On the Evolution of Baojuan Performances in Shanghai: A Development of Traditional Literature in the Modern City (1875–1915)

Abstract

This article traces the history of baojuan (scroll recitation) performances in Shanghai in the period 1875–1915. Scroll recitation is a type of ritualized storytelling that originated in Buddhist preaching, but that also included secular subjects in the later period. This study demonstrates how a traditional performative art was integrated into the cultural environment of a developing cosmopolitan city at the end of the nineteenth century, and how it was transformed for the new demands of urban audiences in the early twentieth century. This study analyzes the process of secularization of scroll recitation through the growth of entertaining aspects of its contents and performance style in Shanghai. It makes use of newly discovered historical materials, including newspapers and periodicals of that period, which help to clarify many details of this art’s evolution in the modern city.