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July 2022 Vol. 59 No. 11

Băojuàn, or “precious scrolls,” are anonymously authored, late imperial Chinese Buddhist popular narratives designed for either operatic storytelling or silent reading. These narratives consist of alternating prose and verse sections that feature mostly pious womenfolk within prosperous but conflict-ridden merchant families. Startling supernatural interventions combine with everyday villains such as wicked stepmothers and malicious stepsons to make the typical băojuàn read like a cross between a fairy tale and a lurid family melodrama. Idema (Harvard Univ.) contributed a famous, expertly translated băojuàn to The Columbia Anthology of Chinese Folk and Popular Literature, ed. by Victor H. Mair and Mark Bender (CH, Sep'11, 49-0118). In the present volume, he provides two more novella-length examples—The Precious Scroll of Little Huàxiān and The Precious Scroll of the Handkerchief—along with an extensive introduction to the genre. Because this genre caters primarily to female audiences, children in merchant households play a key role in both. A bibliography and an appendix of early excerpts of precious-scroll narratives round out the volume, which also includes numerous helpful footnotes and interspersed Chinese characters. A valuable resource for scholars of Asian studies, in particular popular literature and religious studies.

--P. F. Williams, Montana State University

Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers.