ON THE SPREAD OF BUDDHIST STORIES IN FOLK MILIEU: THE PRECIOUS SCROLL OF GUANYIN WITH A FISH BASKET IN RECITATION PRACTICE OF THE CHANGSHU AREA OF JIANGSU, CHINA

Abstract

The story of Bodhisattva Guanyin with a Fish Basket (or Fishmonger Guanyin) already has attracted attention of scholars of Chinese literature and popular beliefs, as it represents an indigenous modification of the Indian Buddhist deity; but until now scholars in different countries mainly have studied textual variants of this story dating back to the late 19th — early 20th centuries. At the same time, precious scroll devoted to the story of Guanyin with a Fish Basket is still recited by local performers in the city of Changshu and its vicinity now. The analysis of the Precious Scroll of Guanyin with a Fish Basket in the context of recitation practice of “telling scriptures” in Changshu allows demonstrating the special features of functioning of a Chinese Buddhist narrative in the folk ritual practice. In this variant of a precious scroll, the story of Bodhisattva Guanyin converting the inhabitants of a fishermen village is combined with the veneration of local tutelary deities, placed on the “family altars”; thus representing the secularized form of Chinese Buddhist devotion.