These translations of "The Precious Scroll of the Three Lives of
Mulian" and "Woman Huang Recites the Diamond Sutra" are
late-nineteenth-century examples of baojuan (literally, "precious
scrolls"), a Chinese folk genre featuring alternating verse and
prose that was used by monks to illustrate religious precepts for
lay listeners. They represent only two of numerous versions of
these legends, composed in a variety of genres, which were once
popular all over China. While the seeds of the Mulian legend, in
which a man rescues his mother from hell, can be found in Indian
Buddhist texts, the story of Woman Huang, who seeks her own
salvation, appears to be indigenous to China.
With their graphic portrayals of the underworld; dramatization
of Buddhist beliefs about death, salvation, and rebirth; and frank
discussion of women's responsibility for sin, these texts provide
detailed and powerful descriptions of popular religious beliefs and
practices in late imperial China, especially as they relate to
women.
Beata Grant is professor of Chinese language and literature at
Washington University, and author of "Eminent Nuns: Woman Chan
Masters of Seventeenth-Century China" and coauthor of "The Red
Brush: Writing Women of Imperial China." Wilt L. Idema is professor
of Chinese literature at Harvard University. His recent
publications include "Meng Jiangnu Brings Down the Great Wall: Ten
Versions of a Chinese Legend" and "Heroines of Jiangyong: Chinese
Narrative Ballads in Women's Script."
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