话本【英】

Storytelling Scripts (Huaben)

定义

说唱故事的底本。话本一般以叙说为主，很少或没有唱词。从广义说，说唱故事的变文、词文和俗讲经文等都可以看作话本。

Huaben refers to the script for chanting stories. The scripts are usually dominated by narration, with few or even no chants for singing. In general, transformation texts (bianwen), lyric texts (ciwen), and popular sutra preaching texts (su jiangjingwen) can all be regarded as belonging to this category.