Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c10.s1.t5.5

v2.c10.s1.t5.5

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.