Проблемы литератур Дальнего Востока

19 Issues of Far Eastern Literatures: Materials of the 11th International Scientific Conference. June 27–29, 2024 Berezkin Rostislav (Fudan University), berezkine56@yandex.ru On the Description of Religious Storytelling in Feng Menglong’s Recension of Pacification of the Demons’ Revolt The late Ming-dynasty novel P acification of the Demons’ Revolt in its version edited by the famous lit- eratus Feng Menglong (1574–1646) contains a unique description of Buddhist storytelling. Pacification of the Demons’ Revolt is a significant piece of Ming-dynasty fiction, with the complete title of The Three Sui of the Northern Song Quash the Demons’ Revolt ; it takes as its subject historical events of the millenarian rebellion led by Wang Ze, who proclaimed the arrival of the era of Buddha Maitreya and took the city of Beizhou in modern Hebei province for a short time (1047–1048); these are presented in a fantastical way. The original version of the Pacification of the Demons’ Revolt , in twenty chapters, was ascribed to Luo Guanzhong (ca. 1330–ca. 1400), though this authorship is spurious. Feng Menglong edited it around 1620 and expanded it into forty chapters. In the eleventh chapter of Feng Menglong’s recension, “The Egg-monk Obtains the Secret Charms and Finds His Teacher; HolyAuntie Receives the Celestial Book and Meets Her Brother”, there is a detailed description of the recitation of religious narratives by the old nun Holy Auntie (Sheng gugu), who is in fact a transformed fox. Pacification of the Demons’ Revolt (Feng Menglong’s recension) was translated into Russian, but this scene was slightly abbreviated in Russian translation. Few scholars in China and abroad so far have paid attention to this description, though it is a precious piece of evidence concerning the public performance of narratives dealing with Princess Miaoshan (manifestation of Bodhisattva Guanyin) and Luobo (monk Mulian), which also constituted the subjects of two precious scrolls (baojuan) of this period. The present essay is my endeavor to explain the significance of this passage in the Pacification of the Demons’ Revolt for the history of religious storytelling in China. Keywords: Popular storytelling, FengMenglong, traditional novel, Buddhist subjects in Chinese literature. 1. FENGMENGLONG AND HIS CONTRIBUTION TO CHINESE LITERATURE (prose, poetry and drama, influence on contemporary culture, translation and perception abroad)