the qian Mulian plot system. Around 30 percent of the text is devoted to the lives of Mulian’s father, grandfather and great-grandfather, and 15 percent to his mother’s behaviour and initial fate. Despite this great attention to ‘former Mulian’ story matter, the bulk of Mulian jiu mu youming baochuan is nonetheless devoted to Mulian’s journey to the netherworld and Western Heaven, including a depiction of the departments and various tortures inflicted. Also, the text alludes to the hou Mulian story system by indicating on the very last page that Mulian is to be reborn as Huang Chao in order to fetch back the souls that he had allowed to escape, but it does not refer to Mulian’s rebirth as the butcher He Yin (see below).

10

The second type, represented by Mulian baojuan (18th or 19th century; Zhu 1993: 41), Mulian san shi baojuan, and other oral-related texts and plays, enlarges the original plot on a substantial scale. In texts of the hou Mulian system, not only do we learn the details of how Mulian was born, why he was given the personal name Luobo (Radish), how his devout father became the Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha (Chin. Dizang Pusa), and why his mother Liu Qingti had to go to Hell. These texts also offer extensive descriptions of all the different departments of Hell that Mulian had to visit in order to find his mother. Most importantly, narratives and plays of the hou Mulian system show Mulian being condemned to pass through two additional birth cycles as a murderer (in the Buddhist sense), namely as the Tang period rebel leader Huang Chao and as the sheep and pig butcher He Yin, before he can eventually redeem his mother and ascend with her to Heaven.

The extant editions of Mulian san shi baojuan are late, with publication dates ranging from 1876 to 1922. The text itself, however, is certainly older than the 1870s, but probably not earlier than the 18th century: The prominent specialist for Chinese vernacular literature, Zheng Zhenduo, opined that Mulian san shi baojuan antedates Zheng Zhizhen’s Ming period play (1963: 785). This opinion is repeated without scrutiny by Hu Shiying (1984: 103), while Zhao Jingsheng (1946: 175), in an evolutionary sketch of the development of the Mulian legend, even considers Mulian san shi baojuan to be directly derived from Dunhuang bianwen and the folk tradition. Yet, without further corroboration, such statements are just guess-work: to wit, neither Zheng Zhizhen’s 16th-century play nor any of the operas

9 See Zheng Zhenduo (1967: 318–327 [ch. 11.3]) for a reprint of the remaining text of this bao-juan. Only the second of two fascicles has been preserved as a bichrome manuscript, dated 1373 (Xuanguang 3, i.e. Hongwu 5) and donated by a Mongolian named Tuotuo (Che 2007: 4, 34). For a discussion of the text see Che (1996: 64f.). 10 See Johnson (1995: 79–87). The Guangxu 19 (1893) edition of the text has been reproduced in Suwenxue congkan (2004, 352: 1–196).

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preceding it contain a scene of Mulian inadvertently opening the gates of Avīci (Chin. Abi Diyu; the hell of incessant suffering) or show him collecting any souls back – two of the central narrative elements in Mulian san shi baojuan. Though a host of eight million souls escape in Zheng’s xiwen (Scene 24), unlike the baojuan, the majority of them are soon caught and brought back by the demon slayer Zhong Kui (Scene 25). The other souls, if they had succeeded in being reborn, are taken back to Avīci one by one once their natural life-span is over. Mulian operas, as Zhu Hengfu (1993: 39) has pointed out, are composite in nature and included diverse kinds of story materials circulating at the time of writing.11 Zhu concludes that it must have been the (more recent) baojuan authors who were inspired by the play and who expanded the plot accordingly, not vice versa. Whether Zheng Zhizhen’s play was indeed the primary source of the Huang Chao episode remains the question, but as Zhu (1993: 42) also points out, during the Qing period the ‘three life-cycles’ theme was regularly embedded in all kinds of local operas, such as the Fujian opera Mulian san shi yin (The karmatic entanglement of Mulian’s three life-cycles) and the Shaoxing opera Jiu mu ji (Record of rescuing a mother). Therefore, giving the 18th or early 19th century as an estimate for the composition of Mulian san shi baojuan is well within reason.12

The frontispiece of the virtually identical 1885/1898 editions shows the picture of a benevolent Mulian with his monk robe, staff and alms bowl, floating on top of a cloud, his head surrounded by a halo (Fig. 2). In the left and right lower corners two fierce looking male figures are depicted. One of them is about to draw his sword with his right hand; the palm of his left hand is outstretched, as if he was striking a pose in a Chinese opera. The other figure is brandishing a large knife and in his right hand is holding an object on a string that proves to be a pig’s head on closer inspection. As the inscription in the upper right corner tells us, the images represent the incarnations of Mulian during three life-cycles (san shi; namely, as a monk, as the rebel Huang Chao, and as the butcher He Yin). Strictly speaking, the reference is only to the two images below, since the image above shows Mulian in a ‘Buddha’s body of supreme perfect enlightenment’ (chengfoshen), as is indicated to the left in combination with the epithet “(his) filial devotion has moved the will of Heaven” (xiao gan tian xin).

Consistent with the ‘three life-cycles’ theme, the text is divided into three sections (juan), that are however not of equal length: the first juan, concerning Mulian’s birth, Liu Qingti’s sinful behaviour, and Mulian’s search for her, covers 50 double

11 One of several stories that have been incorporated into Mulian plays concerns the ‘Hanged Woman’ (nü diao). See Johnson (1990: 48–52) for a vivid description of the scene in various accounts and local traditions. 12 Che Xilun (2007: 37) argues that (all?) baojuan of the Ming-Qing period, including Mulian jiu mu youming baojuan, Mulian san shi baojuan, and the manuscript versions of Mulian baojuan – irrespective of the plot system to which they belong – derive from the Yuan/Ming period Mulian jiu mu chuli diyu sheng tian baojuan and were influenced by contemporary plays and vice versa.

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Fig. 1: Title page of the “newly carved” (xin juan) Guangxu 24 (1898) edition of Mulian san shi baojuan (Zhang 1994, 27: 239). The earlier (1885) edition reprinted in Suwenxue congkan (2004, 352: 203 [title page]), on which it is in fact based and whose printing stock it uses, still bears the information “[From] woodblocks stored at the Yide Zhai Bookstore, Jinling” (金陵一得齋善書房藏板) in the left column, whereas the date of edition is given in the right column as “newly carved in the early winter of Guangxu yiyou” (光緒乙酉冬初新鎸), i.e., in 1885.

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Fig. 2: Frontispiece of Mulian san shi baojuan (96×162 mm; Suwenxue congkan 2004, 352: 205).

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folio leaves, of which 33 double leaves alone are devoted to his journey through Heaven and Hell; the short juan 2 (the Huang Chao episode) comprises no more than 8 folio pages, while the third juan (on He Yin and the ascension of mother and son to Heaven) contains 20 folio pages. Evidently, Mulian san shi baojuan, despite its inclusion of hou Mulian story matter in juan 2 and 3, shows a great degree of narrative overlapping in juan 1 with texts of the qian Mulian type such as Mulian jiu mu youming baochuan.

In the bianwen, Mulian’s mother was depicted as the great sinner who took the deliberate decision to disregard the Buddhist precepts. In Mulian san shi baojuan, Liu Qingti is seduced by her brother, who is punished accordingly. Contrary to the Western understanding of justice, this does not diminish the extent of her guilt, and the law of cause and effect remains unaffected. Compared to the restrained depiction of Liu Qingti’s fate in the bianwen texts, the depiction of her fall into Hell in Mulian san shi baojuan is much more graphic: When Mulian admonishes his mother because she has broken the five precepts (i.e., not to kill, steal, make false speech, indulge in sexual misconduct, or take intoxicants), she starts cursing and swears on her life that she had never done so. Suddenly, horse-headed demons appear and Liu Qingti collapses, bleeding from all seven orifices. Another group of ox-headed demons also arrive and try to snatch her body. During the fight that ensues, Qingti’s body is badly mangled and large parts of her skin are ripped off. In her agony, she can see a pool filled with blood, in which a large number of women are crying for mercy.13

Up to this point in the text, the prose-verse structure of the text bears much resemblance to that of the earlier bianwen. The chanted rhyming verse-sections, for instance, consist of regular four and eight heptasyllabic lines. After Liu Qingti’s death, however, the style changes radically. Folk tunes and rhymed passages of 10 characters or irregular length are inserted, and the story line now closely follows the text of Zheng Zhizhen’s play Mulian jiu mu quan shan xiwen. It has been observed in another context that “the format of singing and the tunes employed by the baojuan [are] similar to the kunqu style of operatic performance” (Grant 1989: 236), and indeed, the versified parts of Mulian san shi baojuan greatly enhance its ‘operatic character’, to use a self-coined term. The influence of contemporary Mulian operas is clearly visible and palpable.

After Liu Qingti’s death, Mulian dutifully carries out the proper burial rites. His mourning is expressed in a set of aria-like and highly retarding verse passages, in which he makes up his mind to “destroy the web of causality” and visit his mother in Heaven, where he assumes she is dwelling. His journey to the Western Heaven

13 Blood indeed plays an important part in the Mulian legend as a manifestation of ritual defile-ment, namely, Liu Qingti’s menstrual bleeding and/or the uterine blood lost during her giving birth. Mulian, the incarnate result of his mother’s sexuality, carries the obligation to atone for her and his own maculation. Owing to this religious significance, the Mulian story plays an important part in funeral rites for women (Mair 1986–87: 90; Sangren 1996: 150, 160; Idema 2001: 23f.).

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is interrupted by another ‘scene’ of highly dramatic character. The Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara (i.e., Guanyin Pusa) from his/her purple bamboo grove spots the travelling Mulian, decides to put him to the test and to this purpose transforms herself into an old woman. Together with a heavenly spirit, who has changed into her alleged daughter, she meets Mulian. The two try to persuade the monk that he should marry the daughter instead of searching in vain for his deceased mother. Mulian, however, stands firm and angrily rejects all attempts to change his mind. Only after the Bodhisattva has thus tested the strength of his filial duty, do the Bodhisattva and her companion disappear. Again, the whole scene is presented vividly, like an operatic dialogue between three characters. A variation of this scene, with the Bodhisattva and two assistants posing as a widow and her two daughters, is again presented in juan 3. Here, it is the butcher He Yin (the reincarnated Mulian) and the Daoist Wang who are being put to the test: while He steadfastly refuses, Wang assents to marry one of the daughters – and is subsequently devoured by a tiger. The scene bears much resemblance to and is obviously modelled on chapter 23 of the novel Xiyou ji (Journey to the West) or on its dramatic adaptations, in which Tripiṭaka and his companions are led into temptation by a widow and her three daughters: all the travellers resist, except for the sensual Zhu Bajie (“Piggy”) who is overwhelmed by desire and lust. The scene is also common to other baojuan of the hou Mulian type, such as the 18th/19th century Mulian baojuan (Zhu Hengfu 1993: 41).

The detailed descriptions of Mulian’s travels through twenty departments of Hell as geographically limited precincts may be rather tedious to the modern reader, since they are repetitive and do not propel the plot forward. For each, the special methods of torture are first described in detail. Mulian, using chanted dialogue, asks the ghost bailiff-in-charge to name the sins for which the souls are suffering. The bailiff then gives a detailed account and sends Mulian on to the next department, where the procedure is repeated. Yet, the almost two dozen double leaves devoted to these descriptions are an important constituent of the baojuan in that they teach and visualize to the lay believer the consequences of not adhering to the precepts of the Buddhist religion. In this sense, the text is also a piece of didactic literature. The purpose of instruction is also made explicitly clear in the opening gāthā (Chin. ji), that is to be chanted by the performer in his or her role as sermoniser:

一株真香舉起來，登壇説法把經開。

合堂男女靜心聽，降福延年無後災。14

“I raise a bunch of incense sticks, / Ascend the platform to expound the Law and explain the sutras, / All you men and women in the hall, listen with calm minds, / To invoke blessings, prolong your life and never encounter disaster.”

At the end of juan 3, the narrative likewise concludes with the exclamation

14 Zhang (1994, 27: 241); Suwenxue congkan (2004, 352: 207) [fol. 1.1a].

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讚嘆目連三世因果一編大衆諦聽照樣修行，福利無邊矣。15

“The crowd, singing the praises of the karmic effect of Mulian’s three life-cycles, has listened attentively to practise perfection by following his example. The benefits will be limitless!”

which is again followed by lengthy admonitions to adhere to the Buddhist precepts in the form of another gāthā in twenty-one lines.

When Mulian finally arrived at Avīci, as the baojuan tells us, he incautiously used too much force when striking the gates with the magic staff given to him by the Buddha Śākyamuni and thus enabled eight million sinners to escape. Mother and son see each other only briefly before Mulian is swiftly taken away by Yama and brought before the Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha. The inadvertent release of souls is also a central scene in Southern Mulian plays, but in these operatic versions it is always Zhong Kui who is called upon to recapture them (see above). In the baojuan, however, the Bodhisattva demands that Mulian himself must take care of the souls before his mother can be redeemed.

Mulian is therefore reborn as Huang Chao, the historical rebel of the late 9th century, who caused the death of countless numbers of people.16

15 Zhang (1994, 27: 392); Suwenxue congkan (2004, 352: 359) [fol. 3.19a].

By including this episode, the original Mulian story has experienced a substantial expansion, not only in terms of plot detail and length, but also of outlook and meaning. According to the baojuan, Huang Chao’s cruel behaviour and deadly rebellion was not the result of historical constellations but induced by the restoration of the course of saṃsāra, the karmic entanglement in life. Consequentially, the circumstances of Huang Chao’s birth are depicted as highly portentous: he is carried in the womb for 25 months, and it takes his mother three days to give birth, only to find that her son is a “Qilin child”: the boy has thick skin like yellow paper, eyebrows like pieces of gold, two canine teeth like fangs, three nostrils, hair on his shoulders, and other ugly features. His mother initially does not want to keep this unsightly creature but the father is so fond of his only child that he decides against her. When

16 The historical Huang Chao (d. 884) was originally a salt merchant. In 875 he joined the rebellion of Wang Xianzhi and, when the latter had been defeated and killed, became his successor. His armies devastated the whole country, and on 6 January, 881, captured the capital Chang’an, where Huang proclaimed himself Emperor and announced a new dynasty. Within a few years, the rebellion was crushed by imperial troops. In 884, while being hotly pursued by his former follower Zhu Wen (852–912), Huang Chao together with his brother committed suicide near Mount Tai. In the baojuan, Zhu Wen is mentioned as the alias name of Huang Chao. Zhu Wen had deserted in 882 and joined the imperial army with his troops. He later proclaimed himself the first Emperor of the short-lived Later Liang Dynasty (907–923; Giles 1898: 330f., no. 847; 188f., no. 475). Obviously, the author of Mulian san shi baojuan was either not too well versed in the details of Chinese history or did not care. The number of eight million people falling prey to Huang Chao in the Mulian saga is evidently a gross exaggeration of the 80,000 allegedly killed by Huang’s troops after the capture of Chang’an.

The Mulian San Shi Baojuan 155

Huang Chao grows up, he distinguishes himself by his reverent behaviour toward his parents, his learning, and his skills in the martial arts. As a young man, he decides to take part in an imperial examination held by emperor Xizong (r. 874–889). But when the emperor is confronted with his monstrous appearance, he orders Huang Chao to leave the audience hall immediately, thereby excluding him from the examination. Huang Chao’s disappointment and rage eventually culminate in rebellion and the utter destruction of Chang’an.

After the task is completed and Mulian has returned to Hell, it is discovered that not all souls had been reborn in human form but as animals, and were thus not af-fected by the killings. Mulian is therefore reborn again, this time as the butcher He Yin. The butcher eventually sends back all missing souls by slaughtering the equivalent number of pigs and sheep. He is ultimately stopped by the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara and renounces his former profession when he discovers that his own parents had also been reborn as two of the pigs about to be slaughtered. After having been put to the test for a second time by the Bodhisattva (see above), He Yin cleanses himself in a river and is transformed back into his old self. Mulian is finally granted his wish, his mother is released, and together the two ascend to Heaven, where they join Mulian’s father, who is now the Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha.

One of the prominent themes in Mulian san shi baojuan, besides Mulian’s rescue of his mother, is evidently that of karmic retribution. Yet, rebirth is no longer seen as the result of a kind of natural law, the law of cause and effect. Instead it is Yama, the king and highest official of the underworld, who dispatches men after death. This also helps in understanding the contradiction between Mulian’s saintly character and the evil deeds he has to perform in his incarnations as the slaughterer of men, Huang Chao, and the slaughterer of animals, He Yin. Mulian is ordered to do so and has no choice (cf. He Yin’s remark to the Daoist Wang that he feels driven by an innate force to kill animals although he knows that it produces bad karma; Zhang 1994, 27: 361 [fol. 3.3b]).

As large parts of the story are set in Tang period China, the domesticated Mulian of the baojuan has almost completely lost his connection to the historical Indian monk and disciple of the Buddha and has been turned into a figure that was far more accessible to the average Chinese Buddhist believer. The fantastic and hypothetical length of time to be spent in Hell (namely, up to 339,738,624×1010 years in Avīci) that Buddhist cosmology metes out to those who have sinned, has been reduced to a comprehensible 100 years, give or take, for the three life-spans that Mulian has to spend to accumulate merit and make good for his careless behaviour. Presenting a humanized picture of the Buddhist saint and resizing the fantastic doctrinal dimen-sions of Hell to fit the limited power of the human mind is easily justified by the Mahāyāna notion of upāya (expedient device; Chin. fangbian), that allows such simplifications as long as they help believers in their endeavour to escape the cycle of rebirth. The use of certain effects and techniques from operatic performance as well as the inclusion of popular motives from narrative fiction further helped to make the story even more appealing to the general believer. Yet, despite all its

156 Rüdiger Breuer

entertaining aspects, which were part of the didactic agenda, Mulian san shi baojuan and other realizations of the Mulian story serve a serious religious purpose. As Mu-lian san shi baojuan and related texts can demonstrate, the Mulian story in its late realizations has moved away from its sober beginnings and evolved into a narrative that successfully engages audiences on a very personal and emotional level.

Glossary Abi Diyu 阿鼻地獄 Bailian 白蓮 Baishe zhuan 白蛇傳 baiwen 白文 Bao En Feng Pen Jing 報恩奉盆經 Bao Zheng 包拯 baochan 寳懺 baojing 寳經 baojuan 寳卷 baochuan 寳傳 bianwen 變文 bianxiang 變相 bingxu 丙戌 Can Tang Wudai shi 殘唐五代史 chan 讖 chengfoshen 成佛身 cihua 詞話 Da Muganlian mingjian jiu mu bian-

wen 大目幹連冥間救母變文 Da Qingti 打青提 Diyu juan 地獄卷 Dizang Pusa benyuan jing 地藏菩薩

本願經 falun 法論 fangbian 方便 fen 分 Fo Shuo Yulanpen Jing 佛說盂蘭盆經 foqu 佛曲 Fu Yuanwai 傅員外 Guanyin Pusa 觀音菩薩 guci 鼓詞 gushu 鼓書 guzici 鼓子詞 guzidiao 鼓子調 He Yin 賀因

Hongwu 洪武 hou Mulian 後目連 Huang Chao 黃巢 Huang shi 黃氏 jiangjing 講經 ji 偈 jing 經 Jingjiang 靖江 Jiu mu ji 救母記 keyi 科儀 lianhualao 蓮花落 Liu Qingti 劉青提 Luo Qing 羅清 Luobo 蘿蔔 (蘿卜) Meng Jiangnü 孟姜女 Mugalüe 目伽略 Mugaluo 目伽羅 Muganlian 目幹連 Mujianlian 目犍連 Mulian 目連 (目蓮) Mulian ji 目連記 Mulian jiu mu chuli diyu sheng tian bao-

juan 目連救母出離地獄生天寶卷 Mulian jiu mu quan shan xiwen 目連

救母勸善戲文 Mulian jiu mu xing xiao xiwen 目蓮救

母行孝戲文 Mulian jiu mu youming baochuan 目

連救母幽冥寶傳 Mulian san shi yin 目連三世因 Mulian san shi yinyuan 目連三世因緣 muyushu 木魚書 namo 南無 nianfo 念佛 nü diao 女吊

The Mulian San Shi Baojuan 157

pin 品 Putian 莆田 qian Mulian 前目連 qingguan 清官 Quan shan jinke 勸善金科 qupai 曲牌 san shi 三世 Sanzang 三藏 shuochang 説唱 shuo jing 說經 suqu 俗曲 tanci 彈詞 tanhuang 灘簧 Tuotuo 脫脫 Wang Xianzhi 王仙之 wujie 五戒 Wusheng Laomu 無生老母 xiao gan tian xin 孝感天心 Xiaoshi Jin’gang keyi 銷釋金剛科儀 Xing xiaodao Mulian jiu mu 行孝道目

連救母

Xiwangmu 西王母 xin juan 新鎸 xuan juan 宣卷 xuanjuantai 宣卷檯 yingxi 影戲 yuanqi 緣起 Yulanpen jing 盂蘭盆經 zan 讚 Zhang Zhao 張照 Zhejiang 浙江 Zhenbao She 珍寶社 Zheng Zhizhen 鄭之珍 zhenjing 真經 Zhong Kui 鍾馗 Zhongyuan 中元 Zhu Bajie 豬八戒 Zhu Wen 朱溫 zhuan 傳 Zhufahu 竺法護 zhugongdiao 諸宮調 zidishu 子弟書

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Appendix I: Synopsis of Mulian san shi baojuan [juan 1] Fu Yuanwai is married to Liu Qingti. From his youth on, he has cultivated him-

self, given food to the monks, read the sutras and called upon the Buddha. One day, a monk comes to his house and begs for a radish. When the monk eats it, he an-nounces his imminent death and dies there and then. Yuanwai buys a coffin for the dead monk, whose ghost returns in a dream to thank him. The monk-ghost also goes to the back-chamber to thank Yuanwai’s wife. At that moment, Yuanwai wakes with a start and is told that his wife has just given birth to a son. Remembering the miraculous events, the couple decides to call their son Radish (Luobo).

One day, two monks come to visit Yuanwai and announce that he is going to as-cend to Heaven owing to his accumulated merits. Yuanwai leaves his wife with 3000 strings of cash, instructing her to spend 1000 strings on Buddhist masses, 1000 on donations to the monks and the poor, and 1000 strings on the management of the household. He also admonishes her to always observe a vegetarian diet and never to break the five precepts, i.e., not to kill, steal, drink alcohol, lie, or perform immoral sexual acts. After that, he ascends to Heaven, accompanied by Golden Boys and Jade Girls. Mulian alias Radish also bids farewell to his mother, Liu Qingti, and joins a temple, where he practices self-cultivation. His mother at first continues to read the sutras and to call on the Buddha. One day, however, her brother, a merchant, comes to visit and, telling her about old Daoists who gave up the vegetarian diet, eventually persuades her to do so as well. From that time on, Liu Qingti has animals killed for her meals day after day, drinks wine, enjoys songs and dance, stops reciting sutras, and swears at begging monks.

This behaviour continues for some time, but one day, her son’s return is an-nounced. Liu Qingti cleans the whole house, lights incense, and sets up a room for sutra recitation. Mulian is at first deceived, but neighbours tell him the truth. When he admonishes his mother, she starts to curse and swears that she wished to die

The Mulian San Shi Baojuan 161

immediately if she had really broken the five precepts. Suddenly, horse-headed ghosts appear and Liu Qingti indeed passes away, bleeding from her seven orifices. Another group of ox-headed ghosts tries to snatch Qingti’s ghostly body. During the fight between horse- and ox-headed ghosts, her body is completely torn apart and her skin partly ripped off. In her pain, Qingti can see a pool filled with blood, with many crying women in it. She is then dragged to Hell by Yakṣas and brought in front of King Yama, judge of the underworld. Asked why she had broken the precepts, Qingti duly answers that she had been seduced by her brother. Her brother is brought in as well and is sentenced to be reborn and slaughtered six times as a domestic animal. Qingti, however, is condemned to spend 10,000 years in Avīci, the hell of incessant suffering.

Meanwhile on earth, Mulian properly carries out the burial rites for his mother and weeps for several days and nights. During mourning, he resolves to ‘destroy the web of causality’ and to visit his mother in Heaven where he thinks she is dwelling. Mulian takes leave of everybody and sets out for the Western Heaven. The Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara (Guanshiyin Pusa) from his/her purple bamboo grove spots the wandering Mulian and decides to lead him into temptation. To this purpose, she transforms herself into an old woman and, together with a heavenly spirit transformed into her alleged daughter, meets Mulian. Both of them try to convince the monk that it would be better for him to marry the daughter instead of searching in vain for his deceased mother. Mulian, however, stands firm and angrily rejects all attempts to change his mind. Having thus put his filial duty to the test, the Bodhisattva and her companion vanish.

Finally, Mulian reaches the Stream of Heaven, which separates the earthly world from the celestial regions. In his despair, but faithful to his duty, he jumps into the water and thus immediately discards his carnal body and is transformed into a spiritual being. After a long journey, he finally stands before the Buddha Śākyamuni. The Buddha tells him that his father is not in one of the heavens, but has become the Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha, who resides in Hell, and that his mother, Liu Qingti, has had to go to Hell. As Mulian starts to cry, the Buddha advises him to perform good deeds. He also presents Mulian with a robe, an alms bowl, nine strings of pearls and a monk’s staff. With these, he is told to go to the underworld and carefully (!) knock at the gate of the hell in which his mother is suffering.

Mulian accordingly enters Hell, passes the Gate of Ghosts and wanders through all the different departments. The special methods of torture in each of these depart-ments are described in detail. Each time, Mulian asks the ghost bailiff-in-charge for which sins the souls have to suffer. The bailiff then gives a detailed account and, when asked for Liu Qingti, answers that there had indeed been a woman by that name, but that she had already been escorted by Yakṣas to another department. The hells described are: the Terrace of the Sin Mirror [孽鏡台], the High Mountain [破錢山], the Pavilion of Removed Clothes [剝衣亭], the Cold Ice Pond [寒冰池], the Ghost Chicken Mountain [神雞山], the Place of Transformed Animals [變牲所], the Scalding Oil Pots [油鍋], the Soiling Blood Pond [血污池], the Slippery Oil Moun-

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tain [滑油山], the Missing Home Platform [望鄉台], the City of the Unjustly Dead [枉死城], the Mountain of Knives [刀山], the Vicious Dogs Village [惡犬村], the House of Hag Meng [孟婆店], the Bridge of Nothing-to-be-done [奈何橋], and sev-eral more, and, at last, the Hell of Incessant Suffering or Avīci.

Having arrived at Avīci, where his mother is being held and tortured, Mulian strikes the gate with the Buddha’s staff. He does so with such force that the door shatters and all the souls in this hell manage to escape and are reborn. Mother and son fall into each other’s arms. The Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha, having heard the loud noise of Mulian bursting open the door, dispatches King Yama to make inquiries. Yama arrests Mulian and brings him before the Bodhisattva, who tells Mulian that because he had misused the staff, eight million souls have escaped. Kṣitigarbha then commands that Mulian be reborn as Huang Chao, the Tang Dynasty rebel, to ‘recollect’ those souls and bring them back to Avīci.

[juan 2] A salt merchant by the name of Huang Zongdan marries, but the couple remains

childless. One day when the two are out walking, they spot a little boy in yellow garments who suddenly disappears. The two interpret this apparition as a sign that Heaven has taken pity on them and has put a “Qilin child” in the mother’s womb. And indeed, after twenty-five months of pregnancy and three days of labour, the woman gives birth to a boy that has thick skin like yellow paper, eyebrows like pieces of gold, two canine teeth like fangs, three nostrils, hair on his shoulders, and several other ugly features. The wife at first does not want to keep this unsightly creature, but the father is so fond of his only child that he opposes her. The child is given the name Huang Chao. When the boy grows up, he distinguishes himself by his reverential behaviour toward his parents, his learning, and his skills in the martial arts. As a young man, Huang Chao hears about an examination held by the emperor Xizong in the capital of Chang’an. Huang Chao decides to take part in this examination and travels to Chang’an, where he soon wins fame as a fine archer. The emperor wishes to see him, but when confronted with his monstrous appearance, orders Huang Chao to leave the audience hall immediately, thereby excluding him from the examination.

The story then continues in a monastery outside the city compounds. One evening, one of the monks there by the name of Liaokong burns incense in one of the temple rooms and notices that the oil for the altar lamps is missing. His apprentice assures him that he never forgot to refill the oil. To catch the thief, Liaokong hides in the temple hall, and indeed, around midnight, he observes two ghosts trying to steal the oil. The ghosts, caught in the very act, tell him that they are envoys dispatched from the underworld. The oil is needed to make lists containing the names of all the eight million people who are going to die very soon. They also tell the monk that it is he who is going to die first. Liaokong

The Mulian San Shi Baojuan 163

beseeches the ghosts to spare his life, whereupon they tell him that he should obtain a promise from Huang Chao not to kill him.

The next day, a disappointed Huang Chao arrives at the temple to look for a place to stay. The abbot is already waiting for him, begging for the life of his monk Liaokong. Huang Chao, bewildered but in some way sensing his special mission, promises to spare the monk. At night, Huang Chao, when walking through the monastic garden, is given a precious sword by a celestial spirit who commands him to kill eight million people with it. The next day, he advises the abbot to hide together with all the monks in order to stay alive. The monks do so, among them the monk Liaokong who hides in a dry tree trunk. At noon of the following day, Huang Chao starts his cruel business. As he cannot find anybody in the monastery, he decides to vent his anger on a dead tree and thus, accidentally, kills his first victim, Liaokong. On his way to Chang’an, he meets a group of “several thousand” men who also had not passed the examination, persuades them to join him, and together they rush to the capital, murdering many people. Huang Chao captures Chang’an, declares himself to be a prince by the name of Zhu Wen, marries one of the emperor’s younger sisters, and flees from the palace with her. A great battle ensues between Huang Chao and his men on the one side and the followers of the imperial dynasty on the other, in the course of which eight million soldiers and civilians lose their lives. Eventually, he is defeated and has to retreat to a mountain valley, where an envoy from the underworld takes away his sword. Huang Chao kills himself in despair. At the very moment of his death, his soul re-enters the underworld and is re-transformed into Mulian standing before the Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha asking for his mother to be set free. Before the Bodhisattva can assent, King Yama intervenes explaining that Mulian still has to bring back numerous pig and sheep souls which he allowed to escape. Mulian is therefore reborn again, this time as the butcher He Yin.

[juan 3] In Chang’an, Madame Xiao, married to the butcher He Xiang, gives birth to a

son whom they call He Yin. As a child, He Yin has to go to school but is unable to commit things to memory, his only skill being the butchering of pigs and sheep. Grown up, he is soon married to a beautiful wife. His parents die shortly afterwards so that the couple has to take over the business. Opposite from He Yin’s shop lives Wang Shan, called “Daoist Wang”, because he observes a vegetarian diet, reads the Holy Scriptures, and calls upon the Buddha. Every morning at exactly the same time, Wang gets up and by loudly chanting the sutras also wakes He Yin who then proceeds to slaughter pigs and sheep. In their conversations, Daoist Wang tries to persuade He Yin to give up his sinful trade, but the butcher answers that he has no choice: “Whenever I see a domestic animal, I somehow have to kill it.”

164 Rüdiger Breuer

In the meantime, Avalokiteśvara notices that Mulian’s karma is depleted and de-cides to exchange He Yin and Daoist Wang for two other people. She transforms herself into a monk and stays at Wang’s house as a welcome guest. That night, Wang and the monk are engaged in fruitful discussions so that the Daoist for the first time in a long time does not chant the sutras. Thus, He Yin only wakes up when an angry customer who had ordered meat knocks on his door. Angry, He Yin rushes over to the Daoist’s house and there meets the monk. The monk pretends to be interested in butchering animals and follows the horrified Daoist and the disbelieving He Yin to the pigsties. There, he loudly commands: “He Xiang, come out to be slaughtered.” At this, one of the pigs starts to weep, comes out and lies down in front of the Bodhisattva. He Yin, startled, begs him to spare this pig. Again, the Bodhisattva orders a pig to come out. This time it is He Yin’s mother, Madame Xiao. At that point, He Yin is converted and promises never again to kill a sentient being. The Daoist and the former butcher then decide to accompany the monk to the mountains to cultivate themselves.

On their way, the Bodhisattva wants to test the spiritual qualifications of her companions and orders three demons to assume the form of an old woman and her two daughters who invite the group to stay in their house. In the evening, the woman starts talking about her old age and that she is looking for two young men to marry her daughters. The monk also pretends to agree with the idea and even acts as a go-between. Whereas He Yin angrily refuses the offer, the fickle Daoist accepts. Thus the next day, only the monk and He Yin continue their way, leaving the Daoist behind. On the way, the monk suddenly remembers that he has forgotten his string of pearls and sends He Yin back to fetch it. When He Yin reaches the house, he sees how a huge tiger is about to devour the weak Daoist. Horrified, he tries to escape, but the tiger is faster. As it turns out, the beast only wants to give the string of pearls back to He Yin. The monk, of course, knows every detail of what had happened and orders the former butcher to perform a ritual cleansing by a river. In doing so, He Yin suddenly realizes that he is none other but Mulian and, looking up, recognizes the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara in her ‘body of enjoyment’ (yingshen 應身, Skt. sambhogakāya). Two celestial children in blue garments then escort him to the underworld where he is received by the Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha. Mulian is again given his monk staff to knock at the gate of Avīci. This time, he is careful, and as soon as Mulian’s mother is out, the door is closed again. Mulian feeds his mother and then accompanies her to the Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha. The family is reunited and the three of them, shedding tears of joy, together ascend to Heaven.

The Mulian San Shi Baojuan 165

Appendix II: Extant copies of Mulian baojuan Collated from Che (2000: 164–168, 224), Hu (1984: 102f.), Li (1961: items 273–281, 332) and various articles. Numbers in square brackets refer to the entries in Che (2000). Mulian baojuan 目連寶卷; 6 ch. (hui 回) in 2 pts. (qianji 前集, houji 後集) [#0685]:

· Late Qing ms., Shaoxing 紹興 (2 fasc.) [Yangzhou Daxue] Mulian baojuan 目連寶卷; 6 ch. in 2 pts. (qianji, houji) [#0686]:

· 1929 ms. by Yang Tingzhang 楊廷章 (1 fasc.) [Suzhou Xiqu Bowuguan] · 1937 ms. by Wanshou Tang Baodian Chen 萬壽堂包殿臣 (1 fasc.) [Zheng-

zhou Daxue] · undated old ms. (2 fasc.) [Shanghai Tushuguan] · undated old ms. (1st fasc. only) [Yangzhou Daxue] · undated old ms. by He Wenkui 何文魁 (1 fasc.) [Renmin Daxue (Beijing)] · undated old ms. (1 fasc.) [Heilongjiang Daxue (Harbin)] · undated old ms. (1 fasc., 2 copies) [Suzhou Xiqu Bowuguan]

[Mulian baojuan 目連寶卷]; 6 ch. in 2 pts. (ji 集) [#0687]:

· Qing ms. in imitation of Ming printed ed. (1 fasc., incomplete) [Tianjin Shehui Kexueyuan]

Mulian baojuan quanji 目連寶卷全集 (alternative titles: Chan mu sheng tian Mu-lian juan 懺母升天目連卷, Mulian baojuan 目連寶卷); 6 ch. in 2 pts. (ji) [#0688]:

· 1877 printed ed., publ. by Manao Si Mingtai Jingfang 瑪瑙寺明台經房, Hang-cheng 杭城 [Hangzhou], with anon. preface (1 fasc.) [Shanghai Tushuguan; Fudan Daxue (Shanghai); Beijing Shifan Daxue; Diet Library (Tōkyō)]

· 1900 rpt. by same publisher (1 fasc.) [Suzhou Xiqu Bowuguan, Hebei Daxue (Baoding)]

· 3 undated old printed eds. (1 fasc.) [Shandong Daxue (Ji’nan); Diet Library (Tōkyō)]

Mulian jiu mu baojuan 目連救母寶卷 (alternative title: Huang Chao baojuan 黃巢寶卷); 2 parts (juan 卷) [#0689]: · 1912 lithographic ed. with preface by Mingzhai Shanren 明齋山人 plus app.

“Shi quan xianliang” 十勸賢良 (1 fasc.) [Tianjin Shehui Kexueyuan]

166 Rüdiger Breuer

· 1921 lithographic ed., publ. by Wenyi Shuju 文益書局, Shanghai (2 fasc.) [Shanghai Tushuguan; Suzhou Xiqu Bowuguan; Zhongguo Shehui Kexueyuan (Beijing); Beijing Shifan Daxue; Dongbei Shifan Daxue (Changchun); Fu Sinian Tushuguan, Zhongyang Yanjiuyuan (Taibei); Beijing Tushuguan; Tianjin She-hui Kexueyuan]

· Republican period lithographic ed., publ. by Xiyin Shuju 惜陰書局, Shang-hai (2 fasc.) [lost]

· Republican period lithographic ed. (2nd fasc. only) [Suzhou Xiqu Bowuguan] Mulian jiu mu youming baochuan 目連救母幽冥寶傳 (short titles: Youming bao-chuan 幽冥寶傳, Youming chuan 幽冥傳; alternative titles: Mulian jiu mu bao-juan目連救母寶卷, Mulian seng jiu mu youming baojuan 目連僧救母幽冥寶卷, Youming baojuan 幽冥寶卷, Youming baoxun 幽冥寶訓) [#0690]:

· 1881 printed ed. (1 fasc.) [Suzhou Xiqu Bowuguan] · 1892 rpt. by Zhang Junqing 張俊卿 (1 fasc.) [Fudan Daxue (Shanghai)] · 1893 rpt. [Fu Sinian Tushuguan; rpt. in Suwenxue congkan (2004, 352: 001–196)]; · 1898 rpt. by Hu Sizhen 胡思真, Yannan 燕南, with preface [1881] by Wang

Zuoli 王作礪, some copies with additional preface [1899] by Yi Nanzi 易南子 (1 fasc.) [Zhongguo Shehui Kexueyuan (Beijing); Zhongguo Wenlian Zi-liaoshi (Beijing); Beijing Shifan Daxue; Dongbei Shifan Daxue (Changchun); Beijing Tushuguan; Waseda Daigaku (Tōkyō)]

· 1900 ed. [Mulian jiu mu baochuan] (1 fasc.) [Shoudu Tushuguan (Beijing)] · 1909 rpt. by Fu Shantan 輔善壇, with preface by Wang Zuoli (1 fasc.) [Tian-

jin Shehui Kexueyuan] · Feb. 25, 1920 rpt. · undated printed ed. by Wang Yonglu 王鏞錄, Jiankang 建康 Prefecture, i.e.,

Gaotai 高臺, Gansu Province (1 fasc.) [Zhongguo Dunhuang Yanjiuyuan (Lanzhou)]

· undated old ms. [Youming baojuan, Mulian seng jiu mu youming baojuan] (1 fasc.) [Beijing Daxue]

Mulian jiu mu chuli diyu sheng tian baojuan 目連救母出離地獄生天寶卷 (short title: Mulian baojuan 目連寶卷) [#0691]:

· 1373 [Xuanguang 宣光 3, i.e., Hongwu 洪武 6] bichrome (gold/green) illustrated ms., donated by Mongolian Tuotuo 脫脫 (2nd fasc. only) [Beijing Tushuguan]

Mulian jiu mu sheng tian ji 目連救母生天記 (short title: Sheng tian ji 生天記) [#0692]:

· Qing ms. (1 fasc.) [Tianjin Shehui Kexueyuan]

The Mulian San Shi Baojuan 167

· 1901 ms. [Sheng tian juan 生天卷] (2 juan in 2 fasc.) [lost] Mujianlian zunzhe jiu mu tuoli diyu sheng tian baojuan 目犍連尊者救母脫離地獄升天寶卷; 3 juan [#0693]:

· Ming ms. (2nd and 3rd fasc. only) [Zhongguo Yishu Yanjiuyuan]17

Mulian san shi baojuan 目連三世寶卷 (alternative titles: Mulian jiu mu san shi baojuan 目連救母三世寶卷; San shi jiu mu Mulian baojuan三世救母目連寶卷; Mulian baojuan 目連寶卷); 3 juan [#0694]:

· 1876 printed ed., publ. by Baoshan Tang 寳善堂, Zhenjiang 鎮江 [Mulian baojuan] (1 fasc.) [Shanghai Tushuguan; Zhongguo Shehui Kexueyuan (Bei-jing); Heilongjiang Daxue (Harbin)]

· 1885 printed ed., publ. by Yide Zhai 一得齋, Jinling [Fu Sinian Tushuguan; reprinted in Suwenxue congkan (2004, 352: 197–362)]

· 1886 printed ed., publ. by Leshan Tang 樂善堂, Changzhou 常州 (1 fasc.) [Nankai; Dongbei Shifan Daxue (Changchun)]

· 1886 printed ed., publ. by Peiben Tang 培本堂, Changzhou 常州 (1 fasc.) [Beijing Tushuguan; Zhongguo Shehui Kexueyuan (Beijing); Zhengzhou Da-xue; Suzhou Daxue; Lanzhou Daxue]

· 1898 rpt. of 1885 Yide Zhai edition (1 fasc.) [formerly in the collection of Deng Suining 鄧綏寧, Taiwan; reprinted in Zhang (1994, 27: 239–395)]

· 1906 printed ed., publ. by Wenkui Ge 文魁閣 (1 fasc.) [Dongbei Shifan Daxue (Changchun)]

· 1909 printed ed., publ. by Manao Jingfang 瑪瑙經房, Gusu 姑蘇 [Suzhou] (1 fasc.) [Beijing Tushuguan; Beijing Shifan Daxue; Suzhou Xiqu Bowuguan; Kyōto Daigaku; Waseda Daigaku (Tōkyō)]

· 1909 rpt. of this ed., included in Manao Jingfang congshu 瑪瑙經房叢書 [Renmin Daxue (Beijing)]

· 1921 ms. by Hu Fengqi 胡鳳岐 [San shi jiu mu Mulian baojuan] (1 fasc.) [Zhengzhou Daxue]

· 1922 printed ed., publ. by Yihua Tang Shanshufang 翼化堂善書房, Shang-hai [Mulian baojuan] (1 fasc.) [Shanghai Tushuguan; Fudan Daxue (Shang-hai); Shanghai Pingtantuan Ziliaoshi; Yangzhou Daxue; Beijing Daxue; Zhongguo Wenlian Ziliaoshi (Beijing); Beijing Tushuguan]

· 1922 lithographic ed. by Hongda Shanshu Ju 宏大善書局, Shanghai (1 fasc.) [Shanghai Tushuguan; Academy of Sciences (St. Petersburg); Tianjin Shehui Kexueyuan; Waseda Daigaku (Tōkyō); Fudan Daxue (Shanghai)]

· undated old printed ed. [Beijing Shifan Daxue] 17 According to Che (2000: 167, 467) this baojuan, formerly in the private collection of Fu Xihua, is lost, but Dai Yun (2005: 94) quotes from it.

168 Rüdiger Breuer

· unspecified ed. [Dalian Shi Tushuguan] · edited text, based on 1886 Peiben Tang edition, included in Hexi baojuan xuan 河

西寶卷選 (ed. Duan Ping 段平, 2 vols., Taibei: Xinwenfeng Chuban Gongsi, 1992)

San shi jiu mu Mulian ji quanzhuan 三世救母目連記全傳 (alternative title: Mulian jiu mu san shi de dao quanben 目連救母三世得道全本) [#0913]:

· 1907 lithographic ed., publ. by Yin Yuji Shuzhuang 殷裕記書莊 (2 fasc.) [Beijing Shifan Daxue]

· Republican period lithographic ed. by Liu Deji 劉德記 (1 fasc.) [lost] · Republican period lithographic ed., publ. by Chunyin Shuju 椿蔭書局 ,

Shanghai (1 fasc.) [lost] Other texts of various genres, not listed in Che Xilun (2000):

· Mulian baojuan drama libretto, stored at Nengren Temple [能仁寺] in Xigou Village [西沟乡], Hui-Tu Autonomous County [民和回族土族自治县] (Luo Jinlian 2006: 56)

· Jiaqing 21 (1816) ed. from the Hexi region · Mulian ji 目連記, Late Qing [?] copy (extant: 64 ch. of originally 400 ch.

[回] in 32 [200] juan, grouped in 8 [50] parts [部] as 8 [50] fasc.) [Shoudu Tushuguan]. This was classified by Zhu Hengfu (1993: 39) as a baojuan, but it is rather a guci, owing to formal reasons (Dai 2005).

· San shi yinguo Mulian jiu mu baojuan 三世因果目連救母寶卷, a widely spread typeset edition publ. by Ruicheng Shuju 瑞成書局, Taizhong (being the oldest publisher in Taiwan).