Papers by Xiaosu Sun
文学研究, 2024
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
A Bibliographic Review of English-Language Studies on Precious Scrolls, 2020
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
CHIME: Journal of the European Foundation for Chinese Music Research, 2019
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
CHINOPERL: Journal of Chinese Oral and Performing Literature, 2016
In the Tang dynasty Dunhuang transformation text (bianwen) about Mulian rescuing his mother from ... more In the Tang dynasty Dunhuang transformation text (bianwen) about Mulian rescuing his mother from the underworld, Madame Liu Qingti, mother of the filial monk Mulian, is allowed to ascend to the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven once her sins have been purged. A similar happy ending is found in the most widespread versions of the legend. However, in many baojuan (precious scrolls) from the late imperial period and the modern era, Qingti is depicted as an inveterate sinner who continues to misbehave when reborn as a dog. For example, in the baojuan about Mulian used nowadays in Changshu, southern Jiangsu province, in a ritual to expel evil spirits and ensure a successful pregnancy, Qingti appears as the Heavenly Dog—a malign, infant-eating star spirit capable of causing miscarriage or neonatal death. This paper combines fieldwork on a ritual to expel the Heavenly Dog in Changshu and textual analysis to explore the ways in which Liu Qingti has been recast in baojuan literature. I consider, in particular, the motif of Qingti's unenlightened soul, and its relation to her ritual career as the Heavenly Dog in baojuan recitation. Special attention is paid to the different ritual contexts of such rituals.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Book Reviews by Xiaosu Sun
Asian Ethnology , 2021
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Asian Ethnology , 2020
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Uploads
Papers by Xiaosu Sun
Book Reviews by Xiaosu Sun