Mengxiao Wang (Visiting Fellow, IASA, The University of Tokyo)

Journey of a Buddhist Play: The Reception History of Guiyuan jing on the Page and the Stage, 1650~1949

In discussing the relationship between religion and theater in premodern China, scholars have largely focused on ritualistic performances and religious motifs in drama. However, the question of how the religious practice and dramatic genre mutually influence and reshape each other has not yet received sufficient scholarly attention. This report examines the reception history of Guiyuan jing, a Pure Land Buddhist play written by Monk Zhida, from the Qing dynasty to the Republican period. On the one hand, being published and circulated in a Buddhist monastic network, Guiyuan jing transcended its dramatic genre thereby turning into a scripture as its playwright expected. On the other hand, in its stage-centered adaptations, the scriptural characteristics of Guiyuan jing compromised to the tastes of the Qing royal family and a modern audience. The self-reflective reproduction of Guiyuan jing embodied the bidirectional interaction between Buddhist devotional practices and the practices of playwriting, theater-making, and theater-going.