Baojuan (宝卷 ''bǎojuǎn''), literally precious scrolls, are a genre of prosimetric texts (texts written in an alternation of prose and verse) of a

religious Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatur ...

mystical Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in u ...

nature, produced within the context of

Chinese folk religion Chinese folk religion, also known as Chinese popular religion comprehends a range of traditional religious practices of Han Chinese, including the Chinese diaspora. Vivienne Wee described it as "an empty bowl, which can variously be filled ...

and individual Chinese folk religious sects. They are often written in vernacular Chinese and recount the

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narra ...

surrounding a deity or a hero, or constitute the

theological Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the s ...

and

philosophical Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

scriptures of organized folk sects. ''Baojuan'' is a type of performative text or storytelling found in China that emphasizes worship of ancient deities from Buddho-Daoist sects often recounting stories concerning suffering or apocalyptical scenarios. Due to the fact that ''Baojuan'' was not considered a serious art-form for most of its existence, nonlinear records of baojuan make it difficult to credit writers, actors, and other contributors to the genre because very little, if any, mark of these individuals exist.

Background

The modern study of “precious scrolls” (''baojuan'' 寶卷) can be said to begin with the publication by Zheng Zhenduo 鄭振鐸 of his “Foqu xulu” 佛曲敘錄, which is a catalogue of Buddhist songs. In 1927 in Zhongguo wenxue yanjiu 中國文學研究 tudies on Chinese Literature An explicit start date for ''Baojuan'' is not known but scholars generally place it on a timeline in three parts: a first (early), second (middle), and third (late) period with each period corresponding to a new development within the genre. The date range looked at by scholars begins in the 13th century (Ming) and ends in the early 20th century (Qing) with the three periods separated as follows: 13th-15th being designated as the early period, the 16th-18th date range being designated as the middle period, and ending finally with the 19th-20th centuries being designated as the late period. Within each period there were notable developments within ''Baojuan'' literature from its earliest inception during the early period as simply "propagating" Buddhist beliefs to the late period where it takes on a new and secular foothold within the culture of areas where it was most practiced (Jiangsu Province). ''Baojuan'' is still found today in parts of China - most notably Changshu city located in Jiangsu Province - sometimes called "telling scriptures." "Telling scriptures" refers to special groups of actors or individuals who may perform ''Baojuan'' stories as plays or recitations to common folk of the town in temples or other places. This type of storytelling emphasizes Buddhist teachings and morals but has also been known to highlight historical figures.

List

* The Precious Scroll of the Immortal Maiden Equal to Heaven * The Precious Scroll of Mulian Rescuing his Mother in Three Rebirths

References

Chinese folk religious texts Chinese culture Chinese Buddhist texts Taoist texts {{China-myth-stub