Treasure Scroll (English: Bao-juan)

Japanese: 宝巻 - ほうかん（英語表記）bao-juan

A form of Chinese literary chanting. From the mid-Tang dynasty onwards, sermons given to the common people in temples in cities (so-called 'Zoku-ko') became popular, and later developed into storytelling on a variety of subjects. Bao-kan scrolls are a direct descendant of the 'Zoku-ko' scrolls, and are chanted by combining narration with lyrics and stories that are popular interpretations of Buddhist doctrines, scriptures, and tales of fate. They are thought to have become popular around the Yuan dynasty, but in the Ming and Qing dynasties, new religions such as Taoism used this format for their missionary work, and many works were created, such as the 'Leifeng Ta Bao-juan' and 'Meng Jiang Nu Bao-juan', which were adaptations of folk legends into the 'Bao-juan' style.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

中国，講唱文学の一形態。唐代の中期以後，都市の寺院で俗人に向ってする説法 (いわゆる俗講 ) が流行し，それがのちに種々の題材を扱う講談に発達したが，宝巻はその俗講の直系で，仏教の教理，経典，因縁談などを通俗的に解釈した物語を地の文と歌詞を結合させて講唱した。元代頃から流行したと考えられるが，明，清代になって道教などの新興宗教が宣教にこの形式を利用し，さらに民間伝説を宝巻体に改作した『雷峰塔宝巻』『孟姜 (きょう) 女宝巻』などの作品が多く作られた。

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