The open stage theatricals ming t‘ai ta pan-tzŭ 名臺大班子 are almost always given on a stage called wan nien t‘ai 萬年台 located in temples in front of the chief idol. They are got up for the purpose of pleasing the gods, and the expenses are always paid from temple funds; but the public is allowed to witness performances. The plays are nearly all historical. They belong to three periods: ch‘un ch‘iu 春秋 period plays, of the time of Confucius; chan kuo 戰國 hsi of the times of Mencius; san kuo 三國 hsi plays about the time of the Three Kingdoms. These last are called 'pure' plays, ch‘ing 清 hsi, because there are no demons in them. Besides the historical plays there are others of a lower grade, such as the fei fei tzŭ hsi; this class is without proper beginning or end to the performances. There are also the lower grade music hall theatricals called fêng hua hsüeh yüeh 風花雪月 and chien yin ku pa 姦淫佔霸.
Behind much that is unreal there is often a good deal of historical truth; for example, in the famous play Mu lien ta hsi or Mu lien chiu mu 目連救母. Mu lien lived near P’eng hsien 彭縣 in Ssŭ-ch‘uan. It is said that his family residence is still to be seen. His father, Fu Yüan-wai 傅員外, had a literary degree and every comfort but he long was without a son. The wife was a strict vegetarian, and they both prayed continually for a son, till, when the husband was 60, a son was born, and named Mu-lien. Later, the mother broke her vegetarian vow, became profligate and came to a bad end; but still worse, when passing through the ten regions of purgatory she was struck by a spike and fell into the abyss. Mu-lien, on hearing of this, determined to rescue his mother. To this end he became a Buddhist priest, and by strict asceticism attained incorporation with the Buddha. Still thinking of his mother he made known the burden of his heart to Buddha and was sent by him to save her. He burst the gates of Hades with a ch‘an chang 禪杖 meditation staff, and bore his mother out of purgatory in triumph, followed by a crowd of demons. The boatmen on the upper Yangtze declare that they are the incarnation of those demons, and the song they sing while rowing is said to sound very like a hungry demon's. They say that if they do not sing this song the boat will not move foward.
