ABSTRACT
Mulianxi is widely acclaimed as the ancestor of one hundred theatres. As ‘the greatest of all Chinese religious operas' (Johnson 2000: 95), it stands as a living testimony of the evolution of Chinese theatre from myth and ritual. With its origin in the Yulanpen Sūtra (Yulanpen jing, T16n0685), 1 a Buddhist scripture translated into Chinese during the Western Jin dynasty (266–316), the myth of Mulian (Skr. Maudgalyāyana; Pali. Moggallāna) 2 rescuing his mother from suffering in Hell (Figures 4.1 and 4.2) was ritualised through the Yulanpen Ceremony (Yulanpen hui) during the Six Dynasties (220–589), adapted for dramatic show for the first time in the Northern Song capital of Bianliang, and has since been performed across the country in a huge variety of regional genres and versions. They differ from each other in theatrical form and musical style, but they all share the same origin in the sūtra – the Yulanpen jing. W oodblock print of <italic>Tortures of Chinese Buddhist Hell</italic>. Unknown artist (fl. 1912). https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781315460291/19bfc896-0c9b-41bc-9266-1a2eb9a8b9cf/content/fig2_4_4_1.jpg"/>
