Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c10.s1.t5: Maudgalyayana Opera
Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c10.s1.t5
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Maudgalyayana Opera
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*Mulian Play* is a drama composed on the basis of Buddhist stories. According to *Ullambana Sutra*, after Mulian (Maudgalyayana), one of Buddha’s 10 disciples acquires magic powers. He grieves at seeing his mother in a hungery state in a lower realm. Buddha instructs him to liberate his mother by offering foods to the sangha on 15ᵗʰ day of the seventh month. Chinese like *Ullambana Sutra* because its topic is very close to that of Chinese filial piety and have established the Obon Festival on the 15ᵗʰ day of the seventh month. Zongmi (780-841 CE), a scholar-monk in Tang Dynasty, once wrote a commentary on *Ullambana Sutra* saying that Mulian was named Luobo and his mother was called Qingti. This suggestion was instantly accepted by the population and adopted in Bianwen (Transformational Texts) in Tang Dynasty; such as *Da Mulian Yuanqi*, *Da Mulian Bianwen*, *Da Mujianlian Minjian Jiumu Bianwen*. According to Dongjing Meng Hua Lu (*Dreams of Splendor of the Eastern Capital*), in about 11ᵗʰ century CE, every year the drama of *Mulian Jiumu Zaju* would be performed in the Western Capital (present-day Kaifeng) from the seventh day to 15ᵗʰ day of the seventh month. Later, dozens of Mulian plays were created. In 12ᵗʰ century CE in northern China there
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[Figure: Mahāmaudgalyāyana rescues his mother: a record of filial piety (Mulian jiumu daxiao ji)]
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'Mahāmaudgalyāyana rescues his mother' (Mulian jiumu daxiao ji), a stage photo of Qi drama
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was also a Mulian play, called *Da Qingti*. In 14ᵗʰ century CE, Mulian *Ruming, Xing Xiaodao Mulian Jiumu* and other zaju of this topic appeared but they are no longer available now.
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In about 16ᵗʰ century CE, Zheng Zhizhen wrote *Mulian Jiumu Quanshan Xiwen* (called *Quanshan Ji* for short), which as the oldest and longest Mulian script ever found, consists of three books, 100 acts and more than 3,000 illustrations. *Mulian Jiumu Quanshan Xiwen* was printed in 1579. Names in the play were all Sinicised with Mulian being called Luobo and his mother, Qingti. Many other persons and deities were included, for example, his father Fu Xiang, his uncle Liu Jia, Buddha, Avalokitesvara, Sudhana, Little Dragon Maiden, Jade Emperor, Yama etc. In the first book, the family of Fuxiang is kind and generous, and his son Luobo is a Buddhist. After Fuxiang passes away, Luobo goes out for business. Qingti bewitched by her brother, abandons the Buddha hall, turns to kill livestock and eats meat, insults and drives away monks and nuns. With the help of Avalokitesvara, Luobo has a flourishing business and returns home three years later. In the second book, Luobo learns from his neighbours that his mother no longer believes in Buddha. Heaven discovers his mother's evil deeds and sends Yama to seize her. His mother dies. Avalokitesvara sends Sudhana and Little Dragon Maiden to tempt Luobo. The emperor learns of his filial piety and confers an official post on him. Saiying, a daughter of a rich family, wants to marry with Luobo, who declines the post and the marriage and walks toward the Eastern Heaven to pay respects to Buddha. Avalokitesvara sends a white ape to protect him. After numerous hardships, Luobo eventually jumps off a cliff and frees himself from mortal flesh and becomes a disciple of Buddha. Buddha gives him the name 'Da Mujianlian'. Mulian practises and cultivates himself under the instruction of Buddha. In the third book, Mulian wants to free his mother from the lower realm and Buddha gives him some magic items that can help him enter hell without any obstacle. In hell, Mulian fails to find his mother and has to return to Heaven to see Buddha. He is told that he can only see his mother on the eighth day of the fourth month. On that day, Mulian sees his mother in a very wretched condition. His father in Heaven learns of this and reports this to the Jade Emperor, who says that to be liberated, his mother has to be reborn as a dog. Now there are many dogs in the secular world, and Mulian does not know which one is his mother. Avalokitesvara tells him that the dog is with a Zheng family. There Mulian finds this dog and brings him home. On the 15ᵗʰ day of the seventh month, the Obon Festival is held to offer foods to the sangha, and his mother is liberated. The Jade Emperor confers Mulian the title of Maha Bodhisatva, and he and his family are reunited in heaven.
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After *Quanshan Ji*, Mulian plays were adapted and produced one after another, and they were performed at the imperial court of Qing Dynasty as well as on a public stage. They are included in major operas such as Kunqu Opera and Peking Opera as well as dozens of sorts of local operas, such as Hui Opera of Jiangxi, Shao Opera of Zhejiang, Xiang Opera of Hunan, Chuan Opera of Sichuan, Puxian Opera of Fujian, Han Opera of Hubei, Gui Opera of Guangxi and Wu Opera of Jiangxi. Mulian plays attract the attention of many scholars across the world and are deemed as “the living fossil of Chinese operas”.
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(*Xue Keqiao*)