Chapter 100 Bianwen

During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the country was unified, the national power was strong, the economy was prosperous, and the commercial development was promoted, and the ranks of the citizen class expanded rapidly. Popularity. Rap and singing literature and art are generally divided into two parts: speaking and singing. The speaking part is prose or four or six prose popular since the Six Dynasties; the singing part is generally five-, seven-character or miscellaneous narrative poems.This kind of rap art is not only popular among folks, but also popular in temples and Taoist temples.Since the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Buddhist monks have used this combination of speaking and singing to preach scriptures to enlighten the audience.In order for the general audience to understand the profound and profound Buddhist scriptures, it is necessary to adopt a popularized way of speaking and singing to sing the processed and popularized scriptures, which is called "Bianwen".

Bianwen in the Tang Dynasty was divided into two types: monk-speaking and lay-speaking.The difference between them lies mainly in the audience.The object of the monks' lectures is monks, which is to let the monks have a better understanding of the teachings of Buddhism; while the common lectures not only have the purpose of propagating Buddhist teachings to the masses and expanding the influence of Buddhism, but also collect wealth through lectures and singing.At that time, speaking and singing Bianwen was very popular, and sometimes it even reached the point where there were crowds of spectators and empty streets.Han Yu's poem "Huashan Girl" said: "The Buddhist scriptures are preached on the east and west of the street, and the bells and snails are struck to make trouble in the palace." Yao He's poem "To Changzhou Monk" said: "The sound of the ancient chime is hard to stop, and the autumn lights are more vivid. Still I heard that there are few fishing boats on the lake on the day of opening the lecture." The poem "Listening to the Monk's Cloud Lecture" said: "Come and listen with fasting from far and near, but there are no people in the wine shop and fish market." The fact that there are no people in the city” shows how popular Bianwen was at that time.

Judging from the discoveries in Dunhuang, Bianwen can be divided into two categories, one is perfunctory Buddhist scriptures or Buddhist stories, such as "Vimalakirti Sutra Bianwen", "Amitabha Sutra Bianwen", "Hell Bianwen", "Conquering Demons" Bianwen", "Bianwen of Rescuing Mother in the Underworld", "Bianwen of Ugly Girl's Origin", etc.The other type completely departs from the Buddhist scriptures, and develops them based on historical stories and folklore, such as "Wu Zixu Bianwen", "Meng Jiangnu Bianwen", "Zhu Jibu Chuanwen" (also known as "The Three Years of the Han Dynasty Jibu Curse") Array Ci Wen), "Wang Zhaojun Bian Wen", "Dong Yong Bian Wen", "Qiu Hu Bian Wen" and so on.

The prosperity of folk lectures has also created some monks and artists who are engaged in folk lectures, the most famous of which is the Wenxu monk who was active in the middle and late Tang Dynasty.Duan Anjie's "Yuefu Miscellaneous Records" "Wen Xuzi" records, "Changqingzhong (821-824) monk Wen Xu was good at reciting scriptures, and his voice was smooth and moved the people in the village."Even the emperor loved to listen to his vulgar lectures. "Zi Zhi Tong Jian Tang Ji Jing Zong Ji" records, "Jimao in June of the second year of Baoli (826), he went to Xingfu Temple to observe the monk's vulgar lectures."During Tang Wenzong's time, he even went to the palace to give lectures and sing.

The influence of popular sayings on the arts of later generations is enormous. In addition to novels, it has a particularly profound influence on Baojuan popular in Song and Ming Dynasties and Tanci popular in Ming and Qing Dynasties.