《海外藏中国宝卷汇刊》编纂的价值与意义

Value and Significance of the Compilation of Chinese Baojuan in Overseas Collections

与敦煌学一样,诞生于20世纪20年代的宝卷学同样是一门世界性的学问。从20世纪20年代以来,中国宝卷文献流散世界各地,部分稀见文献集中于东京、京都、波士顿(哈佛大学)、伦敦、圣彼得堡等地。目前海外有近20位汉学家致力于宝卷研究。海外中国宝卷收藏在东亚、欧洲、北美等地区,其中东亚的日本收藏孤本、稀见版本最多,欧洲次之,北美再次之。宝卷是“文化文本”,涉及民间传统、口头诗学、民间宗教史、人类学、社会学、故事学、域外中国学、民间曲艺、绘画、方言等等。作为极为珍贵的历史文化瑰宝,中国宝卷的海外收藏情况是近代西方世界体系赓续中的“中国镜像”,其流失的历史背景、整体面貌,就是近现代的中外关系史的另一种表现。

Just like Dunhuang studies,Baojuan studies,which was born in the 1920s,is also a worldwide discipline.Since the 1920s,Chinese Baojuan literature has been dispersed around the world,and some rare documents are in Tokyo,Kyoto,Boston(Harvard University),London,St.Petersburg,et al.At present,nearly 20 sinologists abroad are devoted to the study of Baojuan.The overseas collections of Chinese Baojuan roughly cover those in East Asia,Europe,North America and other areas,among which Japan has the largest number of collections of rare editions,followed by Europe and North America.Baojuan are“cultural texts,”involving folk traditions,oral poetics,folk religious history,anthropology,sociology,storytelling,extra-territorial Chinese studies,folk quyi-art,painting,dialects,etc.As an extremely valuable historical and cultural treasure,the overseas collection of Chinese Baojuan is a“mirror of Chinese Image”in the modern Western world system,and the historical background and overall appearance of its loss is another expression of the modern history of Sino-foreign relationships.