Abstracts

*(year published, total pages).

No. 1. Zhongguo nuoxi nuowenhua ziliao huibian中國儺戲儺文化資料匯編 (source materials on nuo plays and nuo culture in China) (1993, 439 p.)*

Editor: Yang Qixiao楊啟孝

       In recent years there has been a strong trend among scholars in China to conduct research on atavistic survivals and the shamanistic substratum of Chinese culture－commonly referred to as nuo culture, after the classical ritual of exorcism. Particular attention has been paid in this regard to masked ritual plays－nuo plays－and the rituals of local cults. The present volume is one of the fruits of that movement.

       It is divided into four parts: 1) a selection of passages from pre-modern sources on nuo culture, 2) a selection of materials on pre-modern nuo rituals, taken from local gazetteers of Guizhou province, 3)  a collection of materials on various forms of nuo plays, and, 4)       abstracts of recent research publications on nuo plays and nuo culture.

       Many scholars took part in the compilation of materials for this volume. Sources are as ancient as the Qin dynasty, and as recent as the Republican period. All passages have been freshly punctuated and annotated. There is a bibliography of journal articles and conference papers on nuo plays and nuo culture arranged chronologically and covering the years 1953 to 1992.

No. 2. Mulian ziliao bianmu gailue目連資料編目概略 (an outline catalogue of materials on Mulian plays) (1993, 371 p.)

Editor: Mao Gengru茆耕茹

       The subject of this book is the cycle of plays that present the story of the monk Mulian (Maudgalyayana) and his journey to hell to rescue the soul of his mother. The story of Mulian has a long history in China, and the pageants performed on or around the Ghost Festival in the seventh lunar month were a salient feature of village culture in China until the middle of the present century.

       This book is a compendium of materials on Mulian and Mulian plays. Part One has fourteen sections, with material from Buddhist sutras, bianwen變文 (transformation tales) and jiangjin講經 (sutra lectures), huaben話本 (vernacular short stories), theatrical plays, baojuan寶卷 (precious scrolls), xilian戲聯 (theatrical couplets), gazetteers, literary digests, scholarly articles, sources on the history of theatre, short notices (in newspapers, etc.), conference proceedings, and collections of articles.

       Part Two contains information about the performance texts and chumu 齣目 (scene titles) of all known Mulian plays from Anhui, Fujian, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Sichuan and Zhejiang. Three Qian Mulian前目連 (the prior Mulian) plays are discussed, sixty-three plays of the Zheng Mulian正目連 (the true story of Mulian) type, thirty plays of the Hua Mulian花目連 (the decorated Mulian) type, and fourteen “little plays” of one act each. Detailed bibliographic information is given on pre-modern editions of plays from Anhui.

       This volume was compiled by Mao Gengru. With a total length of 170,000 characters, and with detailed and precise information on all works mentioned, it is an important work of reference not only for Mulian plays, but also for Chinese popular culture in general.

No. 3. Xiwen xulu戲文敘錄 (source materials on southern plays) (1993, 321 p.)

Editors: Wang Jinshan王進珊, Zhu Jianming朱建明 and Peng Fei彭飛

       The southern drama, called variously nanxi南戲 or xiwen, is an early form of theatre that flourished in the south of China during the Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties. Its place in the history of the theatre in China has only recently begun to attract the attention it deserves.

       Nanxi is rich in the atmosphere of everyday life, and most plays portray the lives of city-dwellers in all their variety. Many plays also present material from legends or history. Unfortunately, because of prejudice from orthodox scholars and the interdictions of the court, nanxi eventually died out, leaving behind only a small number of libretti. In recent years, following the discovery of materials like Fengyue jinnang風月錦囊 (an embroidered satchel of wind and moon), valuable new materials have been added to our storehouse of information on nanxi. The present volume assembles material from the Fengyue jinnang, the Chuanqi huikao biaomu傳奇彙考標目 (a compendium catalogue of chuanqi plays), the Nanqu jiugong zhengshi南曲九宮正始  (correct origins of the nine modes of southern drama) and other sources, and presents information on the plots and textual and performance history of 390 nanxi plays. It is a useful reference for the study of Chinese theatre history and theatre music.

No. 4. Sichuan sheng Youyang Tujia zu Miao zu zizhi xian Shuanghe qu Xiaogang xiang Xinglong cun mianju yangxi四川省酉陽土家族苗族自治縣雙河區小崗鄉興隆村面具陽戲 (yangxi performed with masks－the ritual theatre of Xinglong village, Xiaogang parish, Shuanghe district, Youyang county, Sichuan) (1993, 310 p.)

Author: Duan Ming段明

       Youyang, in the wild southeastern corner of Sichuan, was in pre-modern times an area outside the civilizing influences of the Chinese state. The inhabitants worshipped spirits and local gods, and their shamans and priestesses sang and danced in costume as they danced the gods down to earth in rituals performed for the redemption of vows.  The present volume is largely devoted to the tiaoxi跳戲 (leaping play) as performed by the family of Wu Changfu吳長富, head of the Xinglong village yangxi troupe, for thanksgiving to the gods and offerings to the ancestors, and as performed by the family of Wu Changxin吳長新 of the same village for the redemption of vows and entreaties to the gods. The content and sequence of offerings and ritual are documented in concrete detail, accompanied by the explanations of the head of the “altar,” Wu Changfu. The author has supplemented this material with investigations into the ritual as a theatrical performance. Readers will be able to gain a clear picture of the ritual process and structure, and note a number of distinguishing features of this kind of ritual theatre. Two features that stand out clearly are the relative lack of emotional colour and development in the ritual, compared with the richness of the dramatic aspects of the performance; and the large number of masks that have been preserved. Apart from the female dan旦 roles, actors in all other role types continue to wear masks. The number of masks used by a single troupe may number as many as thirty.

No. 5. Sichuan Sheng Jiangbei xian Shujia xiang Shexin xun Tao zhai de Han zu jicaishen yishi四川省江北縣舒家鄉上新村陶宅的漢族祭財神儀式 (“offerings to the god of wealth,” a Chinese ritual performance by the Tao lineage of Shangxin village, Shujia parish, Jiangbei county, Sichuan) (1993, 368 p.)

Author: Wang Yao王躍

       Jiangbei is a suburban county within the confines of present-day Chongqing Municipality in south-central Sichuan. It is an area where belief in the efficacy of spirits and shamanic powers was widespread until very recently, and “licentious cults” were rife. The ritual masters who are in charge of the performance of jicaishen are a class of professional ritual specialists whom the Sichuanese call duangong端公. The first part of this study is devoted to a special examination of the multifarious roles of the duangong in local society. Jicaishen is a ritual performed for the redemption of vows. The ritual actions of the “inner altar” and the dramatic singing of the “outer altar” are interwoven in a complex pattern. The main axis on which the ritual sequence is organized is the invitation of the gods by means of the slaughter of a pig, the burning of spirit money, and the offering of incense and candles; followed by obeisance to the gods through the grand offering and offerings of chopped cooked meat; and the leave-taking, in which the gods are escorted back to heaven or re-installed in their rightful places. The author gives detailed accounts of the relationship between the officiating duangong and the celebrants on whose behalf the ritual was conducted, on the human and divine entertainment, and on the special ritual meal of meat－the so-called huishu回熟  (returning to a meal of cooked meat) and pofu破腹 (gut-buster). On the occasion documented, the Tao lineage organized seventeen separate sub-rituals of jicaishen, a scale that was most common in the locality before 1949. This shows the esteem in which the God of Wealth was held in local opinion.

No. 6. Jiangbei xian Fusheng xiang Xiemu cun Sishe Chen zhai de qingtan jiyi diaocha江北縣復盛鄉協睦村四社諶宅的慶壇祭儀調查 (Qingtan ritual of the “Fourth Precinct” Chen Household in Xiemu Village, Fusheng Parish, Jiangbei County, Sichuan) (1993, 530 p.)

Author: Wang Yao王躍

       Jiangbei is a suburban county within the confines of present-day Chongqing Municipality in south-central Sichuan. This report is an investigation of qingtan (the ritual of congratulation), a household-based offering in which duangong are invited into the household in order to make offerings to the household gods and ancestral spirits. The function of the ritual is to express thanks and celebrations for favours already received, and to request that in future years human relations be clear and unperturbed, that livestock be sleek and fat, and that there be bounteous harvests of grain.

       The gods worshipped in domestic “altar” rituals are divided into those of the “upper altar” and “lower altar.” The present work is devoted mainly to a description of the latter. There are many different types of “lower altar” rituals, such as yangsheng tan養牲壇 (stock-raising altar), lanshe tan藍蛇壇 (blue snake altar), and dundun礅礅壇 tan (stone pillar altar). An unusual feature is a spirit tablet for the Blue Snake, set up specially for these rituals, which is addressed as the Lanshe Dajiang藍蛇大將(great general blue snake).

       Legends concerning the deities of the altars hark back to the distant past, often to the time of the Huangdi黃帝 and his cosmic conflict with the monster Chiyou蚩尤. The people of Jiangbei deeply believe in these legends and betray no doubts about them.

       Apart from the results of fieldwork, this volume also presents abundant supporting evidence garnered from historical sources. These materials are quite abundant, since from the Qing dynasty onwards descriptions of qingtan were featured in the local gazetteers of many parts of Sichuan as the most representative and most widespread ritual conducted by vernacular priests.

       Qingtan is divided into the “inner altar,” or ritual proper, and the theatrical performances of the “outer altar.” The “lower altar” rituals have twenty-four ritual segments, also called tan (altars); the content of all of these is described in detail.  There are appendices which include the scripts of plays performed by the vernacular priests, ritual texts, photographs of the ritual and its location, photographs of the mudras used by the priests, and detailed maps of the ritual area.

No. 7. Jiangxi sheng Wanzai xian Tanfu xiang Chixi cun Han zu Ding xing de tiaoxiao 江西省萬載縣潭埠鄉池溪村漢族丁姓的跳魈 (tiaoxiao: the nuo play of the Ding lineage of Chixi village, Tanfu parish, Wanzai county, Jiangxi)(1993, 198 p.)

Author: Mao Limei毛禮鎂

       Wanzai County is located in the western part of Jiangxi province, at the foot of the Jiuling Mountains九嶺山脈. The nuo dance in this locality is called “tiaoxiao,” a puzzling name which means literally “leaping the mountain elves.” In the village of Chixi there is a Shaqiao Nuoci 沙橋儺祠 (sand bridge nuo temple) and a troupe of tiaoxiao players, belonging to the Ding lineage, that still performs today.

       This volume is a detailed study of the lineage-based nuo activities of the Ding lineage ancestral hall. The restoration of the nuo temple, the tiaoxiao troupe’s costumes and props, the ceremony for “opening the eyes” of the nuo deities, and their birthday celebrations, are all activities organised and paid for by the ancestral hall, and the income of the players is likewise handed over to the ancestral hall. The Shaqiao Nuoci, established at the beginning of the Ming dynasty, is dedicated to the great general Ouyang歐陽 of the golden armor and twenty-four sha煞 spirits, all of whom are represented by large masks ensconced on small wooden thrones. These are the chief nuo deities of the tiaoxiao plays. The author has carefully investigated the legends concerning them, the offerings and ceremonies performed, and the dramatic performances accompanying their worship.

       According to local legend, the Ding lineage performed tiaoxiao long before establishing a nuo temple. The performance itself consists of a series of segments performed by masked dancers representing various deities. The sequence is: Kaishan開山 (the mountain-opener), Zoudi走地 (the earth-treader), Xianfeng先鋒 (the vanguard), Gongcao功曹 (the envoys of the four divisions of time), Luping綠品 (the green-faced warrior), Yangshuai楊帥 (Generalissimo Yang), Bao Sanniang鮑三娘 (third lady Bao) and Hua Guan Suo花關索 (Guan Suo in flowery costume), Xiaogui zuanquan小鬼鑽圈 (the little demon who wriggles through a hoop), Panguan zhuo xiaogui判官捉小鬼 (the divine judge who seizes a little demon), Guan Gong (performed with two separate masks), Tongzi童子 (the divine boy), Qian Silang前司郎 (the fortune-telling official), Chenghuang城隍 (the city god), Zaoban皂班 (the Yamen runner), Tudi土地 (the god of the soil), Dianbing點兵 (the recruiting officer), Leigong雷公 (the god of thunder), Si da tianjiang四大天將 (the four great heavenly generals), and Tuanjiang團將 (the grand assembly).

       When the troupe of players arrives at a household, the occupants sometimes demand that they perform the ritual of saowu 掃屋 (sweeping the house). Performed by Leigong, with the support of the divine judge Zhong Kui鍾馗 and Si da tianjiang, this is an exorcistic ritual play of considerable significance for the study of the nuo theatre.

No. 8. Anhui sheng Guichi shi Liujie xiang Yuanxi cun Cao Jin Ke sanxiang jiazu de nuoxi安徽省貴池市劉街鄉源溪村曹、金、柯三姓家族的儺戲 (the nuo plays of the Cao, Jin and Ke lineages of Yuanxi village, Liujie parish, Guichi county, Anhui) (1993, 231 p.)

Authors: Wang Zhaoqian王兆乾, Wang Qiugui王秋貴

       Guichi county, now re-designated Guichi municipality, lies in south-central Anhui on the south bank of the Yangtze, some 50 kilometres east of Anqing. The performance of nuo is particularly prevalent in this area. According to the local proverb, if a village does not have its own nuo, it does not count as a village. Nuo plays are performed over a wide area, and almost all the ancient lineages have their own nuo god associations. The activities of these associations all include jishe祭社 (offerings to the god of the precinct) and offerings to the ancestors, but the repertoire of ceremonial and performance art varies from association to association.

       Guichi lies in the temperate zone of south-central China, with an equable climate and beautiful scenery. For many centuries it has been the homeland of prosperous scholar-gentry families. From the Song and Ming dynasties onwards, Neo-Confucianism has held local sway, agriculture has been held in respect, and cultural traditions have been preserved more or less intact. The nuo plays of Yuanxi village have developed in this kind of environment.

       The authors made three trips to the field between January of 1991 and October 1992. Their book describes the plays and accompanying rituals of the three surname groups in Yuanxi village in detail. Apart from the main body of the work, appendices contain maps, 111 black and white photographs, and photo-facsimiles of ritual texts.

No. 9. Shanghai xian Shengtan Daoyuan ji qi taiping gongjiao kaocha jishi上海縣聖堂道院及其太平公醮考察記實 (the Shengtan Daoist temple of Shanghai county and its rite of public offering of great peace) (1993, 216 p.)

Author: Zhu Jianming朱建明

       This book is about an offering ritual conducted in a suburban Shanghai temple.  The full name of the temple, located in the Pudong district, is Shengtang Chongfu Daoyuan聖堂崇福道院 (Daoist court of the hall of saints for the worship of [deities bestowing] blessings). According to legend it was first built sometime during the Eastern Han and Three Kingdoms period. It was restored in 1986, and belongs to the Zhengyi正一 (orthodox unity) order of Taoism. The variety of Taoism practiced there is known colloquially as “Haishang zhengyi dao” 海上正一道 (Orthodox unity Taoism by the sea).

       The book documents taiping gongjiao, as performed in the temple on the fifteenth of the seventh month, and contains much information about the folklore and religious customs of ordinary Shanghainese today. There is also much information about survivals of an older shamanistic nuo cultural substratum. Among the Daoist temples in Shanghai, only the Shengtang temple has restored taiping gongjiao. The ritual is conducted in accordance with the ritual practice that was current during the Republican period, and takes place over one day and one night. Although this is much shorter than comparable rituals elsewhere, none of the main ritual segments is left out. The ritual sequence includes: “Kaitan”開壇 (the opening of the ritual arena), “Jingchan tanjiao”經懺壇醮 (recitation of scriptures and repentances), “Shi xianggong fashi”施相公法事 (homage to Shi Xianggong), “Fawu yishi”法舞儀式 (the ritual dance), “Tabiao”踏表 (presentation of the memorial), “Xuehu deng”血湖燈 (setting out the lamps of the lake of blood), “Liandu”煉度 (saving orphaned souls), and “Xietan”謝壇 (sending off the gods and closing the arena).

No. 10. Fujian sheng Shaowu shi Dafugang xiang Heyuan cun de tiaofanseng yu tiaobamen福建省邵武市大阜鄉河源村的跳番僧與跳八蠻 (the “dance of the foreign bonzes” and the “dance of the eight barbarians”: ritual mimes in Heyuan village, Dafugang parish, Shaowu municipality, Fujian) (1993, 198 p.)

Author: Ye Mingsheng葉明生

       Shaowu municipality, formerly Shaowu county, is located in the far northwest of Fujian, not far from the border with Jiangxi. The colourful and artistic dances of Heyuan village are performed in the context of the ritual ying Sanfo zushi 迎三佛祖師(welcoming the three buddhist masters). They take the form of masked dances and mimes performed on level ground. In the two dances, tiaofanseng and tiaobamen, the history and culture of the locality and the religious consciousness of the people are encapsulated. The present study examines in detail the relationship between these religious dances and the substratum of nuo culture.

       As performed in the sixth month, the “inner altar” rituals of the welcoming, such as “baichan”拜懺 (presentation of repentances) and “chuanjing”傳經 (transmission of the scriptures), together with the songs and dances conducted outside, such as those mentioned above and that of the kailu shen開路神 (deity who opens the way), confirm the impression that exorcism is one of their underlying functions. The author also examines the place of origin of the Three Buddhist Masters, as recounted in legend, and their relationship to the fanseng番僧 (foreign bonzes). The four characters in tiaofanseng representing Sanzang三藏 (Tripitaka) and his disciples are shown to be connected with the worship of the Maitreya Buddha.

The tiaobamen is shown to retain many elements drawn from ancient ritual dances such as the bashen 八神(eight deities) and Daoist dances. All the dance movements of the ba dashen八大神 (eight great deities) in the tiaobamen are based on the positions of the eight trigrams, thus revealing an underlying religious function connected with Daoist ritual. The author concludes that the two dances examined here form part of a rich heritage of performing arts connected with the shamanistic substratum of Chinese culture.

No. 11. Guangxi sheng Huanjiang xian Maonan zu de Huanyuan yishi廣西省環江縣毛南族的還願儀式 (the “redemption of vows” ritual among the Maonan of Huanjiang county, Guangxi) (1994, 365 p.)

Author: Meng Guorong蒙國榮

       The Maonan are a small ethnic group with a total population of some 38,000 people, concentrated primarily in the southwestern corner of Huanjiang county in the highlands of northern Guangxi. They are closely related to the Zhuang and other Tai-speaking groups. The ritual for huanyuan, like other nuo-type plays among the various ethnic groups in south China, is derived from the nuo ritual of the Han Chinese of the North China plain. The Maonan regard huanyuan as a happy event, and hold that the songs and dances are performed for the delight of the gods. It can only be performed in the house or courtyard of specially designated chief celebrants.

       The ritual activities of the Maonan can be divided into three main categories:  worship of the gods, expulsion of demons, and sending off the dead (funerals).  Corresponding to this division, there are three categories of ritual practitioners:  shigong師公 (vernacular priests), guishi鬼師 (exorcists), and daoshi 道士 (Daoists).  There are three types of nuoyuan儺願 (nuo-vow) rituals in the Maonan areas, called feitao肥套(redemption of vows), feimiao肥廟 (temple sacrifice), and zhaolong朝龍 (audiences with the dragon), of which only feitao is still performed.

       This field report is an investigation of feitao ritual as performed by the Lu Xingwang altar. The book as a whole is divided into eight parts: an introduction to the Maonan; the social, cultural and biological ecology of the Maonan; the ritual huanyuan of the Lu Xingwang family; the layout and preparation of the ritual area; preparatory rituals; the main ritual, called guozhuo過桌 (passing before the table); music, dance, and costume; and the masks of the deities and their respective legends.

       In this book both the special characteristics and the cultural significance of the huanyuan ritual for Maonan society are brought into perspective.

No. 12. Guizhou sheng Dejiang xian Wenping xiang Huangtu cun Tujia zu chongshou nuo diaocha bagao貴州省德江縣穩坪鄉黃土村土家族衝壽儺調查報告 (“nuo in celebration of long life” among the Tujia nationality of Huangtu village, Wenping parish, Dejiang county, Guizhou) (1994, 528 p.)

Project directors: Wang Ch’iu-kuei王秋桂, Tuo Xiuming庹修明

       Dejiang County is located in northeastern Guizhou, along the middle reaches of the Wujiang river. Chongshou nuo is a ritual specially performed for the celebration of the birthdays of people who have attained the age of sixty, seventy or eighty. It is a large-scale, festive observance that is quite unlike normal long-life celebrations, one for which one must invite a troupe of nuoxi players to conduct rituals and perform nuo plays.  At its shortest the observance lasts one or two days; at its longest seven or eight. On the occasion documented in this report, the Tujia villager Zhang Jintai organised a chongshou nuo for his father, Zhang Yusheng, who had reached the age of eighty. The observance lasted three days and three nights, and the whole repertoire of rituals and nuo plays was performed.

       This book surveys in detail the whole ritual sequence, including preparatory activities, the inner rituals in front of the nuo altar, and the performance of nuo plays, with particular attention to the eighteen ritual segments that make up the Celebration of Long Life. Accompanied by photographs, ritual texts, dance diagrams and musical scores, it enables readers to obtain a clear picture of traditional folk customs among a minority people in a contemporary village, and will be of great value to anthropologists, folklorists, and students of performance studies.

No. 13. Guizhou sheng Cengong xian Pingzhuang xiang Gelao zu Nuotan guozhi yishi baogao 貴州省岑鞏縣平莊鄉仡佬族儺壇過職儀式調查報告 (The ordination before the nuo altar among the Gelao Nationality in Pingzhuang Parish, Cengong County, Guizhou) (1994, 426 p.)

Project directors: Tuo Xiuming庹修明, Yang Qixiao楊啟孝, Wang Ch’iu-kuei王秋桂

       Before an ordinary peasant can become a recognised chief officiant priest in the local cult of the nuo altar, he must generally pass through three stages: becoming apprenticed to a master priest, learning the art of performance by following a nuo troupe, and finally going through the rituals of paopai拋牌 (opening the ribbon-board) and guozhi過職 (transferring the office). Apprentices of the nuo altar go through three to five years of learning the art of performance, and once they can perform each ritual segment and action with practiced familiarity, they can raise the question of ordination with their master priest, and ask him to preside at the ordination ceremonies. Then, in front of the other troupe members and the whole community, they perform an entire sequence of rituals, nuo plays, and nuo magic tricks. If apprentices pass this examination, they can then set themselves up and establish their own altars, taking in their own apprentices.

       Because the ordination performance has the character of a general review, it concentrates in a single occasion many of the most characteristic and most colourful of the ritual acts of the nuo altar. This is something which the other activities of the nuo altar rarely do. The present book is a detailed report on one particular ordination, describing the whole ritual sequence. The text is accompanied by nearly 100 photographs and transcriptions of the ritual texts employed.

No. 14. Shanxi sheng Quwo xian Renzhuang cun Shangu shenpu diaocha baogao山西省曲沃縣任莊村扇鼓神譜調查報告 (a report on the sacred manual of the fan-drum ritual of Renzhuang village, Quwo county, Shanxi) (1994, 365 p.)

Authors: Huang Zhusan黃竹三, Wang Fucai王福才

       The Shangu shenpu is a manuscript in the possession of the Xu lineage of Renzhuang village in Xiapeizhuang parish of Quwo, a county in southwestern Shanxi.  It is a record of an ancient exorcism and sacrifice, and is one of the many important finds of material relevant to the study of Chinese theatre history made in recent years.  The exorcism and sacrifice of the Xu lineage, an elaborate performance by a large troupe of dancers wielding single-skinned shangu, would seem to have a long history.  Many of the core elements, such as the driving out of pestilence, can be traced back to the Han and Tang dynasties. With the passage of hundreds of years, these elements were gradually fused with Daoist ideas such as the concepts of yin陰 and yang陽, the eight trigrams, the five directions and the five phases, as well as rituals of sacrifice to the gods and popular customs of congratulation and gift-giving. After the Tang and Song they also absorbed many popular entertainments and displays of skill, becoming a many-layered and many-sided complex.

       The present report includes the complete text of the Shangu shenpu, and a detailed record of the sequence of ritual and artistic activities and how they were organized, including information on costumes, properties, music and ritual implements. There are diagrams of altars and dance figures and over 70 photographs by the authors.

No. 15. Guizhou Anshun dixi diaocha baogao ji貴州安順地戲調查報告集 (a collection of reports on the level-ground plays of Anshun in Guizhou) (1994, 498 p.)

Editors: Shen Fuxin沈福馨 and Wang Ch’iu-kuei王秋桂

       Anshun is a district in west-central Guizhou inhabited in part by the descendants of the troops that were sent on the southwestern expedition during the early years of the reign of Zhu Yuanzhang at the beginning of the Ming. The ritual plays of this region, called dixi because they are performed on level ground rather than on stage, were brought to Guizhou by the garrisons and are still performed today by their descendants, the so-called tunbao ren屯堡人 (garrison people), over 600 years later.

       Although the plays seem to be performances of purely historical plays, in fact their function is to serve as prayers for bountiful harvests and peace in the coming year.  There are currently estimated to be over 300 dixi troupes operating in the villages of the Anshun region.

       Shen Fuxing, Shuai Xuejian帥學劍 and Xie Zhendong謝振東 are three scholars who have conducted field research for many years in the Anshun area. Basing themselves on fieldwork data gathered during the Chinese New Year period of 1993, they have written a comprehensive report on the forms of performance and the ritual sequences associated with Anshun dixi, complete with supporting tables and statistics.  The present volume is the most complete collection of field data on dixi published to date. Detail and clarity of presentation make this a valuable collection of primary materials for research on the theatre, folklore, religion and the performing arts.

No. 16. Chaolun ben Mulian超輪本目連 (the Chaolun text of the Mulian play)

Editor: Huang Wenhu黃文虎

       This set of manuscripts, three in number, comprise a three-part script of the play Mulian jiumu目連救母 (Mulian rescues his mother) in the yangqiang陽腔 mode as performed in Gaochun高淳 county in the far southwest of Jiangsu. The manuscripts were transcribed by an actor named Chaolun on the basis of his recollections of actual conditions of performance, with help from his elder sister's husband, a gongsheng貢生 scholar called Song Weichuan宋渭川. After many redactions, the text was finished in 1939. The manuscripts were acquired in 1986 by the Nanjing Municipal Theatre History Editorial Office, and are now housed in the Arts Research Institute of the Nanjing Municipal Department of Culture.

       According to stories circulating among the local artists, there were originally nine playscripts in the Mulian cycle in Gaochun, which served as the basis for performances that lasted nine days and nights. In later years both scripts and performances were gradually abbreviated, to the point where, during the 1930s and 1940s, troupes mostly performed a version that lasted only a single night. Performed from dusk till dawn, this was called the liangtou hong兩頭紅 (red-at-both-ends) version. 

       The transcriber, Chaolun (1890-1960), was a native of Xuecheng薛城 in Gaochun county. Because his family was poor, he had left home to become a Buddhist priest when still a child, and became particularly good at chanting sutras. At the age of twelve he began to learn to perform in Mulian plays, and after several years managed to memorise the whole text of the three-script version and master all the vocal and instrumental melodies.

       The three scripts are each divided into two fascicles. Altogether there are 105 zhe折 (scenes). The plot and episodes are more or less the same as the Mulian jiumu quanshan xiwen目連救母勸善戲文 (the playscript of how Mulian rescued his mother and urged people to do good deeds) of Zheng Zhizhen鄭之珍, though the lyrics and spoken dialogue are somewhat less literary. In addition, there are a number of playlets that are not found in the Zheng version, such as “Qiu zi”求子 (praying for a son), “Xun fu”訓父 (lecturing father), and “Ma ji”罵雞 (scolding the chicken).

No. 17. Puxian Xi Mulian Jiumu莆仙戲目連救母 (The Puxian theatre version of Mulian rescuing his mother) (1994,189)

Editor: Liu Zhen劉禎

       The Puxian theatre is one of the richest and most archaic of the theatrical genres of Fujian. It is concentrated in Putian莆田 and Xianyou仙遊 counties on the Fujian coast－hence the modern name of the genre, which was formerly known as Xinghua興化  theatre, after the name of the region in which Putian and Xianyou are located.

       The Mulian plays are one of the most important parts of the repertoire of the Puxian theatre, and preserve many features of nanxi of Song and Yuan times. The manuscript of this version of Mulian jiumu is divided into the first, second and third nights, with each night divided further into two volumes. Altogether 58 scenes and five out of six volumes survive (the first volume of the third night has been lost). In front of each volume there is a list of dramatis personae and a list of scene titles. The main outlines of the plot are the same as that of Zheng Zhizhen’s Mulian jiumu quanshan xiwen, but the episodes concerning Liu Jia劉假 (賈) have been greatly expanded; in fact, the clear delineation of Liu Jia’s character is one of the key features of the Puxian version of the Mulian plays. The episodes concerning Cao Saiying曹賽英, on the other hand, have been watered down, and only a single scene, “Ruan yuqi”入庵遇妻 (entering the nunnery to meet his wife), is still retained. As a result, the structure of the play as a whole is more concentrated.

       This version of the play is rich in local colour, and makes much use of the dialect of the Xinghua region, which is unpolished and at times hard to understand. The lyrics are simple and smooth-flowing, with an ancient simplicity about them.

No. 18. Sichuan sheng Chongqing shi Ba xian Jielong qu Han zu de Jielong yangxi: Jielong duangong xi zhiyi四川省重慶市巴縣接龍區漢族的接龍陽戲──接龍端公戲之一 (vernacular priest plays of Jielong in Ba county, Chongqing municipality,  Sichuan, vol. 1) (1994, 490 p.)

Author: Hu Tiancheng胡天成

       According to local old artists, there are three categories of ritual included in duangong xi, also called tiao duangong跳端公 (leaping of the vernacular priest): yangxi, yansheng延生 (the prolongation of life), and qingtan慶壇 (the altar of congratulation). The present volume is devoted to the investigation of yangxi. Yangxi is an ancient genre of regional theatre found at one time throughout the southwestern provinces of China, which currently survives in a few scattered areas.

       The book is divided into three parts. The first part is devoted to describing the historical and social milieu that gave rise to yangxi, its origins and changes over the course of time, the organisation of yangxi “altar troupes,” the deities worshipped in yangxi, the location and rationale of yangxi performances, and a detailed discussion of the preparatory work that needs to be done before performances. In the second part, the author discusses in detail the rituals performed by the yangxi troupe. Finally, in the third part, scripts of a selection of the plays performed during “outer altar” performances are presented in transcription. Readers are thus presented with a description of the ritual process and abundant documentary materials on yangxi in this particular locality.

No. 19. Sichuan sheng Zitong xian Maming xiang Hongzhai cun yidai de Zitong yangxi四川省梓潼縣馬鳴鄉紅寨村一帶的梓潼陽戲 (the yangxi of Zitong: a report from Hongzhai village, Maming parish, Zitong county, Sichuan) (1994, 215 p.)

Authors: Yu Yi于一, Wang Kang王康, and Chen Wenhan陳文漢

       The yangxi of Zitong is a form of ritual theatre, the ritual functions of which are to set up altars, present offerings, offer recompense to the gods by the fulfilment of vows, and to drive out evil and bring in auspicious influences. Yangxi basically can be classified as a form of nuo theatre, combining ritual action and dramatic performance, entertainment for the gods and entertainment for living people. It is closely connected with the sacrifices and offerings of popular cults, but also imbued with the colouring of local culture. Both the ritual sequence and the form of performance are relatively complex.

       In former times, Zitong yangxi was very widespread in the countryside of Zitong county. Because of historical changes, twenty of the original yangxi troupes ceased all activity over forty years ago, and a whole generation of the most important old artists has died. Old artists who have survived are mostly in their dotage. Only in Maming parish are there seven old artists who are still able to perform. Most fortunately, also, their yangxi scripts are still in good condition. The present book is a part of the authors’ records of investigation in Hongzhai village and surrounding villages in Maming parish.

No. 20. Liyuan xi yishu shilun梨園戲藝術史論 (an historical account of the art of the liyuan theatre) (1994, 604 p.)

Author: Wu Jieqiu吳捷秋

       Liyuan xi (the pear garden theatre) is an ancient theatrical genre employing the vocal style of the Quanzhou泉州 region in coastal Fujian. In former times it was current in Quanzhou, Zhangzhou漳州, Amoy廈門, Chaozhou潮州, Swatow汕頭, and Taiwan. Its range extended as far as the Hokkien-speaking communities in Southeast Asia, and its influence was widespread among the common people. Judging by surviving playscripts, instrumental and vocal music, role categories, acting techniques, and form of performance, it preserved a special style of ancient simplicity, as well as a varied and colourful repertoire of artistic techniques.

       The present work is a record of the author’s experiences in directing performances of liyuan theatre over a period of more than forty years. As such, it is valuable first-hand material for research. It includes documents on theatre history, investigations into the origins and development of the genre, assessment of evidence on ancient plays, analyses of the art of performance, biographies of famous actors, and a discussion on evidence for the survival of traces of the ancient nanxi in the Quanzhou area. Altogether, it is an important contribution to the field of Chinese theatre history.

No. 21. Zhejiang sheng Mulian xi ziliao huaibian浙江省目連戲資料匯編 (Mulian plays from Zhejiang: a collection of materials) (1994, 622 p.)

Editors: Xu Hongtu徐宏圖and Wang Ch’iu-kuei王秋桂

       This volume is a collection of materials on the Mulian plays of Zhejiang province.  It is divided into three sections: first, records in local gazetteers, which includes notices on Mulian plays from 67 gazetteers; second, excerpts from the writings of pre-modern scholars, including the descriptions and critical comments of Wang Shouren王守仁, Hu Wenhuan胡文煥, Qi Biaojia祁彪佳, Zhang Dai張岱, Fan Zushu范祖述 and other scholars of the Ming and Qing dynasties on the Mulian plays of Zhejiang; third,  assessments of modern scholars. In this section essays and important passages from over forty works by some thirty-odd scholars on the Mulian plays of Zhejiang are gathered together, beginning with the writings of Lu Xun魯迅 and Zhou Zuoren周作人 and including the “Comparative Table of Eleven Mulian Playscripts十一種目連戲劇本對照表” by Tanaka Issei田仲一成. All materials are taken direct from original sources, and are completely and accurately transcribed. The work is thus a valuable research aid, as well as the first book devoted to the Mulian plays of a single province.

No. 22. Shaoxing jiumu ji紹興救母記 (the Shaoxing theatre version of Mulian rescues his mother) (1994, 293 p.)

Editor: Xu Hongtu徐宏圖

       Jiumu ji is a play that has been handed down in manuscript form by folk performers of Mulian plays in Shaoxing, Zhejiang province. It consists of eight juan卷 and 107 scenes. The plot concerns a member of the local gentry, Fu Xiang傅相, who exploits the local poor by taking in his rents with an outsize bushel measure and a light balance. When the Yu di玉帝 (Jade Emperor) hears of this, he sends down a baleful star to scatter his family’s wealth and drive him into bankruptcy. Fu Xiang repents his misdeeds, and becomes a devout believer in Buddhism, and on his death ascends to become an immortal. His wife, Madame Liu劉氏, on the other hand, refuses to believe in Buddhism, breaks religious prohibitions, abandons the practice of vegetarianism, beats and curses Buddhist priests, and on her death is cast into hell, where she undergoes the tortures of the mountain of knives and the vat of boiling oil. Her son, Fu Luobo傅羅卜－Turnip Fu－however, is filial and pious, refuses to marry or to become an official, and goes to seek the Buddha in the Western Heavens. There he is singled out for conversion by the bodhisattva Guanyin, and having obtained the aid of the Buddhist patriarchs, is able to descend to hell, break it open, and rescue his mother, whereupon mother and son are reunited.

       In this play there are many elements in the plot that are either absent or quite different from other versions. This edition presents the text in its original form. The only changes are the addition of punctuation, the correction of wrongly written characters and variant characters, and the addition of annotations to explain the use of dialect words and expressions in the text.

No. 23. Zhejiang sheng Dongyang shi Mazhai zhen Kong cun Hanren de Mulian xi 浙江省東陽市馬宅鎮孔村漢人的目連戲 (the Mulian play of Kong village, Dongyang municipality, Zhejiang) (1995, 203 p.)

Author: Xu Hongtu徐宏圖

       Dongyang municipality is located along the Dongyang River in central Zhejiang, some 100 kilometres south of Hangzhou杭州. The Kong cun version of Mulian rescues his mother is the special province of troupes of Daoists, who perform either during the grand offerings for temple fairs or for funerals.

       This volume is a report on field investigations conducted in Kong cun on and around the nineteenth of the second lunar month of 1992. It discusses both the ritual of Baihe jiawu wenming gongde daochang白鶴駕霧文明功德道場 (civilised merit- making for the white crane riding the mist), as performed in the dawn offerings in the Luoqie gong落茄宮 temple, and the ritual play Mulian jiumu. Contents include background information on Kong cun and local patterns of religious worship, general information on the rite of Baihe jiawu wenming gongde daochang and on its ritual sequence and structure, information about the players of the Zhu朱 family performing troupe, and discussion of the performance of Mulian jiumu and its dramatic structure. The text is accompanied by photographic illustrations and the text of the Mulian play as orally dictated by the members of the Zhu family troupe.

No. 24. Zhejiang sheng Pan’an xian Yangtou cun de xifang le浙江省磐安縣仰頭村的西方樂 (“delights of the western region”: a Buddhist play from Yangtou village, Pan’an county, Zhejiang) (1995, 196 p.)

Author: Xu Hongtu徐宏圖

      Pan’an county is located in a moutainous area in the east-central part of Zhejiang. Xifang le commonly known by the name foxi佛戲 (Buddhist play), is a unique form of religious ritual play current in the environs of Yangtou village in Shenze深澤 parish, Pan’an county. It is frequently performed along with a village ritual of offering called taiping xing太平星 (star of great peace), and all the performers are lay Buddhist women. Taiping xing is also called baixing 拜星 (worshipping the star), and through worship of the star and repentance before the Dipper, villagers hope to avert disasters, drive out misfortune, and pray for the realization of great peace throughout the region. Performed every year, for villagers in this area it is the main large-scale collectively organised religious activity.

       The present volume is a report of field investigations conducted in Yangtou village on taiping xing ritual and the performance of xifang le held on the 22nd of the second month of the lunar calendar in 1992. The contents include background information on the locality, an overview of the patterns of religious belief among local people, background information about taiping xing ritual, a discussion of the ritual sequence and structure, information about the group performing xifang le, the form of performance and dramatic characteristics. The text is accompanied by photographic illustrations and a performance text of xifang le.

No. 25. Zhejiang sheng Pan’an xian Shenze cun de lianhuo yishi浙江省磐安縣深澤村的煉火儀式 (the bonfire play of Shenze village, Pan’an county, Zhejiang) (1995, 248 p.)

Author: Xu Hongtu徐宏圖

       Lianhuo煉火 (tempering fire) is a form of offering and ritual play current in the mountainous region of Pan’an and Dongyang in central Zhejiang. Its ritual function is to ask the gods to expel nefarious influences, and to pray for peace. It derives its name from the large bed of coals in the middle of the performance space across which the participants walk. An ancient rite for the expulsion of pestilence, this fire-walking ritual is still performed today in these localities.

       The present volume is a report on field investigations conducted in Shenze village on a performance of the fire-walking ritual that was held on the ninth day of the ninth month in 1992. The report includes background information about Shenze village and local patterns of worship, general information about the lianhuo rite, analysis of the sequence of ritual segments and their structure, information on the performers and their troupe, and detailed treatment of the play and its dramatic structure. Photographs and relevant documents are appended.

No. 26. Liaoning minxiang de kaocha yu yanjiu遼寧民香的考察與研究(investigation and research on the “civil incense” ritual of Liaoning) (1994, 526 p.)

Author: Ren Guangwei任光偉

       Minxiang－or, to give it its full title, minren shaoxiang民人燒香 (civilian’s offerings of incense)－is a large-scale communal ritual performed among the descendants of the Han Chinese communities in Manchuria that were not listed in the banner registers. It is a survival of ancient rituals of exorcism. The ritual takes place over five to seven days, during which the masters in charge of shaoxiang (incense offerings) keep time with a drum while they perform song-and-dance style recitations of ritual texts. The ritual texts are called xiangjuan香卷 (incense scrolls), and are ordinarily about 5000 lines in length.

       The present volume is the result of the author’s research on minxiang rituals over nearly twenty years. It discusses the physical environment of the region in which minxiang has survived, the pattern of its transmission and spread, the form of organisation underlying its performance, the sequence of ritual events, the historical origins of the form and its transformation through time, and the nature of the ritual in comparison with shamanism and rites of expulsion elsewhere in China. The texts of three representative xiangjuan are included in the appendices, along with systematic explanations and notes.

No. 27. Sichuan sheng Lushan xian Qingyuan xiang Lushan qingtan tianya diaocha baogao四川省蘆山縣清源鄉蘆山慶壇田野調查報告 (the “altar of celebration” ritual of Qingyuan parish, Lushan county, Sichuan) (1995, 254 p.)

Author: Yu Yi于一

       Lushan county lies in the foothills of the Tibetan massif on the far western edge of the Sichuan basin. The Lushan qingtan is a form of ritual theatre current in this county, and one of the forms of nuo theatre found in Sichuan. It dates from the Northern Song period. In the third year of the Daguan大觀 reign period (1109 A.D.), the people of Lushan built a temple－the Pingxianglou平襄樓－to commemorate Jiang Wei姜維, the Duke of Pingxiang and a famous general of the Shu Han, and offerings are made and the qingtan performed every year on the fifteenth of the eighth month.

       The Lushan qingtan is a form of ritual theatre that combines religious ritual with dramatic performance. The local custom is to perform “one segment of altar, one segment of lantern,” (一折壇, 一折燈) meaning that segments of the ritual play－the “lantern play”－are interspersed with segments of the ritual proper. Commonly performed “lantern plays” include Pijin gundeng皮金滾燈 (Pijin rolls lanterns), Tuozi huimen駝子回門 (return of the hunchback), Zhang langzi hao douzi張浪子薅豆子 (spendthrift Zhang pulls up beans), An’an songmi安安送米 (An’an delivers rice to his mother), and Jiuliu xianggong九流相公 (the dissolute young gent). Song and dance are equally important in the performance of qingtan, and its theatrical form is fully developed, with both spoken and sung passages. Apart from performances every year on the fifteenth of the eighth month in the Pingxianglou, at ordinary times it is performed for gods’ birthdays, redemption of vows, expulsion of pestilence and exorcism of demons.

No. 28. Long dongnan yingzi xi chubian隴東南影子戲初編 (A preliminary collection of materials on the shadow plays of southeastern Gansu) (1995, 606 p.)

Editor: Zhao Jianxin趙建新

       The author has combined the traditional methods of textual research, compilation, annotation, and disquisition with field work in ten-odd counties over five years to produce this pioneering work on the shadow plays of southeastern Gansu. It introduces the reader to large numbers of previously unknown playscripts of Qing date, along with studies of the repertoire and music. Students of Chinese literature, theatre, shadow plays, music, fine arts, history, folklore, social structure and popular morality will find much to interest them in this pathbreaking book.

No. 29. Yunyan sheng Zhaotong diqu Zhenxiong xian Poji xiang Zou shi duangong qing pusa diaocha雲南省昭通地區鎮雄縣潑機鄉鄒氏端公慶菩薩調查 (the celebration of the Bodhisattva ritual of the Zou family vernacular priests in Poji Parish, Zhenxiong county, Zhaotong region, Yunnan) (1995, 244 p.)

Authors: Guo Sijiu郭思九, Wang Yong王勇

       Zhenxiong is in the far northeast of Yunnan, near the border with Guizhou. The qing pusa ritual of the Zou family vernacular priests and duangong plays of Poji parish are a unique cultural formation combining religious rituals with dramatic performances.  They have been handed down among the people of this region for a long time.

       The present volume presents in considerable depth the geographic and historical background of the village of Heishigou黑石溝 and the pattern of local cultic practices.  It discusses the family registers of the Zou family vernacular priests, the organisational structure of the performing group and the identity of the deities worshipped; the role of qing pusa ritual in the ritual repertoire of vernacular priests; the basic sequence of ritual segments, and the main content of all the rituals performed. Appendices include the original text of qing pusa ritual and playscripts of representative duangong plays.

No. 30. Guangxi sheng Liuzhou shigong nuo de wenwu tan fashi廣西省柳州師公儺的文武壇法事 (the “civil and martial altar” of vernacular priests in Liuzhou, Guangxi) (1995, 366 p.)

Authors: Pang Shaoyuan龐紹元and Wang Chao王超

       This work introduces the historical background and traditional customs of Liuzhou, along with characteristic local religious activities. It then goes on to describe the rituals of local shigong師公 (vernacular priests) and to delineate their forms of organisation and of transmission of ritual knowledge. It then proceeds to record in concrete detail the circumstances giving rise to a performance of wenwu tan文武壇 (civil and martial altar), the preparatory activities, the ritual sequence itself, and the necessary accoutrements of the ritual specialists. It describes the masks, costumes, music, dances, musical instruments and ritual implements used in the course of the ritual, and finally discusses the ritual functions and aims of wenwu tan,

       The text is accompanied by appendices containing the ritual texts used in the performance and photographs of each stage in the ritual. The authors also discuss the role and influence of vernacular priests and their rituals on the religious life, folklore and art of Liuzhou.

No. 31. Jiangsu sheng Tongzhou shi Hengang xiang Beidian cun Hu shi shang tongzi yishi江蘇省通州市橫港鄉北店村胡氏上童子儀式 (the tongzi ritual of the Hu family in Beidian village, Hengang parish, Tongzhou municipality, Jiangsu) (1995, 504 p.)

Author: Cao Lin曹琳

       Tongzhou municipality, known until recently as Nantong county, is a semi-rural region located to the north and east of the city of Nantong on the northern bank of the Yangtze River in Jiangsu. The ritual of shang tongzi (ascent of the shamans) also goes by the names of kan guibing看鬼病 (healing diseases caused by ghosts), shao dazhi燒大紙 (burning large sheets of paper money), and zhuyi逐疫 (driving out the plague). It belongs to the category of “private nuo” rituals, and is a large-scale ritual that has been passed down for a thousand years among the shamans－the tongzi or “lads”－of Nantong, who call down heavenly deities in order to drive out ghosts, call to lost souls, and cure diseases.

       For more than half a century, as hygiene and medical care have improved, the old custom of “relying on shamans to provide medical treatment” has progressively weakened. When faced however with the inescapable limitations of human life, the shadow of their former reliance on the spirit world still flits across people’s consciousness, and one still occasionally hears of shamans being called in to treat disease. The difference is that now this reliance on shamans and their healing powers is subject to scrutiny, and serves primarily as a supplement to modern medicine. From the point of view of Chinese medicine and medical psychology, this is an area that is well worth exploring.

       The present volume is a full report on a ritual conducted on 27-29 June 1993 by a certain Mr. Hu on behalf of his son, encompassing shang tongzi, kan guibing (healing diseases caused by ghosts), and qibiao jiusheng七表九聖 (seven memorials to the nine sages). Its aim is to provide an objective record of the traditional rituals of driving out plague performed by shamans in Nantong.

       The report is divided into two parts. The first part consists of: 1) a brief account of Tongzhou municipality in Jiangsu province; 2) the social and cultural ecology of the village of Beidian; 3) the origins and organisation of shang tongzi; 4) the sequence and structure of the ritual; 5) the organisation of the performing group; and 6) the performance and its dramatic qualities. The second part consists of: 1) actual recording of ritual plays－Dianming guotang點名過堂 (roll-calling and passing the hall), Zuotang shenti座堂審替 (inspecting and replacing the seats in the hall), and Xietu fengshen謝土封神 (thanking the earth and enfeoffing the gods); and 2) selected transcripts of the words used by the master of ceremonies (the sanjiao kaitan三教開壇 [setting up the altar of the three religions] and nine of the texts of memorials).

No. 32. Xu he liangan de tiao wuchang胥河兩岸的跳五猖 (“leaping of the five chang gods” on the two banks of the Xu river) (1995, 210 p.)

Author: Mao Gengru茆耕茹

       Tiao wuchang is performed in a number of parishes and towns in Langxi郎溪, Lishui溧水, Gaochun高淳 and Liyang溧陽 counties on the banks of the Xu river in southeastern Anhui and southwestern Jiangsu. The performance is held every year before the birthday of the deity Zhang Bo張渤on the eighth of the second month, in order to make offerings to Zhang Bo as Guanghuai Cishan Chang Dadi廣惠祠山張大帝(Great emperor of temple mountain of broad virtue). Local tradition has it that the observance was already held in the last years of the Ming dynasty. In the 1940’s the custom was discontinued. It was revived in 1987, first by the village of Liuqiao劉橋 in Dingfu定埠 parish, Gaochun county, on the northern bank of the Xu.

       There are altogether six “arrays” in the procession, as well as the making of vows and the procession around the villages in order to drive out pestilence and pray for good luck. A yinyangsheng陰陽生 (ritual expert, also called mensi門司) first leads the heads of the lineages in making offerings and obeisances to the heavenly and earthly deities, then the four secondary characters－the Daoist priest, the Buddhist monk, Tudi and Panguan－lead the five generals－of the East, South, West, North and Centre (commonly called the wuchang)－on a dance and procession, accompanied by the locally current percussion music shifan luogu十番鑼鼓 and bamboo flutes playing a medley of popular tunes.

       The nine primary and secondary characters, together with two actors playing xiaoshen小生 (young man) roles, all wear masks. The five main personages all wear painted masks and costumes in accordance with the colours of the five phases and five directions. On the southern bank of the Xu river villages still perform so that the god of the Centre occupies the northern position (the seat of the cyclical character zi子), and faces south with his back to the north; while the god of the South faces north and occupies the position of the god of Cishan (the seat of the cyclical character wu午). The entire ritual is organised along the axis between zi and wu, and along the line of division between yin and yang. This is in accordance with rules of ritual procedure handed down from the classical period. Add to this strata taken from the ritual technicians, the Daoists and the Buddhists, and the present form of tiao wuchang is the result.

       This work presents a detailed picture of the regional culture on both banks of the Xu river, of the historical development of the custom of tiao wuchang, and philological evidence on the origins of the term wuchang.

No. 33. Minxi Shanghang gaogiang kuilei yu furen xi閩西上杭高腔傀儡與夫人戲(The gaoqiang marionette theatre and “goddess plays” in Shanghang, western Fujian) (1995, 295 p.)

Author: Ye Mingsheng葉明生

       Shanghang county is in the far southwest of Fujian, not far from the Guangdong and Jiangxi borders. It is an area primarily inhabited by Hakka lineages.

       The marionette theatre of Shanghang, performed with gaoqiang music, is one of the theatrical forms current in the Hakka-speaking areas of western Fujian. Baisha白砂  parish in Shanghang is reputedly the place of origin of this form of theatre. Gaoqiang marionette theatre has a long history and an extensive repertoire, as well as an ancient musical tradition, a full set of character-roles, and a rich heritage of theatrical techniques.  It is still performed today.

       The Huachengtang華成堂 troupe of Dajin大金 village is a typical marionette troupe. By studying the history of this troupe, one can gain an understanding of many aspects of this theatrical form.

       Furen zhuan夫人傳 (the story of the goddess Chen Jinggu陳靖姑) is a standard part of the repertoire of gaoqiang marionette theatre, one on which they rely for their living. It is not only intimately connected with the beliefs and religious practice of the marionetteeers and the rituals during which they perform, but is also closely related to folk customs, popular beliefs and religious activities. The play represents in dramatic form the story of the goddess Chen Jinggu, and also preserves a great many ritual segments connected with the religion of the marionetteeers (the Lüshan閭山 tradition).  The evolution and history of the gaoqiang marionette theatre and the context in which Furen zhuan is performed both demonstrate the value to the study of Chinese theatre of research in the interdisciplinary areas of religious theatre studies, the anthropology of theatre, the folklore of theatre, and the sociology of theatre.

No. 34. Sichuan sheng Jielong yangxi Jielong duangong xi zhier: Jielong qingtan四川省接龍陽戲接龍端公戲之二──接龍慶壇 (vernacular priest plays of Jielong in Sichuan, vol. 2: the altar of celebration in Jielong) (1995, 362 p.)

Author: Hu Tiancheng胡天成

       Jielong is the name of a parish (xiang鄉) in Ba county, some five kilometers southeast of Chongqing. Before 1949, a number of the great households of the Jielong region in Ba County made offerings at the altars of various deities, including yangshang tan養牲壇(altar of raising livestock), wutong tan伍通壇(altar of Wutong deity), sanxiao tan三宵壇(altar of Three Xiao sisters), and lanshe tan藍蛇壇(altar of the Blue Snake). Because the functions of these deities were different, the reasons for performing an qingtan were also varied. The present work describes the content of the rituals performed at the yangshang tan and sanxiao tan.

       The main deities worshipped at yangshang tan are the Marquis of Zhao趙侯, Luogong羅公, and Wutong. The main aim was to assure peace and prosperity for the people in the household, a bumper harvest of the five grains, and flourishing livestock.

       The main deities worshipped in sanxiao tan were the three Xiao sisters of the Peach Spring and Treasure Mountain. The aim of this ritual was to expel evil influences, drive out demons, and regulate mental illness and disease. There were 16 segments and a number of dramatic performances that took place within this sequence. Hence, one can say that qingtan was a special form of religious and dramatic art that combined dramatic performance within the structure of religious ritual.

No. 35. Sichuan sheng Jielong yangxi Jielong duangong xi zhisan: Jielong yansheng四川省接龍陽戲接龍端公戲之三──接龍延生 (vernacular priest plays of Jielong in Sichuan, vol. 3: the prolongation of life ritual in Jielong) (1995, 418 p.)

Author: Hu Tiansheng胡天成

       Yangsheng ritual is one which has as its aim either to entreat the gods to dispel disaster, grant release from difficulty, and bestow good luck and auspicious portents, or to employ mudras and mantras, the despatch and deployment of spirit troops to drive out nefarious influences and expel demons, thereby getting rid of disease, prolonging life and adding to longevity.

       The Jielong district in Ba County southeast of Chongqing has two different varieties of yangsheng. The first is called taiping yangsheng太平延生(the prolongation of life in times of peace). It is also called donghuang yangsheng東皇延生(prolongation of life of the emperor of the east), and hongzhu yangsheng洪豬延生(prolongation of life of the huge pig). It includes such variants as jiashou yangsheng接壽延生(receiving longevity and prolongation of life), guoguan yangsheng過關延生(the prolongation of life in passing through customs-crises), Zitong yangsheng梓潼延生(the prolongation of life of Zitong), and chaodou yangsheng朝斗延生(prolongation of life by making obeisance to the dipper). The other variety is jijiu yangsheng急救延生(prolongation of life in times of emergency), also called shiwang yangsheng十王延生(the prolongation of life of the ten kings of hell) or daotou yangsheng刀頭延生(prolongation of life at knife-point). It includes variants such as jiejie yangsheng解結延生(the prolongation of life of untying knots), Maishen yangsheng梅山延生(the prolnongation of life of Meishan), fan’an yangsheng翻案延生(the prolongation of life by overturning the verdict), and neiyu yangsheng內嶽延生(prolongation of life of the inner courts of hell).

       Taiping yangsheng includes twenty-one ritual segments and jijiu yangsheng has sixteen ritual segments. Each variety of ritual within these two large categories is slightly different. In each type dramatic interludes are salient. They are important instances of the intersection of Chinese ritual and ritual theatre.

No. 36. Sichuan sheng Liangshan Yi zu zizhizou Xide xian Lizi xiang Luojiu cun de lingmu 四川省涼山彝族自治州喜德縣李子鄉倮糾村的靈姆 (the lingmu ritual among the Liangshan Yi people in Luojiu village, Lizi parish, Xide county, Sichuan) (1995, 258 p.)

Author: Wang Kang王康, Jike Zehuo Shihuo吉克‧則伙‧史伙

       The lingmu ritual is one of the largest and most complex of the religious rituals in traditional Yi culture. Beginning in the 1930’s, many scholars attempted to conduct systematic field investigations and research on this ritual, but none of them was able to go very far into the subject, owing to difficulties they encountered in the Yi language and script. Even at the end of the 1980’s research on this ritual both in China and overseas remained at the stage of very general description.

       The present volume is a report on field investigations into the lingmu ritual as it took place in Luojiu village in Xide county. The work uses both Chinese and Yi in combination and provides detailed information on six aspects of the ritual. It looks at basic conditions in the county, parish and village, including the natural setting and the social structure. It looks at the preparations and detailed sequence of the ritual, including the most important methods and procedures for the seven kinds of domestic offering, the fifteen kinds of communal offering on open ground, and the five types of offering on cliffs. It looks at the various kinds of personnel involved in the ritual, and the various kinds of activity to amuse the gods and mortals. It then looks at the ritual implements used, the scriptures, and the main content of the recitations. Finally, it looks at the life-histories of five bimo畢摩 (high priests) connected with the ritual, and other little-known primary materials. At the same time, it narrates the history and development of the lingmu ritual, the relationship between Zuling Shan祖靈山 (the mountain of ancestral souls) and the theory of three souls, and the question of the basic social, religious and entertainment functions of the lingmu ritual. It draws on previous research to provide a comprehensive picture of the content and characteristics of the Yi people’s lingmu ritual, and provides ample materials for further work on this subject.

No. 37. Guizhou sheng Cengong xian Zhuxi xian Cenwang cun Laowuji xi nuoshen diaocha baogao貴州省岑鞏縣注溪鄉岑王村老屋基喜儺神調查報告(“amusing the nuo god” in Laowuji, Cenwang village, Zhuxi parish, Cengong county, Guizhou) (1995, 408 p.)

Project Director: Wang Ch’iu-kuei王秋桂and Tuo Xiuming庹修明

       Cengong is a county in the far east of Guizhou, not far from the Hunan border. It is on the western edge of one of the main concentrations in southwest China of the Kham (Dong侗) people, speakers of a Dai傣language distantly related to Thai. Xi nuoshen is the form of nuo ritual most widespread in the Kham districts of Cengong county, and most adaptable to a wide range of purposes. The ritual was brought into Guizhou during the reign of Hongwu洪武 during the early Ming (1368-1399), and its central function is to accomplish, by means of ritual and ritual theatre, the presentation of offerings to the ancestors, the redemption of vows, the expulsion of “noxious vapours” and the reception of auspicious influences. Any household in the district that has some joyous event to celebrate or some unexpected difficulty can invite the troupe to come to their house to perform and make recompense. The name arises because both the ritual itself and the plays have a decided element of merry-making－of making jokes with nuogong儺公 and nuomu儺母 (grandpa and grandma nuo) and other invited gods, and of telling “filthy stories.”

       This book is a detailed report on the social and cultural ecology of xi nuoshen, the evolution of the ritual form, the participants, the layout of the ritual area, the prepartions for performance, the content and process of the ritual, and the musical and choreographic elements, based on the fieldwork methods of cultural anthropology and large quantities of field data. Twenty-three ritual texts are included in the appendices, along with seventy photographs.

No. 38. Guizhou yangxi: yi Luodian xian Limu xiang Dashang cun Deng shi xiban weili貴州陽戲──以羅甸縣栗木鄉達上村鄧氏戲班為例 (the yangxi plays of Guizhou－case study of the Deng family troupe in Dashang village, Limu parish, Luodian county) (1995, 290 p.)

Author: Huangfu Chongqing皇甫重慶

       Yangxi is a form of ritual theatre current across a wide area of Guizhou: in the regions of Tongren銅仁, Zunyi遵義, Southern Guizhou and Northwest Guizhou. It has a long history, and a distinct style. In rural households, every time they celebrate a happy occasion such as the birth of a child, a wedding, or the birthday of an old person, they always tend to invite a yangxi troupe to come to their house to recompense the gods and redeem their vows. Performances are not only entertaining and instructive, but also serve to expel noxious vapours, welcome auspicious influences, and pray for peace and for good fortune. Because they are so important to the people, yangxi have been performed for generation after generation. Even today, there are hundreds of yangxi troupes performing in the villages of Guizhou, and yangxi forms an important element in village and market-town culture.

       The present work is based on wide surveys but focuses on the Deng family troupe of Dashang逹上village in Luodian county in the far south of Guizhou. It describes the environment of yangxi in Guizhou, its origins and distribution, the organisation of the troupes, the artists and their forms of cultural transmission, their repertoire, music, performance art, stage layout, religious rituals, and the popular customs and beliefs associated with performances.

No. 39. Mulian quanhui目連全會 (the complete festival Mulian plays) (1995, 146 p.)

Editors: Li Ping李平and Li Ang李昂

       The first volume of Mulian quanhui is a script produced by folk artists of the Xiajiang下江 Mandarin-speaking region who blended Zheng Zhizhen’s celebrated Mulian jiumu quanshan xiwen with chapbooks that were current in the area at the time.  The plot is much the same as the first volume of the Zheng text, though the lyrics and dialogue are somewhat cruder. In the arrangement of scenes, however, as well as the insertion of stage directions and dialogue, it is not without traces of the genius of folk artists. In a number of scenes, such as “Da guan”打罐 (striking the vat) and “Er he”二何(the two He’s), it is superior to the Zheng text in both humour and liveliness. It is extremely valuable for the study of how Mulian plays were actually performed.

       The manuscript is now held in Shanghai. The editors corrected some obvious mistakes in the lyrics and dialogue on the basis of the Zheng text and the southern Anhui manuscripts, and have added a number of song titles where these were missing, but otherwise they have left the text entirely as it was. It is the only text of the Mulian plays found thus far with this title, which it may have been given because it was performed for the Yulanpen hui盂蘭盆會 (Ullambana) festival in the seventh lunar month.

No. 40. Anhui Guichi nuoxi juben xuan安徽貴池儺戲劇本選 (a selection of nuo plays from Guichi in Anhui) (1995, 680 p.)

Editor: Wang Zhaoqian王兆乾

       Guichi, also known as Chizhou池州, is a county on the south bank of the Yangtze river in southern Anhui, some 30 kilometers downstream from Anqing安慶. The nuo plays of Guichi have already attracted considerable scholarly attention both in China and in the West.

       Because of massive changes in village life after 1949, and for other reasons as well, nuo plays in much of southern Anhui died out several decades ago. The masks, costumes, ritual paraphernalia and playscripts of nuo plays in Guichi were all destroyed in the Cultural Revolution, and in many villages not a single scrap of paper was left. In 1983, Yao Guanbao姚官寶 of the Yao lineage of Yin殷 villiage in Liujie parish retrieved three masks that he had hidden in a wall during the Cultural Revolution, and thus began the revival of the performance of nuo plays and associated ritual activities.  Because of the destruction of theatrical properties, however, many villages were unable to revive performances, and it was only in an area several dozen kilometers across in the southeastern parishes of Guichi that nuo plays were stubbornly revived.

       Each lineage in Guichi performs nuo plays of similar content, but with different texts. The present volume includes a representative selection. In order for readers to understand the relation between the ritual and artistic elements in nuo observances, the volume also includes representative mantras and the auspicious tags and lyrics that accompany the ritual dances, placing them in their original order behind the plays.

No. 41. Jiangsu Liuhe xian Ma’an xiang Wuxing cun Song zhuang ji Maji zhen Jianshan cun Gong ying hanren de jiapu xianghuo shenhuai江蘇六合縣馬鞍鄉五星村宋莊及馬集鎮尖山村龔營漢人的家譜香火神會 (The genealogical register incense and fire festival of Song zhuang in Wuxing Village, Ma’an Parish and of Jianshan Village in Maji Town, Liuhe County, Jiangsu) (1996, 289 p.)

Author: Huang Wenhu黃文虎

       In Jiangsu province north of the Yangtze there are many different kinds of xianghuo hui香火會 (incense and fire festivals) and tongzi hui童子會 (spirit medium festivals). The xianghuo hui of Hongshan洪山 in Liuhe county is one of the oldest among them. It originated in the Ming dynasty and preserves many vestiges of the ancient nuo ritual complex. The Hongshan theatre, which emerged from performances given at the Hongshan xianghuo hui, is a form of xianghuo play which later took on various other elements and developed into forms of regional theatre such as Huai淮 Opera, Yangju揚劇 (Yangzhou opera), and Tongju通劇 (Nantong opera). Through the study of the Hongshan fair, one can trace threads back to the early nuo, and on the other hand investigate the processes whereby ritual performances become transformed into forms of regional theatre. The fair still has much to offer to the student of folklore and religion. Previously, however, there has never been a systematic investigation of the Hongshan fair, and a detailed overview of it was lacking.

       Xianghuo hui can take many forms, and the jiapu hui家譜會 is a collectively organised variety that is the largest in scope. Almost all the rituals currently found in the Hongshan Festival are included within it, and it reveals the typical ritual sequences and regulations of the Hongshan xianghuo hui.

No. 42. Jiangsu sheng Nantong shi Zhadong xiang Gongyuan cun hanren de mianzai shenghui江蘇省南通市閘東鄉公園村漢人的免災勝會 (the “great festival to avert disaster” of Gongyuan village, Zhadong parish, Nantong municipality, Jiangsu) (1996, 321 p.)

Author: Cao Lin曹琳

       The village of Gongyuan is located in the eastern outskirts of Tangjiazha唐家閘, an important industrial town in Nantong municipality. For the last century or so, the residents of Zhadong have relied on industry for a livelihood, and have been continuously receptive to modern influences. In the prevention of natural disasters, however, and in driving out demons and praying to the gods for peace and prosperity, they still rely on rituals performed at various spirit-medium festivals. These rituals bear traces of the ancient country people’s nuo, and they continue to flourish today. The contrast between industrial setting and ancient ritual provides an interesting sidelight on the ecology of shamanistic culture in China.

       The present work is the result of field investigation of a mianzai shenghui held on 8-10 July 1992, at which Nantong tongzi performed at the invitation of villagers from Gongyuan. It is intended to be a comprehensive report on the ritual process from beginning to end. The whole book is divided into seven sections: 1) an overview of the Nantong district; 2) basic facts about the village of Gongyuan and its religious practices and beliefs; 3) basic information about the ritual; 4) the ritual sequence and structure; 5) the performers’ group; 6) performances and their dramatic form; 7) concluding remarks.

No. 43. Shanghai Nanhui xian Laogang xiang nongjia duqiao yishi ji qiao wenhua上海南匯縣老港鄉農家渡橋儀式及橋文化 (The ritual of “leading the soul across the bridge” in a farming family of Laogang parish, Nanhui county, Shanghai, with a discussion of the culture of bridges in China) (1996, 247 p.)

Authors: Zhu Jianming朱建明 and Tan Jingde談敬德

       The ritual of duqiao is a yellow-register ritual procedure frequently performed by Shanghai Daoists of the zhengyi正一 (orthodox unity) school. It is usually performed on the 21st, 35th or 49th day after the death, and its aim is to pray that the soul of the dead be enabled to cross naihe qiao奈河橋 (the bridge of sighs) in peace, mount jinqiao金橋 (the bridge of gold) and yinqiao銀橋 (the bridge of silver, commonly called for both of them xianqiao仙橋 [the bridges of the immortals]), and eventually reach the hall of heaven. The ritual is seen as emergency aid offered by surviving relatives to the soul of the departed, who has fallen into the pit of hell. They hope that the soul of the dead can avoid being assigned to any place of infernal punishment and obtain salvation speedily. This ritual was already current during the Song dynasty, and it has continued to be performed and transmitted down to the present day in the southeast of the Chinese mainland and on Taiwan. The duqiao ritual is a good representative of the ritual as it is performed in the Shanghai region.

       The present volume is an investigation of a ritual performed for the Shen沈 family of Laogang parish on the forty-ninth day after the death of a relative. The work provides a detailed introduction to the sequence of the duqiao ritual, and compares it with similar rituals in Taiwan and elsewhere, and with the description in the Song author Lü Taigu’s呂太古 Daomen tongjiao ji道門通教集. It explores the religious and social significance of the ritual. The author also explores the cultural meaning of bridges from many angles, including the conceptions of the hell realms, the hall of heaven, and the life of immortals that are connected with the duqiao ritual. Thus, both the inner connections and the outer ramifications of the bridge motif are fully and systematically examined.

No. 44. Fujian Shanghang luantan furen zhuan福建上杭亂彈傀儡戲夫人傳 (“the story of the goddess,” a luantan marionette play of Shanghang in Fujian) (1996, 420 p.)

Edited and Annotated by: Ye Mingsheng葉明生and Yuan Hongliang袁洪亮

       Furen zhuan, a marionette play of Shanghang cCounty, is one of the most representative and most influential of pieces in the traditional repertoire of the marionette theatre in Fujian. The play enacts the legend of Chen Jinggu, one of the most prominent and popular deities worshipped by Daoists of the Lüshan school in the Hakka-speaking regions of western Fujian. The play is in fifteen sections (or scenes), and can be performed for either three days and nights or seven days and nights. The first three scenes enact the story of He Shikui何世魁, a Lüshan deity popular in local legend.  The main lines of the plot start from “Guanyin shuzhuang觀音梳妝” (Guanyin performs her toilette), in which Guanyin’s white hair metamorphoses into a white snake, and she bites her fingers so that the blood changes into the Third Lady. The story continues with episodes such as Chen Jinggu going up into the mountains to study spiritual techniques; returning home and saving her elder brother; getting married and praying for rain; saving the empress’ baby in the imperial palace; assisting her husband on campaign; despatching the White Snake and other evil spirits; and decapitating the demon king. The deeds and outstanding achievements of Chen Jinggu in despatching evil spirits and in protecting the country and people are conveyed in dramatic and moving form.

       This play was originally a piece in the gaoqiang repertoire, and it first took shape in the Ming dynasty. By the end of the Qing it was affected by the general enthusiasm for luantan and came to be performed in that musical style (called locally waijiang xi外江戲). Since the art of the marionette theatre is intimately related to religious ritual, and the Furen zhuan has many internal connections with the Daoist techniques of the ritual masters, the performance of this play takes place in a ritualised atmosphere and setting, and also incorporates numerous ritual forms. In order to respond to the needs of its audiences, the play is mostly performed in Hakka dialect, and incorporates a good many references to the customs, personalities, legends, songs and sayings of the Hakka. It thus presents a vignette of Hakka culture and society in miniature.

No. 45. Jiangxi sheng Nanfeng xian Sanxi xiang Shiyou cun de tiaonuo江西省南豐縣三溪鄉石郵村的跳儺 (the “leaping nuo” of Shiyou village, Sanxi parish, Nanfeng county, Jiangxi) (1996, 194 p.)

Authors: Yu Daxi余大喜and Liu Zhifan劉之凡

       Nuo rituals of exorcism have been practiced in Jiangxi since Han times, and even now the province is known as the home of nuo dancing. Among all the nuo troupes in the province, the tiaonuo of Shiyou village is that which most fully retains the original form of performance. The authors begin their exposition with the historical and cultural background of Nanfeng county, explaining the environment on which the tiaonuo relies upon for its survival. Viewing the tiaonuo as a cultural phenomenon, they go on to conduct a comprehensive investigation of the migration of the lineage, local religious beliefs and practices, and seasonal observances. Tiaonuo is performed once a year, from the first day of the first lunar month until the 16th day. As a ritual structure it is divided into four stages: qinuo起儺 (raising nuo), yennuo演儺 (performing nuo), sounuo搜儺 (collecting nuo), and yuannuo圓儺 (rounding off nuo). Of these stages, sounuo is the most impressive and is the central part of the entire ritual observance. Sounuo involves going from door to door and driving out nefarious influences, roping off each room and expelling plague. Masked performers in the roles of the Kaishan開山, Zhong Kui鍾馗 and Dashen大神 strike blows into all four corners with iron chain halberds, and take charge of arresting any left-over demons. Both the form and atmosphere of this performance are much as described in ancient records. The intention of the present work is to investigate the historical origins of tiaonuo and its cultural significance. The authors first, on the basis of large amounts of field data, raise doubts about the currently fashionable theory that present day nuo can be dated no further back than the Ming.  They then analyse the time frame, ritual function and structure of tiaonuo, and also discuss the structural aspects of the deities worshipped, comparing them with those of the nuo of Han and Tang times. Finally, they compare the major theatrical pieces and dances with those mentioned in ancient writings, and thence proceed to uncover hidden aspects of the cultural significance of nuo.

The present report is in six parts: 1) basic information about the village and its religious practices and beliefs; 2) basic materials on the ritual itself; 3) sequence and structure of the ritual; 4) the performing group; 5) forms of performance and dance; and 6) conclusions.

No. 46. Hunan sheng Qianyang xian Wanxi xiang de Guanyin jiao he Chenhe muou xi xiangshan湖南省黔陽縣灣溪鄉的觀音醮和辰河木偶戲香山 (the rite of offering to Guanyin of Wanxi parish, Qianyang county, Hunan, and the Chenhe puppet play “incense mountain”) (1996, 207 p.)

Author: Li Huaisun李懷蓀

       The area of Qianyang黔陽 and Xupu漵浦 in western Hunan has a long history, and shamanic customs relating to beliefs in gods and ghosts have been transmitted down the generations. The inhabitants of this area mainly farm for a living, and put much faith in Guanyin. Hence the local festivals held to recompense the gods mostly take the form of a Guanyin jiao by way of thanking the goddess and praying for future blessings.

       The form of theatre current throughout the whole of this region is Chenhe gaoqiang. Among the companies performing in this genre, the low-stage companies and high-stage companies mostly perform in the context of religious rituals held to recompense the gods. The low-stage companies primarily perform the xianshan cycle of plays, in which they enact the story of Guanyin and of how Guanyin obtained enlightenment. They frequently perform this cycle of plays for Guanyin jiao, and are much appreciated by local audiences.

       The author describes the preparations for Guanyin jiao and provides a detailed record of each stage in the ritual process. He then proceeds to detail the actual circumstances of performance of the Xianshan puppet play and discusses each item in the repertoire and dramatic form. He also points out the reasons for the contemporary decline of the low-stage companies.

       For readers who wish to understand something of the customs and folkways of western Hunan and its religious practices, this work can serve as an excellent guide.

No. 47. Hunan sheng Yongshun xian Heping xiang Shuangfeng cun Tujia zu de maogusi湖南省永順縣和平鄉雙鳳村土家族的毛古斯 (the maogusi of the Tujia nationality of Shuangfeng village, Heping parish, Yongshun county, Hunan) (1996, 397 p.)

Author: Zhang Ziwei張子偉

       The maogusi is a primitive form of play performed by the Tujia villagers of western Hunan, in which, naked except for costumes of rice-straw, they re-enact the lives of their remote ancestors. The whole book is divided into six parts: 1) basic information about Shuangfeng village; 2) basic materials on the maogusi play; 3) the sequence and structure of maogusi; 4) a general account of the performing groups and their members; 5) the form of performance and dramatic elements; and 6) conclusions.

       This work presents material on an ancient ritual of worship and offering to ancestral spirits. The perspective adopted is that of religious studies. In terms of ethnology the work provides readers with historically important material on the origins and migration of the Tujia people. In terms of folklore, themes such as ancient patterns of worship and group marriage are explored. In the area of the economics of indigenous peoples, the book furnishes information on primaeval agricultural production, fishing and hunting, while from the point of view of dramatic studies the material included is even richer, covering topics such as the characteristics of ritual theatre in the remote past, special techniques of acting, and the complex relationship between dramatisation, the performance of ritual, and shamanism.

       The book includes the scripts of five plays in the maogusi repertoire, complete with an interlinear translation into Han Chinese. Complete texts of the shamanic song lyrics (called sheba songs) are also included, along with musical scores, and there are 104 plates of dances and maogusi songs in performance, taken on site in the field.

No. 48. Sichuan sheng Chongqing Ba xian Shuanghekou xiang Zhong Weicheng jia wutian foujiao qingjian jisi yishi四川省重慶巴縣雙河口鄉鍾維成家五天佛教請薦祭祀儀式 (the five-day Buddhist ritual of commendation and offering as performed for the family of Zhong Weicheng of Shuanghekou parish, Ba county, Chongqing) (1996, 278 p.)

Author: Hu Tiancheng胡天成

       The ritual of qingjian described in this book took place in the house of Zhong Weicheng of Shuanghekou parish in Ba county in Chungqing mmunicipality. It was performed for the salvation of the souls of Mr. Zhong’s parents, who died many years ago. Although this ritual is like that described in another work by the author (see vol. 72, Jielong sangxi: Chongqing shi Ba xian Jielong xiang Liujiashan hezuoshe Yang Guixing wutian foujiao sanzang yishi zhi diaocha接龍喪戲—重慶市巴縣接龍鄉劉家山合作社楊貴馨五天佛教喪葬儀式之調查 [the mortuary dramas of Jielong – an investigation into a five-day Buddhist funeral rite performed on behalf of Yang Guixing at the Liujiashan cooperative of Jielong township, Ba county, Chongqing municipality]) in that both are five-day Buddhist masses for the dead, there is in fact a great deal of difference between them. The five-day service at Jielong was performed at the burial of Yang Guixing, who had just died, and this falls into the category of funeral ritual; whereas the five-day mass at Shuanghekou was performed for the salvation of the dead souls of Zhong Zhengan and Chen Qingzhen, and thus falls into the category of rituals of qingjian. The mass at Jielong consisted of forty-seven ritual segments or “altars” (tan), whereas the mass at Shuanghekou had only thirty-two; of these, only ten or so “altars” formed part of both rituals, and even they differed greatly in content and ritual process. Some “altars” that went by the same name in fact differed even more widely, or were completely different. In the Shuanghekou mass there were also some “altars” that did not form part of the Jielong service. All of this shows how rituals in two locations within a hundred Chinese miles of each other, even if they share a similar religious culture and each has a five-day requiem mass, nevertheless because of difference in cultural transmission and other factors, can be quite unlike or even utterly different from each other with regards to name and number of “altars,” content, ritual sequence and esoteric meaning. From this one can begin to see something of the richness and peculiarity of Chinese funeral and requiem ritual.

       In addition to the necessary introduction to the locality, its ritual life and the basic sequence of the five-day requiem service, the author has concentrated on the differences between this and the Jielong ritual in both the number of “altars” and their specific content. While bringing important points into relief, he has avoided any unnecessary reduplication of content. By means of a comparison between the Shuanghekou ritual and that of Jielong, scholars will gain a much fuller picture of five-day Buddhist masses in Ba county and of the important question of ritual variation, a question which is of general relevance for the study of Chinese ritual and ritual theatre.

No. 49. Sichuan sheng Jiangbei xian Shujia xiang Longgang cun Liu zhai de huanyang xi四川省江北縣舒家鄉龍崗村劉宅的還陽戲 (the redemption of vows to the gods: the huanyang play as performed for the Liu household in Longgang village, Shujia parish, Jiangbei county, Sichuan) (1996, 322 p.)

Author: Wang Yao王躍

       The huanyang play is a kind of rite of offering in recompense to the gods for the redemption of vows. Before 1949 it was seen in all parts of Sichuan. If people were seriously ill, or if their family were threatened by disasters, they would turn to the gods of the yangxi theatre and seek their protection by making a vow. Then, when killing the yearly pig at the time of the winter solstice, they would offer the god the entire pig together with wine, and invite a duangong to come and perform songs and dances by way of recompense. The main objects of worship in yangxi─Chuan Zhu川主 (ruler of Sichuan), Tu Zhug土主 (ruler of the earth) and Yao Wang藥王 (king of medicine) ─are territorial protective deities widely worshipped by the common people in Sichuan. The full name of yangxi is Wuyang shenxi舞陽神戲 (the spirit play of Wuyang), where Wuyang is a place-name in Henan. This name suggests a possible connection with Wang Jian王建, a man from Wuyang who with his son occupied Sichuan during the Five Dynasties and introduced songs and dances for the festival worship of Erlang二郎 (i.e., Chuan Zhu). In this regard, research on yangxi is of great significance for the study of ritual in Sichuan.

       The present work is a detailed and comprehensive report of field investigations, covering an actual instance of performance in the field and supplementary written documentation. The whole book is divided into six parts: 1) a brief introduction to the village and the celebrant; 2) an overview of the ritual; 3) the ritual sequence as performed for the Liu family; 4) a brief description of the troupe of priests who conducted the performance; 5) an investigation of the evidence on the origins of the worship of the sansheng三聖 (three sages) in Sichuan; and 6) appendices.

No. 50. Guizhou sheng Qinglong xian Zongying zhan Xinguang cun Xiaodong Miao zhu qingtan diaocha baogao貴州省晴隆縣中營鎮新光村硝洞苗族慶壇調查報告 (the altar of celebration of the Hmong nationality of Xiaodong hamlet, Xinguang village, Zongying town, Qinglong county, Guizhou)

Project directors: Wang Ch’ui-kuei王秋桂and Tuo Xiuming庹修明

Writers: Yang Lan楊蘭and Liu Feng劉鋒

       This region in Guizhou is inhabited by the Trumpet Hmong, who worship Sandong taoyuan 三洞桃源(the three grottoes of the paradise of peaches) in a shamanistic fashion. The way they do this is as follows: they set up a large bamboo tube in their spirit shrine in the main hall of the house, glue bits of coloured paper on it, and fill it with rice and beans in order to provide a perching place for the spirits. Whenever there is illness or hardship in the family they invite a shaman to exorcise it, then sacrifice a pig and welcome the descent of the Three Goddesses and the gods of Sandong taoyuan by way of recompense and redemption of the vow. Ordinarily they perform one qing慶  (celebration) every three years. In Qinglong county there is a distinction between “big cowhorn” and “little cowhorn” rituals. The present book is on a qingtan ritual of the “big cowhorn” variety, a relatively large-scale celebration in which the ritual sequence was complete.

       The volume provides a brief introduction to the local customs and religious beliefs of the Zhongying area, describes the preparations for qingtan rite, discusses the circumstances that led to the decision to perform the rite and the ritual sequence itself, then explores the cultural ramifications of qingtan. After the main text there are appendices containing the texts of the manuscripts used in this ritual and photographs of the performance. The aim is to provide readers with an accurate and full set of materials on one particular ritual performance.

No. 51. Zhong Ri Han mingjian jisi yili de bijiao yanjiu中日韓民間祭祀儀禮的比較研究 (comparative studies in Chinese, Japanese and Korean ritual) (1997, 275 p.)

Author: Suwa Haruo諏訪春雄

Translators: Huang Qiang黃強and Ye Han’ao葉漢鰲

       The present work is a new departure by the well-known Japanese scholar Professor Suwa Haruo. Using material from his own extensive fieldwork experience in China, Japan and Korea, Professor Suwa has gone on in this new work to apply the comparative method to produce new insights. The book contains in-depth research on a number of important questions, such as the basic structure of popular ritual in China, Japan and Korea; the special features of masked performances; the essential principles of the construction of stages; and evidence of the pathways taken in the evolution of artistic and theatrical forms from ritual. The author also presents a fine analysis of various aspects of the ritual substratum in East Asia, such as concepts of the supernatural, beliefs about the dependency of spirits, the three-layered conception of the universe, concepts of the five directions and the five colors, and beliefs about visitations by deities.

       Through his use of the comparative perspective, the author has not only uncovered some of the historical traces of the diffusion and propagation of ritual forms in the East Asian area, but has also inductively arrived at certain common features in East Asian popular ritual.

No. 52. Xizang Shannan Zharang Xian Samye Si Duode Dadian西藏山南扎囊縣桑耶寺多德大典 (The great ceremonial of multitudinous virtue of the Samye Monastery in Zharang County, Shannan Region, Tibet) (1997, 265 p.)

Author: Guo Jing郭淨

       This is the first major work by a scholar from the People’s Republic of China on a particular ritual of Tibetan Buddhism. Based on the author’s long period of fieldwork in the Samye [dSam-yas] monastery, the present volume is a specialist study on the religious dance called the ’chams. The rituals of this particular gompa took form in the eighth century, and the gompa is said to be the place where the ’chams dances originated.  This study thus furnishes a case of particular importance for the understanding of the history of ’chams and their present state.

       The author has made use of field material, sutras in the Tibetan language, and historical documents to investigate the origins and evolution of ’chams in Tibet, and the spread of such dances to Mongolia, Hebei, Sichuan, Yunnan, and South Asia. He also provides a comprehensive report on the preparations and ritual sequence of the observance for the three-day Duode held at the Samye monastery in the fifth month of the Tibetan calendar each year. Finally, he provides an analysis of the ways in which the officiants and roles fit in with the popular customs of this part of Tibet.

       This book also contains as an appendix a number of the texts used in the ’chams dances, presented in phonetic transcription and in Chinese translation.

No. 53. Fujian Longyan shi Subang cun shangyuan jianfan dajiao yu Longyan shigong xi福建龍巖市蘇邦村上元建幡大醮與龍巖師公戲 (the raising of the pennant and great offering of the shangyuan Festival in Subang village, Longyan municipality, Fujian, and the vernacular priest plays of Longyan) (1997, 556 p.)

Authors:      Ye Mingsheng葉明生and Liu Yuan劉遠

       Longyan, in southwestern Fujian, is a region well-known for the liveliness of its folklore. In the ritual calendar, the high point comes with shangyuan Jianfan Dajiao in the first month of the year, when a large-scale jianfan dajiao is performed. This communal observance relies on the activities of the local Daoist priests of the Lüshan school. The shigong plays of Longyan are a form of religious theatre organized by the Lüshan Daoists, and they are an important and integral part of the activities of the Daoist “altars.” The contents of the repertoire include ritual plays derived from the ritual texts of the altar, “civil” plays adapted from other local theatrical forms, martial plays closely connected with the shamanistic substratum, and apotropaic songs derived from folksong and the vernacular songs of the Daoist altar. All these plays however, manifest the special features of religious theatre in their music, mode of performance, and stage art.

       This work is an in-depth investigation of shangyuan jianfan dajiao, as performed once during a five-year cycle in Subang village in Longyan. It also provides a detailed account of the population, livelihood, lineage rituals, and popular beliefs and observances of this locality. At the same time, it provides an analysis of the role of local Lüshan Daoist chapters in the conduct of jiao and the internal organization of Daoist “altars” themselves. Finally, the work discusses the overall condition of Lüshan Taoism, the form of shigong plays, and their development.

No. 54. Anhui Mulian xi ziliao ji安徽目連戲資料集 (a collection of materials on the Mulian plays of Anhui) (1997, 352 p.)

Editor: Mao Gengru茆耕茹

       From the time when Zheng Zhizhen’s Mulian jiumu quanshan xiwen appeared during the Wan-li reign period (1573-1620) until the 1940’s, the history of the Mulian play in Anhui spanned over 360 years. Altough there were performances of Mulian plays in Anhui villages every year, no detailed accounts of the circumstances of these performances were ever written down. The completion of the present volume is the fruit of careful and systematic collection and recording of surviving evidence, and involved the combined efforts of a great many people.

       Contents include the following: prefaces, critical assessments, notes and postfaces; records in local gazetteers; verification of theatre companies; performance customs; counterfeit editions and ritual manuals; instrumental and vocal music; festival performances; prose descriptions; and performance texts, together with lists of acts. In many cases this is the first time the material has been published. In the section on verification of theatre companies, for instance, detailed information is given on the theatre companies and performance customs for the whole of Anhui province, including the Shexian歙縣, Changbiao長標, Qimen祁門, Limu栗木, Shitai石臺, Jingde旌德, Guichi貴池, Nanling南陵, Fanchang繁昌, and Tongling銅陵 companies. The ritual manuals in particular represent material that is rarely obtainable. The catalogue of performance texts, with twenty-eight items in eleven categories, is the most complete catalogue of Mulian playscripts from Anhui yet to appear.

No. 55. Zhejiang nuoxi ziliao huaibian浙江儺戲資料匯編 (a collection of materials on the nuo plays of Zhejiang) (1997, 180 p.)

Editors: Xu Hongtu徐宏圖and Zhang Aiping張愛萍

       The origins of nuo culture in Zhejiang are very ancient, and can be traced back over four thousand years to the Liangzhu良渚 culture of the neolithic period. In Liangzhu culture sites in Yuhang county large numbers of engraved taotie饕餮 designs on jade have been discovered. According to experts in the field, these are “the most ancient and the only source of the designs on nuo masks.” Nuo rituals, dances, and plays have always flourished in Zhejiang, right up to the present day, and in olden times performances took place virtually every month. There are pre-modern references to nuo in the histories, in local gazetteers, in random jottings and in individual works of scholarship; there are more extended critical writings from time to time; and there is a rich heritage of playscripts. Up until now these materials have remained scattered and hard to find. For convenience, they have been gathered together in the present volume and classified. Headings include notices in gazetteers, pre-modern accounts, and modern critical observations.

No. 56. Yunan sheng Zhenxiong xian Poji zhen Han zu qingpusa雲南省鎮雄縣潑機鎮漢族慶菩薩 (collected ritual texts pertaining to the “celebrating the Boddhisattva” rituals of Poji town, Zhenxiong county, Yunnan) (1997, 442 p.)

Author: Ma Chaokai馬朝開

       Qingpusa is a form of household ritual frequently performed among the Han people of northwestern Yunnan. The officiants of such rituals are vernacular priests known locally as duangong. The main aims of the ritual normally encompass “prayers for good fortune and libations for favours, pledges for progeny and for prolongation of life, attraction of wealth and taking in of auspiciousness, dispelling disasters and release from calamity.” The entire ritual is composed of various performance genres, including songs-and-dances, plays, and acrobatics. The part involving ritual theatre is one in which the priests don masks and play the parts of various deities; in this regard it has points in common with the ancient nuo theatre and dance.

       For the present volume the author has collected the ritual manuscripts of the Zou鄒 family of vernacular priests from the Poji area, and has combined this material with a detailed account of the ritual process. Discussion and analysis of each ritual segment is followed by the manuscripts pertaining to that segment. In addition, the history of the qingpusa rituals and the organization of the bands of vernacular priests are discussed.  Finally, the esoteric mudras and texts of memorials and other documents sent to the gods are given detailed treatment.

No. 57. Jiangsu Gaochun Mulian xi liangtouhong taiben江蘇高淳目連戲兩頭紅臺本 (the “red at both ends” performance text of the Mulian play from Gaochun in Jiangsu) (1997, 174 p.)

Editor: Mao Gengru茆耕茹

       Gaochun in southern Jiangsu, located on the western side of lake Taihu太湖, has long been known as an important area for the performance of Mulian plays. Three performance versions of the Mulian play were previously known: the Gaochun Mulian in yangqiang陽腔 style, the Chaolun manuscript, and the version in kunqiang崑腔 style. All three were intended for performance over three nights. In October 1990 a further version was discovered in the same area. Originally a text in the keeping of the Zhao趙 lineage of Dingfu定埠 Parish in Gaochun, it was borrowed and copied in 1935 by a certain Chen Zhongmei陳忠美, and it is this copy that survives today.  Unlike previously known versions, this one was intended for performance lasting only a single night, from dusk until dawn—hence the name liangtouhong (red at both ends).  In pre-modern times, it was this version of the play that was most often performed on stage in the area of Gaochun and nearby Langxi郎溪 in Anhui. The discovery of this text has greatly enlarged the scope of Mulian studies in southern Jiangsu.

       The play is divided into two juan, with 27 acts in the first juan and 16 in the second.  The act “Xia shan” 下山 (descending the mountain), in particular, is clearly descended from the ancient yiyangqiang戈陽腔 text. The text also preserves quite a number of old folksongs from the area along the banks of the Xuhe胥河 river. The greatest difference between this and the Ming text of Zheng Zhizhen is the extent to which here the elements urging virtuous behaviour in the mortal world are emphasized at the expense of depictions of the world after death.

No. 58. Diaoqiang Mulian xi Xianfeng gengshen nian chaoben調腔目連戲咸豐庚申年抄本 (the 1860 manuscript of the Mulian play in diaoqiang style) (1997, 489 p.)

Editor: Zhao Ming肇明

       The Mulian play in diaoqiang style was a type of popular performance text widespread in the Shaoxing紹興 area of Zhejiang. Historically, for various reasons, including its own limitations, the diaoqiang Mulian play gradually died out, surviving only in an isolated pocket in Qianliang前良, which used to be part of Xinchang新昌 until it was transferred to Sheng嵊 county in 1985. According to the recollections of old artists Lü Shunquan呂順銓 and Wang Zengchan王增產, Mulian plays have been performed in Qianliang for five generations. Extrapolating on the basis of this information, it may well be that the manuscript dating to the year gengshen of the Xianfeng reign period (1860) is the first-generation Mulian manuscript in this locality.  As a result of a long period of acculturation in the region, this text of the play features a number of acts which are quite different from those in other texts, such as the ever-popular “Bai shen” 白神 (white deity), “Nu diao” 女吊 (hanging woman), and “Qing yi” 請醫 (requesting medicine).

       As Lu Xiaoqiu陸小秋 of the Zhejiang Provincial Arts Research Institute has pointed out in his article “Five Topics on the Mulian Play目連戲五題,” the Ming dynasty play by Zheng Zhizhen, Mulian jiumu quanshan xiwen is quite likely to be an elaboration based on the popular performance texts of the Mulian play in diaoqiang style from this area. From this one can well imagine how far and how profoundly the diaoqiang play has spread its influence.

No. 59. Shaoxing jiuchao jiumu ji紹興舊抄救母記 (the old Shaoxing manuscript of “the story of how Mulian saved his mother”) (1997, 149 p.)

Editor: Xu Hongtu徐宏圖

       The old Shaoxing manuscript of Jiumu ji is a manuscript copied by Yang Xingfang楊杏方 of Jingyi Tang敬義堂(the “respect for righteousness” hall) in Shaoxing in the sixth month of the ninth year of the Guangxu光緒 reign period (1883). It is divided into two juan, and contains 39 acts. It recently became part of the personal collection of the scholar Zhao Jingshen趙景深. According to Zhao, this manuscript tradition dates back to the Ming. Apart from many arias and musical elements that are different from the Ming text of Zheng Zhizhen, there are also nine interludes that are not contained in Zheng’s play. These are: “Da huai” 大會 (the great gathering), “Si jing” 四景 (scenes from the four seasons), “Jia ba” 假霸 (the false bullies), “Tou ji” 偷雞 (stealing a chicken), “Ma ji” 罵雞 (quarrelling over a chicken), “Huai ma” 回罵 (returning the curses), “Chu diao” 出吊 (going out to hang herself), “Xun fu” 訓父 (instructing father), and “Lei ji” 雷擊 (struck by thunder). There are also three other acts which, though they have the same titles, are quite different from those of the Zheng text: these are “Si fan” 思凡 (thinking of the mortal world), “Luo shan” 落山 (coming down the mountain), and “Xiang tiao” 相調 (flirting). The spoken parts of these acts is entirely in Shaoxing dialect, with a rich local flavour. This explains in part the enormous popularity of the play over a long historical period.

No. 60. Fujian Shouning siping kuilei xi nainiang zhuan福建壽寧四平傀儡戲奶娘傳 (the “story of the lady,” a marionette play in Siping style from Shouning county, Fujian) (1997, 278 p.)

Editor: Ye Mingsheng葉明生

Annotator: Wu Naiyu吳乃宇

       Nainiang zhuan, a marionette play in siping style current in Shouning County in eastern Fujian, is a play about Chen Jinggu, whose cult has flourished historically all over Fujian. The play shows signs of influence from popular legend and popular episodic novels, but the closest connection is with the activities of chapters of the Lüshan school of Taoism. Indeed, it can be said that the play is an example of popular religious theatre in the guise of a cultural production of Liyuan zhengjiao梨園正教.

       There are altogether six volumes of Nainiang zhuan play, which can be performed over three days and nights. Of all the items in the repertoire, it is this play that is most commonly performed for rituals in eastern Fujian. It has a history of several hundred years.The drama tells the story of Chen Jinggu, who came from Fuzhou福州, and how she went to Lüshan to study Taoism, and returned with her cousins Chen Haiqing陳海清, and her sworn sisters, Madame Lin林 and Li李 to quell demons, pacify barbarians and protect their country, pray for rain and provide relief from disasters, aid in childbirth and the protection of infants. In this way she became the most revered of protective spirits of the common people of Fujian. The play not only re-presents many of this legendary material, but incorporates episodes that shed light on other aspects of folk belief in eastern Fujian. Performances closely reflecting many of the rituals of Lüshan Taoism are included in the stage action. The play is important material not only for the study of the marionnette theatre, but also of Lüshan Taoism itself. While the music contains some admixture from other styles of local theatre, the bulk of the play is in the siping style, and the play preserves many song and instrumental melodies of this archaic genre.

No. 61. Dongbei Hanjun qixiang de kaocha yu yanjiu東北漢軍旗香的考察與研究 (Investigations and research on the incense-burning rituals of the Han-Chinese banner armies in Manchuria) (1998, 208 p.)

Authors: Ren Guangwei任光偉, Sun Ying孫英

The designation hanjun qixiang refers to the incense-burning rituals conducted by the Han-Chinese Green Banners during the Qing dynasty. This is a special form of sacrificial ritual through which the Han-Chinese soldiers provided feasts for the gods and offerings to their ancestors in order to expel nefarious influences and welcome in blessings and good luck. They have a history of something over three hundred years. The authors of the present volume first conducted fieldwork among the Han-Chinese bannermen in Liaoning and Jilin during the 1950s. In the last decade they have undertaken two exhaustive surveys in the area where this ritual is most concentrated, Muqi木奇 parish in the Xinbin新賓 Manchu autonomous county. The present volume is based on those materials.

The book is divided into the following seven chapters: “The environment in which hanjun qixiang rituals are found,” “The organisation and order of performance of hanjun qixiang rituals,” “The costumes, properties and sacrificial items used in the rituals,” “The origins and development of the rituals,” “Conclusions.” Appendices include a record of performance by Leng Shuwei冷樹偉 of Muqi in Xinbin county, and another text belonging to Chang Shuchun常樹春 of Yongji永吉 county in Jilin, as well as photographs taken of performances in Muqi in Xinbin county. This is the first monograph on hanjun qixiang rituals.

No. 62. Hunan sheng Longshan xian Neixi xiang Yanli cun Tujia zu de huan tuwangyuan湖南省龍山縣內溪鄉岩力村土家族的還土王願 (redemption of vows to the king of the earth among the Tujia people of Yanli village, Neixi parish, Longshan county, Hunan) (1998, 267 p.)

Author: Zhang Ziwei張子偉

The Tujia people refer to the ritual of haun tuwangyuan as “huan fusi.” The form of performance is like the ritual huan nuoyuan還儺願(redemption of nuo vows among the Han-Chinese). If in one year a prosperous family makes a vow in order to pray for children, wealth, recovery from disease or long life, in the following year, if things work out as they had hoped, they will invit the Tima altar-group to release the money and huanyuan還願 (rdeem the vow) to tuwang. In formal terms, there is no nuo altar set up, no nuo play performed, and no figures such as nuogong儺公 and nuomu儺母. All there is one actor ─ the Tima ─ acting the part of the ancestral spirits or of tuwang, and performing a simple story. No masks are worn by the performer, and there are no changes of costume. In terms of content, they invite the ancestral spirits of the Tujia, tuwang, and a small number of Han Chinese gods such as Sixi Guan四禧官 (the official of the four happinesses). They do not issue repeated invitations, but rather summon them with mantras and orders from Taishang Laojun太上老君. During the ritual quite a number of antiphonal songs and riddling songs are performed.

Towards the end of the book the author raises a number of questions about the ecology and cultural background to the performances, and compares the making and redemption of vows among the Tujia, Hmong and Han. He also offers some thoughts on the way in which the shamanic culture of the Tujia has been combined with the redemption of vows, and how it has been transmitted. This book will be a useful reference for all scholars interested in the traditional sacrificial rituals of the national minorities of western Hunan.

No. 63. Mingdai nanxi shengqiang yuanliu kaobian明代南戲聲腔源流考辨 (On the origins and transmission of singing styles in the southern theatre of the Ming dynasty) (1999,534 p.)

Author: Liu Sha流沙

This book is a monograph on the origins and transmission of singing styles in nanxi南戲 during the Ming dynasty. It is composed of five parts. The first part concerns the yiyangqiang戈陽腔 and its various transmissions. The yiyangqiang had its origins in the Mulian plays of nanxi during the Song and Yuan dynasties, and an important characteristic of the circumstances which led to its development was the performance of many large-scale cycles of plays. Unlike other singing styles, yiyangqiang retained the characteristics of nanxi music in more or less concentrated fashion. The second part concerns the yuyaoqiango餘姚腔. Because this style originated in the Shaoxing area of Zhejiang, it was also called yuediao越調 (the mode of Yue越, Shaoxing being the site of the capital of the ancient kingdom of Yue).  Yuyaoqiang was transmitted to Jinhua金華, where it combined with the yiyangqiang of Jiangxi, and gave rise to another style, the Yiwu義烏 style. Yuyaoqiang was also transmitted to southern Anhui, where it gave rise in Taiping prefecture to the Taiping style. After the end of the Ming and the beginning of the Qing, yuyaoqiang began to die out in its native Shaoxing. The Xinchang新昌 style preserved in present-day Shaoxing is not a survival of the earlier yuyaoqiang, but is related to the huaichi yadiao徽池雅調 (elegant tunes of Huizhou徽州 and Chizhou池州) from southern Anhui. The third part concerns the Haiyan海鹽 singing-style. Many people believe it had its origins in the Southern Song period, and that it was created by the boy actors in the family troupe of Zhang Ci張鎡 on the basis of old melodies from nanxi. This story however is unreliable, and the present volume goes into great detail to elucidate this matter. The fourth part concerns the Kunshan崑山 singing-style. This style began life as the “local tunes” performed in the nanxi in Suzhou, and subsequently underwent continuous revisions by musicians, until finally the “local tunes” had been transformed into the elegant music of nanxi. The fifth part concerns guanqiang官腔as performed by strings. This style is in addition to the above-mentioned four styles, which have pride of place as the “Four Great Musical Styles” of nanxi of the Ming. It takes its name from its accompaniment by stringed instruments. At the beginning of the Ming, this style was transmitted to Quanzhou in Fujian, where it subsequently came to be performed in dialect and with local variations in melodic style. This variation came to be known as quanqiang泉腔, the style of Quanzhou. The present-day nanqu南管(southern tunes) of the Liyuan theatre of Fujian are the surviving remnants of the guanqiang performed with strings of the Ming period. The evidence for the above-listed statements is presented systematically in the present volume.

No. 64. Anhui Mulian xi changqiang xuanbian安徽目連戲唱腔選編 (the singing styles of Mulian plays in Anhui) (1999, 299 p.)

Editor: Shi Wennan施文楠

Anhui is located in the Yangtze and Huai river basin area athwart the North China Plains, and at the same time it serves as the gateway for the southeastern and southwestern parts of China. From the end of the Jin to the Ming and Qing, every time there was flooding on the Yellow river the north, large numbers of refugees passed through present-day Anhui on their way to Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong. A cultural amalgam of north and south, encompassing language, customs and culture, was the natural result. The story of Mulian combined sung-and-spoken performance, acrobatics, storytelling, and folk and popular song, and by the end of the Qing a form of Mulian theatre combining the singing-styles of yiyangqiangi戈陽腔, yangqiang陽腔, diaoqiang調腔, qingyangqiang青陽腔, yuyaoqiang餘姚腔 and gaoqiangqiang高腔 had spread throughout the hinterland of the “Seven Southern Provinces” of Anhui, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Fujian, Hubei, Hunan and Sichuan. The present collection is drawn primarily from the Mulian theatre of Nanling南陵, a style chosen on the basis of the quality of the singing and the breadth of its influence. It is based on the edited scores of audio recordings made of famous surviving actors of the Wanfu萬福 troupe of Nanling county from the spring of 1979 till the spring of 1981. In addition, there is material taken from performances by old artists and new enthusiasts from a number of locations within the province (Dongzhi東至, Shexian歙縣, Tongling銅陵, Zongyang樅楊, Guichi貴池, and Gaochun高淳 in Jiangsu) during 1986. The interludes and sung melodies were then classified in accordance with common melodic features into the following categories: 1) xin shuiling新水令; 2) zhu yunfei駐雲飛; 3) hong na’ao紅納襖; 4) e’erlang娥兒郎; 5) suonanzhi鎖南枝; 6) bubujiao步步嬌; 7) medleys (Pofan破犯); 8) Miscellaneous tunes.

No. 65. Zhejiang sheng Xinchang xian Hubu cun Mulian jiumu ji浙江省新昌縣胡卜村目連救母記 (the play ‘tale of Mulian rescuing his mother’ from Hubu village, Xinchang county, Zhejiang) (1998, 317 p.)

Editors: Xu Hongtu徐宏圖and Zhang Aiping張愛萍

Mulian jiumu ji is taken from a manuscript in the hands of an old actor from a Mulian troupe from Hubu village, Xinchang county, in former Shaoxing prefecture.  There is no evidence of when it was copied. The entire script is divided into four juan, labelled Zhai齋(the fast), Seng僧(the priests), Bu佈(the dispensation), and Shi施(the bestowal). Altogether there are 109 scenes. This play makes abundant use of Shaoxing dialect and argot, but apart from that, the main difference between it and the playscript of Zheng Zhizhen’s Mulian jiumu quanshan xiwen is that it is threaded through with quite a number of shorter play-segments that are lacking in Zheng’s text. Altogether there are some twenty-five of these little plays, including “Jinyu yuan” 金玉縁 (gold and jade predestined) and “Si jing” 四景 (four effulgences). Most of these have always been greatly appreciated by audiences, and many, like “Nan diao” 男吊 (the man who hanged himself), “Nü diao” 女吊 (the woman who hanged herself), and “Taoji huima” 偷雞回罵 (stealing a chickenand returning curses), are still part of the surviving repertoire, and are performed to this day. This is because, in the words of Lu Xun魯迅, they “are genuinely the works of peasants and handicraft workers.” Apart from adding punctuation and correcting mistaken characters, this edition preserves the original text of this version of the play entirely in its original form.

No. 66. Wannan gaoqiang Mulian juan皖南高腔目連卷 (the text of the Mulian play in gaoqiang style form southern Anhui)

Editor: Zhu Jianming朱建明

Wannan gaoqiang Mulian juan is the script of a Mulian play that circulated in the Chizhou池州, Xuancheng宣州 and Huizhou徽州 area of southern Anhui, and was performed in the gaoqiang musical style. The entire text is divided into three juan卷.  The first juan contains forty-three sections, the second contains thirty-eight, and the third thirty-six, making a total of one hundred and seven sections altogether. The present volume is based on a manuscript version that was transcribed by a local artist at the beginning of the Republican period, and was later purchased in southern Anhui by the famous scholar of Chinese theatre, Zhou Yibai周貽白, for his collection. Fortunately it survived the ravages of the Cultural Revolution. The text has been provided by Zhou Huabin周華斌, and Zhu Jianming has punctuated and edited it.

Wannan gaoqiang Mulian juan differs in numerous respects from the Ming dynasty version by Zheng Zhizhen. The basic episodes in the plot are the same, but apart from that the southern Anhui text reads much more like a performance text, and one actually used by local actors. It makes much use of the local dialect, proverbs and local sayings, and there are comic interludes and skits have been inserted into the main text, so that the script is much more humorous and lively. Because of this, it would have been particularly popular with audiences. Southern Anhui is the area of highest concentration of Mulian playscripts. Most scripts show signs of having been tampered with by literati, but this text is free of such gratuitous editing. All of the vigour of the earthy language of the countryside, including the dirty jokes, have been preserved in this edition, which will make it a particularly valuable edition for reference and research.

No. 67. Anhui Chizhou Dongzhi Su cun gaoqiang Mulian xiwan chuanhuai ben安徽池州東至蘇村高腔目連戲文穿會本 (the text of the Mulian play in gaoqiang style from Su village, Dongzhi county, Chizhou, Anhui)

Editor: Wang Zhaoqian王兆乾

In 1986, while undertaking investigations in Li’an利安 parish, Fang Wenzhang方文章 and Qian Yihe錢藝河 of the Editorial Office of the Dongzhi County Monograph on Theatre discovered the script of a Mulian play in the keeping of local artists Su Tiannian蘇天年 and Xiong Kaotian熊靠天 of the former Wufu Ban五福班(five blessings theatre troupe). This turned out to be a manuscript text that had been copied out by the old actor Wei Guangli魏光禮 of Xiwan西灣 parish, now deceased, in 1911. Fang Wenzhang made another copy, faithfully following the layout of the original manuscript, and reported to the Editorial Office of the Anqing Region Monograph on Theatre. Not long afterwards Su Tiannian and other old actors died, and the original manuscript was buried with them. The present edition of the Su village text is based on the copy made by Fang Wenzhang.

The script is fairly short, intended for performance over a single day and night. In it, both the play and its accompanying fasting and offering rituals are simplified, in a way that is appropriate for the financial resources of average peasant households. The script only covers the story of Fu Luobo’s (傅羅卜) family, and leaves out entirely the episodes surrounding Madame Liu’s (劉) descent into hell. Because the purpose of the ritual is to rescue the soul of the deceased, there is no need to be particular about whether or not the entire plot of the play is performed. There are two forms of performance of the Mulian play. In the first, the parts are performed by human actors, while in the second the parts are performed by marionettes. In this area, the marionettes are usually marionettes with removable heads. Fewer artists are required for performance with marionettes, and this form of performances is particularly suited to situations in cramped private houses, where there are not too many people in the audience. The present playscript was used for performances both by human actors and by marionettes.

The Su village text is a true performance text, and notes the drum patterns and instrumental interludes to be performed at each point. It is the result of local musical adaptation of the Ming dynasty text of Zheng Zhizhen鄭之珍. The instrumental interludes have been simplified, the language has been made less literary and more popular, and at the same time the role of the gunchang滾唱 (rolling reiteration) technique has been greatly extended. It is a clear example of the transformations that take place when a playscript makes its way from the scholar’s desk to the village stage.

No. 68. Anihui Chizhou qingyangqiang Mulian xiwen dahuiben安徽池州青陽腔目連戲文大會本 (the text of the Mulian play in qingyang style from Chizhou, Anhui, as performed at large-scale festivals) (1999, 378 p.)

Editors: Wang Zhaoqian王兆乾 and Wang Qiugui王秋貴

The present volume Mulian xiwen is a playscript in the qingyang musical style, as used in performances at large-scale festivals in the region in southern Anhui centered on Guichi貴池, Qingyang青陽 and Shitai石台 in the Chizhou池州 region. Such versions of the Mulian play are called sanri hong三日紅 (three days red) versions, so-called because they are meant to be performed over a period of three days. The original manuscript was bound into three booklets. The text has been transcribed with a traditional writing-brush. There is no record of when the transcription took place, but from the qulaity of the paper, the date was probably around the end of the Qing or the beginning of the Republic. Written on the original cover of this manuscript is only the title, Mulian xiwen. Scripts of the Mulian play however vary widely in the singing style in which they were meant to be performed, and in other aspects of performance. Based on the area in which it was current, and on the singing style prescribed, it would be appropriate to designate the text as a Mulian play in qingyangqiang style from Chizhou, as performed at large-scale festivals.

In editing the present text, the following versions of the Mulian play were consulted: Mulian jiumu quanshan xiwen目連救母勸善戲文of Zheng Zhizhen鄭之珍, in the printed edition published in Shexian歙縣 during the Wan Li萬曆 period (1573-1620) by Huang Ting黃鋌; the November 1957 mimeograph Mulian xiju ben目連戲劇本 (a script of the Mulian play) produced by the Mulian Play Work Committee of Nanling南陵 County (a Qing dynasty text); a Mulian playscript from the private collection of Wang Yanshou汪延壽 of the Double Dragon Wang of Shuangxi雙溪 village, Liujie劉街 parish, Guichi county (a short-festival text in poor condition); the Mulian xiwen (see vol. 67) in the gaoqiang style from Su village in Dongzhi county, Chizhou formerly in the collection of Su Tiannian and Xiong Kaotian (a short-festival text); a text entitled “Qing shen ci” 請神詞 (lyrics for inviting the gods) as used for the nuo rituals of Xiwanshu西灣舒 village in Qingxi清溪 parish, Guizhou; a surviving text from Shanghai entitled Mulian quanhui (see vol. 39); a manuscript by Chu Xuhuai儲緒懷in the gaoqiang style from westen Hubei.

No. 69. Qingyangqiang xiwen sanzhong青陽腔戲文三種 (three plays in qingyang style) (1999, 286 p.)

Editor: Diao Junning刁均寧

This volume includes the entire texts of Shuiyun ting水雲亭 (water and cloud pavilion) and Baitu ji白兔記 (story of the white rabbit), and excerpts from Banchao tuoxue班超脫靴 (Ban Chao removes his boots). These are all taken from manuscript texts in the hands of old artists from Huizhou徽州, and were originally collected in 1870 by a man who designated himself as “Shao Huatang” 邵畫堂 (Shao’s Painting Hall). When they were rediscovered in 1957, the journal Xiju luncong戲劇論叢 (disquisitions on theatre published by the Chinese Association of Theatre Artists) termed them “rare treasures of the kind that have not been found in China for many years.”

Shuiyun ting is also called Huanhun ji還魂記 (story of the return of the soul). There are twenty-seven acts. The story concerns a Song dynasty scholar, Gao Wenju高文舉, who entered the capital to take his exams, won first place, and was subsequently pressured into becoming the son-in-law of the Prime Minister. Gao ordered his family servant Zhang Qian張千 to return home and bring his wife to the capital, but his wife was subsequently set up by the Prime Minister. Gao’s wife told him of the injustice that had been perpetrated, and he took the case up as far as the prefectural court in Kaifeng開封. After the circumstances of the case came to light, the soul of Gao’s wife returned. Since the end of the Ming, scholars in China have been of the opinion that this play was lost.

Baitu ji has twenty-nine acts. The story concerns how Liu Zhiyuan劉智遠 of the Five Dynasties period ruined his family through his addiction to gambling, and was taken in by the lord of the Li李 Family Manor, and subsequently married his daughter Li Sanniang李三娘. Sanniang’s brothers and sisters-in-law then forced Liu to leave the manor and join the army. Sanniang was thereafter mistreated by her siblings, and when she had borne a child she sent it to Liu Zhiyuan to look after. With his protection, the boy grew up, and one day when he was out hunting for rabbits, he chanced to meet his mother, and the whole family was subsequently reunited. There are two unique characteristics of this particular version of the play: the first is that it transforms what is normally a tragedy into a comedy. There are many comic interludes in this text, and the atmospherics of painful parting are much diminished. The second is that there are many descriptions of folklore and local customs.

Banchao tuoxue is a play that originally formed part of the longer play Toubi ji投筆記 (story of throwing a writing brush), but here it has already become a single-act play. It depicts how, after Ban Chao with his troops had been garrisoning the frontier for many years, he bade his final farewells to the villiage elders. The village elders were reluctant to let him leave, and bade him remove his boots and leave them behind as a memento, so that they could be handed on to subsequent generations so that they not forget his devotion to duty. Although the Ming edition of the play has this episode, the titles of the acts are not the same, and both the lyrics and spoken lines are quite different. There is an introduction to the present play, followed by a yinzi引子 (poem to set the stage). Then comes a spoken passage, in which the actors announce their names and background. There is a coda at the end, and in seven places in the aria zhuma tin駐馬聽 there are passages of the gunchan滾唱 singing style characteristic of qingyang. In short, this is a complete one-act play, no doubt the result of a long period of slow transformation in actual performance.

No. 70. Hunan sheng Luxi xian Chenhe gaoqiang Mulian quanzhan湖南省瀘溪縣辰河高腔目連全傳 (the complete story of Mulian in Chenhe gaoqiang style from Luxi county, Hunan) (1999, 724 p.)

Editor: Zhang Ziwei張子偉

The text of the Mulian play presented in this volume is from Luxi county, Hunan, in the Chenhe theatre genre and in the gaoqiang singing-style. Luxi county is located in the upper reaches of the Chenhe river. At the confluence of the Chenhe and the Yuanshui沅水 there is a trading city called Pushizhen浦市鎮: this is the gateway leading from western Hunan to the Dongting洞庭 Lake area, and during the Hongwu洪武 reign period (1368-1399) at the beginning of the Ming dynasty it had the designation daji大集(big market). The leading families in this town all built theatrical stages, at which they could redeem vows and make offerings to the gods. This greatly expedited the local development of the theatre, and many famous actors and musicians were produced. The present text of Mulian quanzhan comes from the Pushi theatre troupe of Luxi county. It comprises: 1) the eighteen volumes of Mulian zhengzhan目連正傳 (the true story of Mulian), which presents the story of how Fu Luobo傅羅卜(whose Buddhist name was Maha Maudhgalyayana) went down to hell in order to rescue his mother Liu Qingti劉青提; 2) eight volumes of Qian Mulian前目連 (the prior Mulian), that is the story of Mulian’s father’s generation, and of Mulian’s own birth; 3) seven volumes of Jin pai金牌 (the golden placard), which present the story of Yue Fei岳飛; 4) five volumes of Xiangshan zhan香山傳 (the tale of fragrant mountain), which present the story of how Lady Miaoshan妙善 achieved bodhisattvahood and became Guanyin觀音; 5) three volumes of Liang zhan梁傳 (the story of the Liang), which present the story of how the Emperor Wu of the Liang left his family to become a buddhist at Taicheng臺城; 6) nine volumes of the Enfeoffment of the Gods; 7) five volumes of Hua Mulian花目連 (the decorated Mulian), that is, the plays that are inserted into the performance of the Mulian play as “decorations.” Usually the plot of these plays has nothing to do with the Mulian story, but they retain the themes of loyalty and filial piety.

No. 71. Hunan sheng Huanyuan Xian Paibi xiang Huanyan cun Miao zu de zhuiniu ji湖南省花垣縣排碧鄉黃巖村苗族的椎牛祭 (the bludgeoning oxen sacrifice among the Hmong people of Huayan village in Hunan’s Paibi township, Huayuan county) (2000, 540 p.)

Authors: Zhang Ziwei張子偉and Zhang Ziyuan張子元

The zhuiniu ji is the largest, lengthiest, and most sacred and solemn ritual of the 72 forms of sacrificial ritual performed by the Miao people of southwest China. This rite’s main goals involve prayers for wealth and blessings, the elimination of disasters and calamities, and the birth of sons. Only those with certain surnames may perform this rite. For example, members of the Shi施 surname group are only allowed to perform bludgeoning pig sacrifices, and may not sacrifice oxen.

The zhuiniu ji encompasses a total of 36 rites for making offerings to the Hmong’s gods and ghosts, as well as gods and ghosts from outside the community. These rites also preserve the ancient ritual of shiwei尸位 (sacrificing to a descendent who dresses as a substitute for the deceased). The author provides a vivid and detailed written record of all the various rituals performed. At the end of the book is appended the text of zhuiniu ji in both Hmong and Chinese, as well as numerous photographs of these rituals.

No. 72. Jielong sangxi: Chongqing shi Ba xian Jielong xiang Liujiashan hezuoshe Yang Guixing wutian foujiao sanzang yishi zhi diaocha接龍喪戲—重慶市巴縣接龍鄉劉家山合作社楊貴馨五天佛教喪葬儀式之調查 (the mortuary dramas of Jielong – an investigation into a five-day Buddhist funeral rite performed on behalf of Yang Guixing at the Liujiashan cooperative of Jielong township, Ba county, Chongqing municipality) (2000, 730 p.)

Author: Hu Tiancheng胡天成

Traditional funeral rites are still performed among the people of Jielong, and the main goal of such offerings and sacrifices is to save the soul of the deceased so that it may ascend to the Pure Land in the west. During this particular five-day Buddhist funeral rite held on behalf of the deceased Yang Guixing, the ritual master performs the following rites in succession: “qingshen” 請神 (inviting the gods), “sishen” 祀神 (sacrificing to the gods), “qishen” 祈神 (praying to the gods), “songshen” 送神 (sending off the gods); he also performs rituals for “zhaowang” 召亡 (summoning the deceased), “jiwang” 祭亡 (sacrificing to the deceased), “duwang” 度亡 (saving the deceased), and “songwang” 送亡 (sending off the deceased). The entire event combines elements of ritual action and dramatic performance, and relies on them to express a sense of mourning and reverence for elders who have struggled throughout their lives.

During the five days of funeral rites, a total of 467 ritual documents are burned, including die牒(dispatches), shu疏(memorials), biao表 (announcements), ci詞(hymns), shen申(petitions). The author has selected 100 of these and reproduced them for the readers’ benefit. At the end of the book are also appended a photographic record of the rituals, as well as the ritual master’s oral account of his esoteric traditions.

No. 73. Mulian xiqu zhenben jixuan目連戲曲珍本輯選 (critical editions of three Mulian plays) (2000, 306 p.)

Editor: Dai Yun戴云

This volume contains critical editions of three little-known Mulian performance scripts: Kangxi jiuben quanshan jike canjuan康熙舊本勸善金科殘卷 (fragmentary scenes from an old edition of the golden liturgy for [Mulian] urging [his mother] to do good deeds dating from the Kangxi era), Fu Luobu chuanqi傅羅卜傳奇(the legend of Fu Luobu), and Xiangju da mujianlian湘劇大目犍連(a play from Hunan entitled Maha Maudhgalyayana). In the past, people generally considered that the Quanshan jike勸善金科, a Mulian drama revised and edited by Zhang Zhao張照 during the Qianlong乾隆 reign, had been based on the Ming drama edited by Zheng Zhizhen鄭之珍 entitled Mulian jiumu quanshan xiwen. Based on long years of research on these texts, the editor of this volume has concluded that such a viewpoint is mistaken, and that Zhang in fact used the Kangxi edition of the Quanshan jike. As for the Mulian drama from Hunan, its discovery is especially important because previous scholars had assumed that this work had been lost except for a few scattered acts. The publication of Xiangju da mujianlian will allow scholars to study the early development of Mulian drama in the Hunan region. The three texts reproduced in this volume are all based on copies preserved in the Institute of Drama, Chinese Academy of the Arts, and were edited and annotated using the Quanshan jike from the Capital Library, the Qing dynasty manuscript of Fu Luobu chuanqi from the Beijing Library, and Zheng Zhizhen’s Mulian jiumu quanshan xiwen.

No. 74. Yingyuan zhongxiao jieyi影卷忠孝節義 (The shadow play entitled Zhongxiao jieyi) (2000, 306 p.)

Editor: Dai Yun戴云

The shadow play entitled Zhongxiao jieyi (loyalty, filial piety, integrity, and righteousness), a text copied in 1904, was originally preserved in 4 cases containing a total of 32 volumes. The editor relies on references to associations for the performance of shadow plays, as well as knowledge of late Qing society, to conclude that this text appears to be a performance script of the Rongshun榮順 troupe, a shadow puppet performance association belonging to the “Eastern School” of late Qing Beijing. This text appears to have been revised and edited based on the five-color printed edition entitled Quanshan jike勸善金科 dation from the Qianlong乾隆 era. Previous research on Mulian dramas has tended to overlook shadow puppet performances. The discovery of Zhongxiao jieyi bears special significance for our understanding of the history of “Eastern School” shadow puppet drama and performance associations belonging to the “Eastern School” in late Qing Beijing. The discovery of this text also sheds light on the important problem of how a palace script such as Quanshan jike came to influence local theatre. This volume is has been edited and annotated based on a hand-written edition that originally belonged to Fu Xihua傅惜華 but is now in the possession of the Institute of Drama, Chinese Academy of the Arts, as well as the five-color printed edition Quanshan jike.

No. 75. Shangdang gusai xiejuan shisi zhong jianzhu上黨古賽寫卷十四種箋注(fourteen annotated manuscripts of texts used during traditional temple festivals in Shangdang, Shanxi) (2000, 503 p.)

Editor: Yang Mengheng楊孟衡

The region originally known as Shangdang is situated in the southeastern portion of Shanxi province, and includes today’s municipalities of Changzhi長治 and Jincheng晉城. During the 1980s, a text entitled Tangyue xingtu唐樂星圖 (the star chart of Tang music) and thirteen other hand-written manuscripts used during Ming-Qing festivals were discovered in Changzi長子 county of Changzhi長治 municipality. These works originally belonged to the Niu’s (牛), a family of geomancers who also served as ritual masters, and were transmitted from father to son. They include the following titles: Saishang zayong shenqian ben賽上雜用神前本 (miscellaneous [rituals] to be used before the gods) (2 volumes), which includes detailed accounts of the rites and sacrifices performed during three-day festivals; Gaobai wenshu ben告白文書本 (announcements and documents) (5 volumes), which includes texts of the prayers offered during rites and sacrifices; Saiyue shiza ji賽樂食雜集 (music and food offerings) (2 volumes), which includes the songs, playscripts, eulogies and invocations to be read during offering rituals; Saichang guzan賽場古贊(ancient hymns for the altar) (3 volumes), which includes additional eulogies; and, Tangyue xingxing zaoqi wanba tujuan唐樂星行早七晚八圖卷 (volume of the star chart of Tang music [to be used] for seven mornings and eight evenings) (1 volume), a list of the food items to be offered to the gods. The text entitled Tangyue xingtu represents a synthetic compilation of relevant portions of the above 13 works, and was used as a comprehensive outline of the rites to be performed by masters of ceremonies when they officiated at the grand festivals of southern Shanxi. This book contains edited and annotated versions of all the 14 texts mentioned above.

The festival texts preserved in this volume, combined with another work entitled Zhouyue xingtu周樂星圖 (the star chart of Zhou music) that was discovered in Nanshe南舍 village of Lucheng潞城 county, Changzhi長治 municipality, represent an authentic record of four centuries of folk festivals performed from 1522 through 1925. This organic whole, with Tangyue xingtu representing the trunk and the other texts the branches, displays a complete and systematic historical picture of the ancient festivals of the Shangdang region.

No. 76. Jiangsu Nantong tongzi jisi yishi juben江蘇南通童子祭祀儀式劇本(playscripts of sacrifices and rituals performed by tongzi of Nantong, Jiangsu) (2000, 258 p.)

Editor: Cao Lin曹琳

Nantong is situated between the Yangtze river and the southern edge of the Yellow Sea, and in ancient times was a part of the province of Yangzhou. As early as 5,000 years ago during the New Stone Age Era, its inhabitant had practiced shamanism and performed nuo rituals, and today professional shamans known as tongzi童子continue to perform rituals for expelling epidemics and accumulating good fortune. Sacrificial rites performed by these tongzi include dressing up as gods and ghosts, or characters from stories exhorting people to perform good deeds that are intended to warn people about the consequences of their actions.

This volume contains over thirteen shamanic texts from the age-old ritual dramas performed by tongzi, including: Naohuang鬧荒 (famine), Yuan Qiao baidu袁樵擺渡 (Yuan Qiao’s ferry), Yuan Tiangang maigua zhan laolong ji袁天罡賣卦斬老龍記 (the record of Yuan Tiangang’s telling fortunes for money and beheading the dragon), Chen Zichun陳子春, Zhan Yue shouwen斬岳收瘟 (beheading the scholars and capturing epidemics), Xiyou ji Tang seng quji西遊記唐僧取經 (the journey to the west by the Tang monk to obtain Buddhist sutras), Liu Quan jingua劉全進瓜 (Liu Quan presents the melon), Wei Jiulan tifu qingshen魏九郎替父請神 (Wei Jiulang invites the gods for his father), Jiulang jiama nao donghai九郎借馬鬧東海 (Jiulang borrows a steed and roils the eastern ocean), Jiulang xijin mai anpei九郎西京買鞍配 (Jiulang buys riding gear in the western capital), Wei Jiulang jiabian魏九郎借鞭 (Wei Jiulang borrows a whip), Wei Wulang you shiba guan魏五郎遊十八關 (Wei Wulang journeys through the eighteen passes), Qingxiang milou請星迷路 (The messenger getting lost on his way to invite the gods), and Yang Yuan qingshen陽元請神 (Yang Yuan invites the gods). In addition, there is also the text of a restored drama entitled Zheng Sanlang chengfou chuanben鄭三郎成佛傳本 (the legend of Zheng Sanlang attaining Buddhahood).

No. 77. Shaoxing Meng Jiang-nü紹興孟姜女 (the Meng Jiang-nü play from Shaoxing) (2000, 212 p.)

Editor: Xu Hongtu徐宏圖

In rural villages of the Shaoxing region of Zhejiang, the play Meng Jiang-nü is performed exclusively by Mengjiang troupes that are composed of Daoist priests. Their performances tell the story of how, during the reign of China’s first emperor Qin Shihuang秦始皇, Meng Jiang-nü’s husband Fan Qiliang范杞良 was drafted to work on the construction of the Great Wall of China. He died of his toils, and, weeping, she searched for the corpse of her husband along the length of the wall. Her actions caused a portion of the wall to crumble, thereby revealing his corpse. This ritual drama also enacts the story of how Meng Jiang-nü saved her husband’s soul by performing the rite of erecting a nine-level tower. The original tunes and singing styles were later transformed into the luantan亂彈 form of opera. Because the performance style of this drama originated in Daoist troupes and their rituals, it often fully enacts the atmosphere of Daoist religious activities. In Shaoxing, this drama constitutes part of a mortuary ritual that lasts three days and four nights, and is known as Honglo liandu daochang洪樓煉度道場 (the Daoist rite of the Hong tower for purging and saving [the soul of the deceased]). In order to adhere to the wishes of the sponsor of the rites as well as the audience, one of the key performing roles is that of a clown who performs in Shaoxing dialect. The entire drama has absorbed numerous features of Shaoxing folklore and culture that are vividly presented during the performance, including this region’s customs, personal relationships, folksongs and proverbs, etc. Based on the different parts of this drama, we can clearly see how beginning in the Qin dynasty the story of Meng Jiang-nü has spread through the Shaoxing region. We can also see how this play has developed and changed due to the influence of local dramatic traditions. The Shaoxing version of Meng Jiang-nü play belongs to a dramatic form similar to those from other areas of south China, including Hanchang shang撼城殤(mourning cries shake the Great Wall, also known as Meng Jiang-nü) from Yongkang永康 (Zhejiang), and Daoist dramas entitled Meng Jiang-nü from Hunan and Jiangxi. Together, these works prove invaluable in terms of helping scholars better understand a number of important topics, including the ways in which songs and singing styles change in different local performance traditions, the relationship between ritual and drama, and the relationship between drama and folklore.

Shaoxing Meng Jiang-nü was never printed, and has been reconstructed based on an oral enactment by an elder performer of Shaoxing operas named Liang Chaosheng梁潮生. The text has been edited and annotated based on a manuscript dated 1919, which was preserved by the descendents of a senior Daoist from Shangyu上虞 county. There are important differences between the two texts in terms of their contents and their song-titles that deserve further study.

No. 78. Haiyou ji海遊記 (the ocean journey) (2000, 306 p.)

Editor: Ye Mingsheng葉明生

The novel entitled Haiyou ji, also known as Xike quanxiang xianfa xiangshe haiyou jizhuan新刻全像顯法降蛇海遊記傳 (the newly printed and fully illustrated record and biography of the manifestation of ritual techniques, and the subduing of the Serpent), was printed by the publishing house Zhongzhang Tang忠正堂of Jianyang建陽 (northern Fujian) during the late Ming dynasty (the reigns of the Jiajiang嘉靖and Wanli萬曆emperors), and signed “Haibei youren wugenzi ji” 海北遊人無根子集 (compied by the traveller, master of rootlessness, of the northern ocean). The publishing house Wenyuan Tang文元堂reprinted the novel in 1753, but neither edition is listed in any contemporary bibliography. The Ming edition has been lost, and this volume has been edited based on the 1753 reprint. This novel tells the story of how Chen Jinggu陳靖姑, a powerful goddess and protector of the Lüshan Daoist movement, studied ritual techniques in order to employ her powers to exorcise an evil serpent and save the people. The text is extremely valuable as a work of popular fiction because it is the earliest surviving novel about Chen Jinggu, and also describes popular shamanism and Taoism from south China.

Haiyou ji recounts the adventures of Chen Jinggu and her brothers Chen Fatong陳法通and Chen Haiqing陳海清, all of whom are heroic figures from southern China’s shamanic and Daoist traditions. The theme of this text is how the Chen’s use their ritual powers and their wits to defeat a horde of evil demons led by the White Snake. The novel clearly expresses the ideals of China’s working classes, namely that justice will overcome evil, and that evil will be punished and good rewarded. The text is divided into nine chapters (ze 則), with the titles of the five chapters in the first volume (juan 卷) reading: “Zhang Shikui fuqi zounan” 張世魁夫妻遭難 (the plight of husband and wife Zhang Shikui), “Fatong pomiao baizhua” 法通破廟被捉 (Fatong destroys the temple and is captured), “Jinggu xuefa jiu Fatong” 靖姑學法救法通 (Jinggu studies ritual techniques and rescues Fatong), “Jinggu pomiao jiu Fatong” 靖姑破廟救法通 (Jinggu destroys the temple and rescues Fatong), “Baishe tuozhua Wang Jixiang” 白蛇脫捉王吉祥 (the white snake escapes and captures Wang Jixiang). The titles of the four chapters in the second volume read: “Fatong zimai kun Baishe” 法通子妹困白蛇 (Fatong, Haiqing and Jinggu trap the White Snake), “Baishe yu Haiqing kexian bianhua dofa” 白蛇與海清各顯變化鬥法 (the White Snake and Haiqing each manifest their powers of transformation and engage in a contest of ritual powers), “Gongzhu zhoufu yu yaojin”公主招夫遇妖精 (the princess takes a husband and encounters an evil spirit), “Baishe taokou Guanyin” 白蛇投告觀音 (the White Snake files an indictment with the Bodhisattva Guanyin). The long-term spread of this novel has exerted a significant influence on popular culture, including Daoist poems, songs and marionette dramas from Fujian and Zhejiang, as well as nuo dramas from western Hunan.

No. 79. Fujian Shouning siping kuilei xi Huanguang zhuan福建壽寧四平傀儡戲華光傳 (the siping style marionette play entitled the biography of Huanguang from Shouning, Fujian) (2000, 230 p.)

Editor: Ye Mingsheng葉明生

Annotator: Wu Naiyu吳乃宇

The marionette play entitled Huanguang zhuan is a script in the siping style that has spread through the eastern areas of Fujian. It is also an important component of the Daoist ritual theatres performed by the Liyuan Sect, a branch of the Lüshan Daoist tradition. The text is a performance script based on legends that circulated throughout the Jiangnan江南 region of China concerning the popular deity known as Wuxian Huaguang Tianwang五顯華光天王(the celestial king Huaguang of the five manifestations). The entire play is six volumes in length, and requires three days and nights to perform. It tells the story of how the Lamp-lighting Buddha created a being named Miao Jixiang妙吉祥from the flame of his lamp and sent him to Lingshan靈山(Gŗdhrakūţa) to become a disciple of the Sakyamuni Buddha. The Buddha saw that he lacked human nature and would cause trouble throughout the cosmos, so he sent him to be carried in the wombs of Ye Sanniang葉三娘 of Maer Shan馬耳山, the wife of the Yanxuan Celestial King炎玄天王, and the Mother of Demons (Hāritī), and this fetus finally transformed into Wuxian Huaguang. Huaguang performed good deeds by punishing evil and destroying the wicked, but in order to save his mother Hāritī, who had been imprisoned in the underworld prison of Fengdu酆都, he stormed the celestial courts and disrupted the underworld bureaucracy, causing no end of turmoil among the gods. At last, after finally rescuing his mother, he was entrapped by the Sakyamuni Buddha and ended up converting to Buddhism.

In terms of its dramatic style, Huaguang zhuan preserves elements of the siping style of music dating back to the Ming dynasty, yet also includes numerous traces of the huaben 話本 storytelling tradition of the Song and Ming eras. It has numerous links to the Ming novel entitled Nanyou ji南遊記(the journey to the south) published by Yu Xiangdou余象斗, but the exact relationship between these two texts has yet to be determined. This work also contains vast amounts of data on the culture of eastern Fujian in ancient times, including dialects, proverbs, songs, folklore, and drama. It should prove invaluable to scholars interested in researching Fujian’s local culture.

No. 80. Taihang shenmiao ji saishe yanju yanjiu太行神廟及賽社演劇研究(research on the temples and theatrical performances during temple festivals in Taihang) (2000, 346 p.)

Editor: Feng Junjie馮俊杰

This volumn is one of many collections of essays about Shanxi. It consists of twelve essays that provide a record of the theatrical and religious activities from this province. What is special about this particular collection is that the authors have adopted an interdisciplinary approach, conducting extensive field research that has formed the basis of their work, yet also taking full advantage of Shanxi’s numerous historical artifacts. The result is an effective amalgamation of investigations into folklore as well as detailed historical materials. Of those materials that have been preserved, inscriptions carved on stone and erected at temples provide a vivid record of the histories of these sacred sites as well as the activities conducted inside their bounds, and constitute an invaluable source for directly investigating the history of folk activities. Appendixes at the end of each essay contain complete transcriptions of numerous temple inscriptions, which should prove invaluable for future researchers. Another important source of information is the stages that were built inside temple complexes, as data on their architectural structure and elaborate carvings can make up for gaps in documentary sources that scholars have tended to overemphasize.