On the Categorization and Characteristics of the Xiangxi Baojuan

Liu Xiaorong　　Zhang Xiancheng

DOI：10.3969/j.issn.1674-9391.2020.04.010 Abstract：Baojuan （or Precious Volumes） were a kind of literary form for disseminating religion which evolved from the bianwen， an ancient vernacular literary form written partly in prose and partly in verse that emerged in the Tang and Five Dynasties. The baojuan were scriptures/texts for traditional Chinese religions that were separate from classic Buddhist sutras and Taoist scriptures（Li， 2019， p.247）. The source of the baojuan is very ancient， and， in the process of their historical evolution， they were integrated into the folklore traditions of different places. As such， they have become an important historical resource in the folklore literature in China. Since the 1920s， there has been a lot of controversy in academic circles about how to categorize the baojuan. For example， Zheng Zhenduo and the American scholar Daniel L. Overmeyer had two ways of categorizing them. The former divides the baojuan into “religious stories” and “nonreligious stories”（Zheng，2010， p.520） and the latter divides them into “sectarian baojuan” and “story telling Baojuan”（Overmeyer，，2012， p.10）. Other categorizations include Li Shiyu  s “three categorizations”（Li，2007，p.38）， Liu Ping  s “four categorizations”（Liu，2010， p.232）， the Japanese scholar Sawada Mizuho  s “five categorizations”;（ Sawada，1997，p.273-274）， and Che Xilun  s “two categorizations and eight subcategorizations” （Che，2009， p.5-16） etc. These categorizations of the baojuan are either very general and complicated， or overlapping.

Xiangxi is a mixed ethnic minority area dominated by the Tujia and Miao. This area was the first barrier encountered by the Central Plains culture when they settled in the area of the southwestern civilizations. Thus， this area， in addition to receiving early influence from the Central Plains culture， it also， due to its unique mountainous terrain laced with rivers， preserved its local folk customs relatively completely. It， thus， shaped a kind of regional cultural form that was both open， yet relatively closed. Therefore， as an important carrier of Xiangxi folk customs， the baojuan， which were introduced and preserved in the Xiangxi region， have unique local characteristics based upon their inheriting the common characteristics of the Chinese baojuan. Therefore， we believe that the categorization of the Xiangxi baojuan cannot completely copied using standards drawn up by predecessors， but they should be considered from the perspectives of “their historical stages， religious nature， and their prosimetric process”. First， from the perspective of the historical stages of the baojuan， the historical span of the Xiangxi baojuan is particularly long. There are not only baojuan from the “new baojuan era”， but there are also the earliest master copies from the “ancient baojuan era”. The baojuan from the “ancient baojuan era” of Xiangxi are mostly from “the era when sectarian Baojuan were more prevalent” and “the period when the Baojuan declined”. After beginning of the Republic of China （1912）， a wealth of keyi baojuan were created in “the new baojuan era”. These were in line with the funeral and sacrificial rites in Xiangxi， and this was a unique feature which differed from other regions. Second， from the perspective of the attributes of folk religion， the Xiangxi baojuan contain content from three kinds of religions， which is similar to the baojuan in other regions of the country. These are namely， Buddhist， Taoist and Confucian. In addition， there is also a new type of baojuan which integrates the “Three Religions” from the Central Plains， with local folk beliefs， folk culture （especially sorcery and Nuo traditions）， and folk songs. We call these baojuan which combine Xiangxi folk beliefs with the “Three Religions”. This kind of baojuan is very rare in other regions; Third， according to the classification of those written alternatively in prose and verse， the Xiangxi baojuan are only used during local funeral and sacrificial activities. Therefore， the baojuan introduced from the Central Plains into Western Hunan were adapted into a large number of Keyi volumes suitable for both speaking and chanting during funeral and sacrificial rites in Xiangxi. Most of them were used for funeral ceremonies. We can classify them into ten categories， including opening altar， inviting the gods and scriptures， bathing and crossing bridges， blood lake rites（especially for woman who die from giving birth）， rites for worshipping the ten kings in the hell， rites for sending petitions （to the earth， officials so as to reach heaven）， relief， paying a debt of gratitude， scattering flowers and sending off the gods. This is also a feature that the baojuan in the other areas don  t have.

In the article we try to show the characteristics of the categories of the Xiangxi Baojuan from many aspects. However， since the classification criteria are not unique， some categories may overlap and are found within each other. This phenomenon is inevitable. Even though we try to use the method of mutual participation to solve this problem， because of the large number and wide coverage of the Xiangxi baojuan， the research on the categories of Xiangxi baojuan still needs to be further explored and sorted out.

Key Words：sorting the folk literature; Xiangxi baojuan; categories of baojuan; ethnic culture; history of folklore

References：

Che Xilun.zhongguo baojuan yanjiu （Research on Chinese Baojuan）. Guilin： guangxi shifan daxue chubanshe， 2009.

Daniel L. Overmye. baojuanshiliu zhi shiqi shiji zhongguo zongjiao jingjuan daolun （Precious Volumes： An Introduction to Chinese Sectarian Scriptures from the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries）. Ma Rui， transl. Beijing：zhongyang bianyi chubanshe，2012.

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