A Rare Early Manuscript of the Mulian Story in Thebaojuan(precious Scroll) Genre Preserved in Russia, and Its Place in the History of the Genre

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The main purpose of this article is to introduce a rare early manuscript of a baojuan (precious scroll; a genre of Chinese popular religious storytelling) text preserved in Russia and to demonstrate its importance in the history of this genre. The text in question is an incomplete (three of four volumes have survived) illustratedmanuscript entitledBaojuan of ReverendMaudgaly ayanaRescuingHisMother [so that she]EscapesHell and IsReborn in Heaven (Mujianlian zunzhe jiu mu chuli diyu sheng tian baojuan目犍連尊者救母出離地 獄生天寶卷; hereafter Baojuan of Maudgaly ayana). The manuscript is dated to 1440. Baojuan are prosimetric texts that were recited to a lay audience mainly for the purpose of religious instruction. At the earliest period of the history of this genre (ca. 13th–15th centuries), baojuanwere intended to propagate Buddhist doctrine, but as time passed various folk sects composed their own scriptures in baojuan form. Baojuan of Maudgaly ayana was originally kept in a private Russian collection, so it remained practically unknown to the Chinese and Japanese scholars doing research on baojuan. Although there are several studies published in China and Japan that pay considerable attention to early baojuan dealing with the Mulian story, their authors 1 The author would like to thank Professors Kira F. Samosyuk and Maria L. Menshikova of the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, and Che Xilun 車錫倫 and Liu Zhen 劉禎 of The Chinese Academy of Arts (Zhongguo yishu yanjiu yuan 中國藝術研究院), Beijing, for their assistance while I was working on this article. 2 In the version of the title given at the end of the manuscript, the first five characters are replaced by ‘‘Mulian’’ 目連. 3 Most important are Zheng Zhenduo 鄭振鐸, Zhongguo su wenxue shi 中國俗文學史 (History of Chinese popular literature; Beijing: Dongfang chubanshe, 1996 reprint; 1st published, Changsha: Commercial Press, 1938), pp. 486–95; Liu Zhen劉禎, ‘‘Mulian jiu mu yu baojuan xingcheng’’目連救母 與寶卷形成 ([The story] ofMulian rescuing his mother and the formation of baojuan),Zhongguominjian Mulian wenhua 中國民間目連文化 (Chinese Mulian folk culture; Chengdu: Ba Shu shushe, 1997), pp. 241–57; Che Xilun車錫倫,Zhongguo baojuan yanjiu中國寶卷研究 (Research on Chinese Baojuan; Guilin: Guangxi shifan daxue, 2009), pp. 72–76 and 491–96; Yoshikawa Yoshikazu吉川良和, ‘‘‘Ky u bo ky o’ to ‘Ky u bo h okan’ noMokurenmono ni kansuru setsuch o gein o teki shiron’’救母經と救母寶卷の目 連物に関する説唱藝能的試論 (Preliminary discussion of the storytelling art characteristics concerning the story of Mulian in S utra of Rescuing Mother and Baojuan of Rescuing Mother), Shakaigaku kenky u 社會學研究 (Studies in Social Sciences; annual bulletin of Hitotsubashi University) 41 (2003.2): 61– 135, and ‘‘‘Ky u bo ky o’ to ‘Sei ten h okan’ no seisho nendai sh oken’’ 救母經と生天寶卷の成書年代商榷 (Discussion of the time of composition of the S utra of Rescuing Mother and the Baojuan of Rebirth in Heaven), Jinbun kenky u人文研究 (Studies in theHumanities [KanagawaUniversity]) 155 (2005.3): 9–43; Beata Grant and Wilt L. Idema, trs., Escape from Blood Pond Hell: The Tales of Mulian and Woman Huang (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2011), ‘‘Introduction,’’ p. 9. CHINOPERL: Journal of Chinese Oral and Performing Literature 32.2 (December 2013): 109–131