Students of Chinese religion have long recognized the importance of baojuan (precious scrolls) as a source for studying moral and religious values found at all levels of society in late imperial China. Written in prose and seven-character rhymed verse, and sometimes including lyrics based on popular tunes, the baojuan genre probably first appeared in the Yuan (1260–1368), and became increasingly popular during the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1912). As the expression “proclaiming the scroll” (xuanjuan) indicates, this type of literature was usually recited in front of an audience, and a typical audience consisted largely of women. This is also confirmed by the fieldwork conducted by Rostislav Berezkin in present-day China. Yet despite their historical value, few precious scrolls have been translated into English. A notable exception is Wilt Idema's Personal Salvation and Filial Piety: Two Precious Scroll Narratives of Guanyin and Her Acolytes (Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press,...
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