tantrism in china

8/10/2019 Tantrism in China

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2/93

TANTRISM

IN CHINA

CHOU YI-LIANG

HARVARD

UNIVERSITY

T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S

INTRODUCTION:

1.

Tantrism

in

Earl

y Chinese Buddhism

2.

Tsan

-ning and His Sources . .

BIOGRAPHY OF SHAN-WU-WEI

AND

NOTES

BIOGRAPHY OF VAJRABODHI

AND

NOTES.

BIOGRAPHY

OF AMOGHAVAJRA

AND

NOTES

ApPENDICES:

A

B

C

D

E

307 F .

309

G

309 H .

311 I .

313

J

313

K.

314

L.

315

M

317

N

318 O .

INTRODUCTION

1 Tantrism in Early Chinese Buddhism

319

P.

320 Q.

321

R

322 S

324

T .

PAGE

241

248

251

272

284

325

326

327

329

331

The age of the T ang dynasty (618-907 A. D.) was a period

when various foreign religions were flourishing in China. Among

these

the

most

important

by

far was Buddhism.

As

a result of

the development of Buddhist philosophy and theology during the

Six Dynasties, there arose in the early part of the T ang period

different sects such as

Ch an

and T ien-t ai. These represented

the

higher form of Buddhism

the

value of which was

not

easily

appreciated by ordinary people. On the other hand, the tantric

form of Buddhism, in which magic played a principal role, was

quite popular among

the

upper classes during

the

eighth

and

ninth

centuries. t was during the seventh century that tantric Bud

dhism began to be systematized and reduced to a philosophical

basis in India.

1

Nevertheless, even before this time there existed

1

C f

B

BHATTACHABYYA, Buddhist Esoterism 3 4

24


3/93

242

CHOU YI-LIANG

latent tantric

elements in China, although

it

was not until the

eighth century that the sect was officially introduced there. This

thesis is devoted

to the study

of

the

biographies of three

Indian

monks who brought

tantric

Buddhism to China. Before dealing

with them, however,

it

will be profitable to examine the work of

their more obscure predecessors, whose efforts, in translating and

teaching, left the earliest vestiges of this doctrine on Chinese soil.

CHU Lii-yen r 1 f ~ , a monk from Central India, translated in

230 A.

D.

a

text

called

Mo-teng-chieh ching . ~ 1 b P * J i .

Besides

directions for

the

worship of stars

and

some simple rites for

sacrificing

to

them,2 this sfItra contains six dharanis

3

which all

begin with

the

word om and end with svaha, including instructions

for necessary ceremonies during

the

recitation of

the

dharal).is.

One of these rites is performed

by

lighting a

great

fire and throw

ing flowers into

it

at

the

end of

the

recitation.

4

This ceremony,

most likely influenced

by

Brahmanism, seems

to

be a link between

it and

the

homa rite

taught

in

later tantric

sfItras. Among

the

translations of CHIH Ch ien

~

(d. after 253 A. D .) several

texts

5

consist of dharal).is, but no rites accompanying

them

are

described.

In the

early fourth century the

great

Master D h a r m a r a k ~ a

iEjji (d. after 313 A. D.) made

many

translations. Quite a few

of his sfItras consist of dharal).is.

6

t

is characteristic of

Dharma-

r a k ~ a to

translate

the

meaning of dharal).i instead of transcribing

the

sound. Examples

may

be found in two dharal).is in

the H ai

lung-wang ching mft::E.*Ji .

7

In

the

fourth century two other

masters from Central Asia were particularly famous for their

magic, which

they

used effectively

to

strengthen

the

people s

faith.

The

first, Fo-t u-ch eng

fM;lifff

(d. 348 A. D.) , is

the

sub

ject of

many

legends.

s

He

was said

to

be particularly proficient in

dharal).is

and

could employ spirits as he wished.

By

applying oil

T 21.404b25 T = TaishijO .

aT 21.400b2, 400cl6, 404a24-b7. For this text also cf. S.

LEVI; TP

7 (1907) . 118;

l Q

12 (1936) . 2. 204-205.

T 21.400a27.

5 E . g., T 14, No. 427; T 21, Nos. 1351, 1356.

T 14. No. 428; T 21.

No.

1301.

T 15.141b6. 156c20.

8

T 50.383b-387a.


4/93

TANTRISM IN CHINA

248

to his

palm

he was able to see what was happening a thousand

miles away. Another of his accomplishments which no later monk

possessed was

the

ability

to

tell fortunes

by

listening

to the

sound

of bells hanging from

the

eaves of

the

temples.

I

Srimitra ft

P

~ :

(d. between 885

and

842 A. D.) was another monk who

practised

the art

of dharal.1i with brilliant results wherever he

went.

10

He

translated some dharal.1is in a

text

now lost, called

K ung-chueh-wang ching :JL-if:EfJf .11

She-kung

i t J ; ~

(d. 880

A. D.),

a monk from Central Asia,

obtained

Fu

Chien's favor because he could summon dragons

and

make rain.

1 2

This is one of

the

earliest occasions on which a

Buddhist monk in China prays for rain.

Later

masters of the

esoteric sect were all supposed to be able to do this. T'an-wu-ch'an

~ ~

* D h a r m a k ~ e m a ,

d. 433 A. D.) was learned in dharal.1i

and showed his magic power by causing water to spring from a

rock.

13

In

the -chi ching * ~ . ~

which he translated, one pas

sage declares

that

a bodhisattva has four kinds of ornaments, among

which dharal.1i ranks with sila, samadhi,

and

prajfia.

14

Suvarr:tapra

bhasa

{*19HJf , also translated

by

T'an-wu-ch'an, gives instruc

tions for making offerings during prayers for worldly benefits,15

but

the rite is by no means so elaborate as those practised in

later days.

T 'an-yao Alii, the monk who suggested the building of stone

cave-temples in Ta-t ung, translated

the Ta-chi-i shen-chou ching

*-sliijji,'UJf

in 462 A. D . with the collaboration of

Indian

monks.

16

t

describes

the

method of making an arena where

Buddhist images arranged in a circle receive

the

offerings of their

votaries.17

The

arena seems to be a rudiment of

the mal.1


5/93

244

CHOU YI-LIANG

as different ways of worshipping are assigned.

18

The siitra on

siddhis translated by Shan-wu-wei

f f ~ 1 l

in the time of

the

T ang

dynasty

19

apparently is a more elaborate

text

of

the

same type.

Emperor Yuan 5G of the Liang dynasty, son of Emperor Wu i t

who was the most famous Buddhist emperor in Chinese history,

says that he had learned several dharal)ls in his childhood,20 indi

cating that at

that

time they were popular among the upper classes.

A text called

M o-li-chih-t ien ching .lUXx*. l ,

considered a trans

lation of

the

Liang dynasty

(502-556

A D.), specifies the method

of cleaning

the

hall of

the

temple

and

making offerings

to

the

deity MarlcI.

21

A considerable amount of this siitra

is

also devoted

to the benefit which one would receive from reciting this dharal 1I

A later version of the text translated by Amoghavajra ~ ~ W d ~

adds some new elements which are not found in this one.

t

says

that

in reciting the worshipper should make the proper

mudras/

2

and carry small images of the deity on the head

or

on the arms as

amulets.

23

Amoghavajra s version also mentions the building of

a mal)gala during the recitation of the dharaI).I.

24

These additions

would suggest that during the two hundred years between the

early sixth century and the early eighth century tantric Buddhism

gradually took its final shape in India.

n

the

early T ang dynasty a Chinese monk, Chih-t ung ~ W ,

translated several texts with dharal)ls. His biography says

that

he studied zealously

the

esoteric teaching.

25

Atigupta SiiJ

:t&i'l$,

who arrived in China in

652

A D., translated

the T o-lo-ni chi

ching W E , m J B ~ ~ ,

which consists of many rites similar to those

taught in siitras translated by Shan-wu-wei

and

Vajrabodhi

~ ~ I J

.26

PUI).yodaya

m ~ ,

who came to China in

655

A D., tried to

introduce some texts of the tantric Buddhism then popular in

India. But, because Husan-tsang, the promulgator of the Idealistic

18

T ~ 1 . 5 7 9 c ~ .

.

See note 88 in Shan-wu-wei s Biography.

2 .

Cf.

the

Tzu-hsti

n; in Chin-lou-tzu ~ : j : J ; T

f t ~ m * d

.,

MOb).

21 T ~ 1 . ~ 6 ~ a 6 .

22 T

~ 1 . ~ 6 0 c ~ 0 .

2 T

~ 1 . ~ 6 1 b 1 2 .

23

T

~ 1 . ~ 6 1

b8. 2 . T 50.719c20, 7 ~ O a l .

2 Cf. OMURA Seigai

* iffimt ikkyo hattatsu shi I t ; 1 t ~ i I ~

5.710-55. For

Atigupta also see Appendix K.


6/93

TANTRISM

IN

CHINA

245

School in China, was so influential

at

that time, PUI;lyodaya was

unsuccessfu1.

27

According to his biography by Tao-hslian, when

he returned

from a

trip to

the

South

Seas, les textes sacres qu'il

avait [precedemment] apportes

avaient tous

ete emportes par

Hiuan-tsang

vel S Ie Nord. n

avait

bien l'intention de traduire

[quelques textes] pour convertir [les Chino is], mais comme il n'avait

plus de

materiaux

it

sa

disposition, il ne traduisit que trois Siitra:

l'Octuple Ma7 ,tf,ala j \ ~ ~ f f i i , la Methode pour adorer les uddha

n i t f ~ i , et

l'Ataniitiya

j m J p : f : m S ~ ; ses traductions sont exactes, con

cises,

et

minutieuses,

et

parfaitement aptes

it

etre toujours etudiees

et mises

en pratique.

8

I-ching was also interested

in the

tantric form of

Buddhism

when he studied in

Nalanda;

29

but

he could not devote much

time

to it,

as

he had many other

occupations. Nevertheless, among his

translations the Ta k'ung-ch'ueh-chou-wang ching * : J L ~ ~ ' : U , l ,

with its appendix

on

methods for making

altars and painting

images, is a well-developed

text

of

the

tantric school.

t

is in this

siitra that the

dharaI;l1 is first deified and called a

vidyaraja.

3o

There, then, were

the

earliest teachers of

tantric Buddhism

in

China.

Their

work,

though

it achieved some degree of popularity,

cannot

be said to

have

established

the cult

as such. Besides these

there were other monks who, we know, went to India to study

the

esoteric doctrine; but they all died

in

India before they could

return

to

China

to promulgate it.31

Thus,

it was not until

the

arrival of

the

three

famous monks of

the

eighth

century that

this

doctrine began to form a distinct

and

even dominant sect of

Chinese Buddhism.

27 JA 2271 88

28 JA

227.1.88-89. For the Octuple Ma'w ala" d. ibid. 90-97, for Atiiniitiya,

its

Pali and

Sanskrit versions, d . ibid. 100, A. F. Rudolf HOERNLE, Manuscript Remains

of Buddhist Literature found in Eastern Turkestan 1. 24-27.

29

E.

CHAVANNES,

Mbnoire compose

a

'epoque de la grande dynastie T'ang sur les

reli

gi

eux eminents qui allerent chercher

la

loi dans les pays d' occident par

I

-tsing

104-105.

30

T 19.476M5 477b3.

Such as Shih-pien g i j j ~ and Tao-lin iim, d. CHAVANNES, Religieux eminents

31-32. 101-102. For

the

relation between Indian tantric schools and China, d S.

LEVI

IHQ 12 (1936) . 2. 207-208.


7/93

246

CHOU YJ-LIANG

Shan-wu-wei arrived in Ch ang-an in 716 A. D. Later he was

allowed

to translate the

texts which he had

brought

along with

him. Hence he became

the

first

great

master

of

this

school

in

China. Soon

after

Shan-wu-wei came Vajrabodhi and his disciple

Amoghavajra who in

later

years

made

this school one of the im

portant sects of

the

T ang

dynasty.

Although this school of Bud-

dhism did not have great influence on Chinese

thought,

it was

closely associated with

the court

as well as

the

ordinary people

who were interested in

praying

for

their

own welfare in

present

and

future

life

but

not

so keen on

the

discussion of profound doc

trine. After Amoghavajra s

death

in 774 A. D. this school gradually

declined. No more eminent masters were known

to

us except a

few names mentioned in

the

diaries of Japanese pilgrims. During

the

early

part

of

the

Sung dynasty some Indian monks also trans

lated

quite a few texts of this school 3 and performed esoteric

rites.

3

When J6jin

J i : l t ~ a Japanese monk, visited

the

palace of

Emperor

Shen-tsung

in

1073

A.

D.,

he found

many

images of

deities who belonged to this sect exclusively.34 This sect as a whole,

however, did

not

prosper

any

more

and

was even held in contempt

by

the

world.

5

Therefore, it would be safe

to

say that

the

Esoteric

School of Buddhism, about two and one-half centuries

after

its

introduction

into China

and about one

hundred

and eighty years

after its

most

flourishing period, died out in

China

before it

was revived

through Lamaism

in the Yuan dynasty some three

centuries later.

This article consists in

the translation and

study of

the

biogra

phies of Shan-wu-wei, Vajrabodhi, and Amoghavajra, who are

the

only masters of this sect, in its proper sense, included in

Tsan-

ning s

: j t

Sung kao-scng chuan ~ f f t My first aim is to

check Tsan-ning s accounts with the

scanty

available sources which

he failed to use or used erroneously. The second aim is to find

32 For these masters and their translations cf . P. C.

BAGCHI

e canon bouddhique en

Chine, les traducteurs

e t

l s traductions 2. 585-610.

33 cr

Sung hui-yao kao * 1 W ~ ~ , tao-shih ~ 2.6a.

3 Cf. Dainihon bukkyo zensho 115.456b-457a

5 See Tsan-ning s comment in the end of Vajrabodhi s Biography and Chih-p an s

statement in the Fo-tsu t ung-chi

(T

49.296aI2) .


8/93

TANTRISM

IN

CHINA

247

some information in

Indian

and Chinese literature which may help

us to understand the

Indian

background in these biographies.

Although no reference

to

the

three

monks is found

in any

Indian

books, a few facts such as the Turkish rule in

Northern India,

the center of education in Kaficipura,

King

NarasiIhhapotavarman

of that country, and the taming of the elephants, are proved

by

Indian

sources. Thus we understand these biographies more

thoroughly and can distinguish between historical facts

and

fanci

fullegends

contained therein.

The third

aim of this thesis is to use these biographies as a

frame-work around which to

gather

some material relevant to

various phases of this sect, such as its rites, its relationship to the

court,

and

its popularity among the masses.

I t

is hoped that the

position of this sect in the time of the

T ang

dynasty will

thus

be

made

clear.

Neither the

dynastic history

nor the

two huge col

lections of the prose

and

verse of the

T ang

dynasty,

the Ch uan

T ang-wen ~ J l f 3 t

and the

Ch uan-T ang-shih

~ J l f ~ , contain as

much

material as one would expect. A fairly large amount of

material

is found in the T ai-p ing kuang-chi * 2 J S . l f { ~ , an indis

pensable collection

in

studying the history of this period, the

Chin-shih ts ui-pien ~ p ~ ~

and the

Pa-ch iung-shih chin-shih

pu-chCng J \ ~ ~ ~ ; P 1 i f i l E , two large collections of inscriptions,

and the Japanese monks itineraries contained

in Dainihon

ukkyo

zensho a f ' * i t ~

Above all

must

be mentioned

the

texts

translated by

these

three

masters themselves

and

various histori

cal works, including Tsan-ning s book, contained in the Taisho

Tripitaka. The

finds in

Tun-huang

provided invaluable materials

to the

study

of the history of the T ang dynasty. Professor

Hu

Shih tJJii

and

Mr. TSUK MOTO Zenryu

~ ~ ~

have made -

portant

contributions to the history of

the

Ch an

and

Ching-t u

sects by using these new materials.

3 6

Nevertheless,

so

far as the

Esoteric Sect is concerned, I

am

not

particularly benefited

by

any

available

Tun-huang

manuscripts, except for a few pictures and

sheets of

paper

on which dharaI).is were written.

s

for the refer

ence works, it is regrettable

that

a few articles by Japanese scholars

36

Cf. Hu-shih lun-hsiieh chin-chu t J J 3 i W l i l J H l [ ~ 1. 198-319; TSUKAMOTO Zenryii,

o chuki

no

jodokyo Jl ff:J:IJ,lj ( 7 ) i j l : ~ .


9/93

248

CHOU YI-LIANG

published in some less

important

Japanese periodicals are

not

available here in Cambridge on account of

the

war.

2. Tsan-ning and his sources

Tsan-ning

(919-1001 A.

D.)

37

was born

to

a family named KAO

jItj

which emigrated from Po-hai to Wu-hsing ~ : J I in the

end of the Sui d y n a s t y 3 ~ According to WANG Yii-ch eng

Mfi

he became a monk in the T ien-ch eng x lG period (926 A. D.)

and in

the

early years of

the

Ch ing-t ai

m*

period

(934-5

A. D.)

he entered into

Mt.

T ien-t ai where he was fully ordained.

39

Being

particularly proficient in the Vinaya texts, he earned himself the

nickname Tiger of Vinaya 11e. In

978

A. D. when Wu-Yiieh

was incorporated into the Sung empire, Tsan-ning was sent

by the king to the Sung court where he was honored by Emperor

T ai-tsung with a purple robe and the title T ung-hui ~ At the

same time he was appointed to the Han-lin

tft

which served

as

the

emperor s secretariat.

In

991

A.

D.

he became

an

editor of

the

National Archives.

40

In

998

A. D. he was appointed the seng-Iu

1ft.

of the

Right

Road ;t;;ffi which was in charge of half of the

monks in the capita1.

41

He held both positions until he died

1001

A.D.

87

I follow Chih-p

an

who says that Tsan-ning died in 1001 A. D. at the age of

eighty-two

(T

49.

402bl).

In h i ~ preface to Tsan-nings work (Hsiao-ch u chi IJ lfi

SPTK

ed., 21.9a),

WANG

Yii-ch eng says

that

the master

was still in sound

health

at the

age of eighty-two. t seems

that

this preface was written

not

very long before

the

master

died.

WANG

Yii-ch eng gives the

date

of Tsan-ning s

birth

as the

year

chi-mao or the sixteenth year of Tien-yu xiifi of the

T ang

dynasty which actually

was

the

fifth year of Cheng-ming i t jij of the Liang dynasty (919

A.

D), because

the

Tang

dynasty had already fallen in 907

A.

D .

f

Tsan-ning was born in 919

A.

D .,

he

would have been eighty-two years old in 1001 A.

D.

WANG also says

that the

sixteenth year of T ien-yu corresponds to the seventh year of Cheng-ming which

seems to be a miscalculation. Nien-ch ang ~ f ; (T 49.659b22) gives the date of Tsan

ning s death as 996

A.

D. which is evidently wrong. Wen-ying s

3t l't

Hsiang-shan

yeh-lu

H

III

l f.

~ i t . ) : ; m i i i t s ' e

76) 3.5b says that

he

died at the age of eighty

four which also contradicts the date given by

WANG

Yii-ch eng and Chih-p an.

38 Hsiao-ch u chi

20.7b.

S. Ibid

.

The

text has m*1JJAxil III .3tJt.JE.1 lG. Since

he

was only about

fifteen years old

at

that time, the full ordination probably took place some time later,

but WANG

did

not

give precise date.

O . Cf. T

49

.400c17. U For these facts cf. Hsiao-ch u chi 20.8a-b.


10/93

TANTRISM IN

CHINA

249

I t is said that he was widely read in both Buddhist and non

Buddhist books. Scholars such as

Hsu

Hsiian ~ t , WANG Yii

ch eng,

and

LIU

K'ai

P M J

were his good friends.

42

In WANG S

work

we find a preface to Tsan-ning s Wen-chi ( ~ 4 3 and

three poems

presented to

him

44

in

all of which VANG referred to Tsan-ning s

scholastic achievments, particularly the

contribution of

the Kao

seng chuan.

In

Hsu

Hsiian s

Wen-chi there

is also a poem pre

sented

to

Tsan-ning when he was returning

to

his home in the

South. Since HS1J was famous for his

study

of palaeography, it

is interesting

to

notice

that

in this poem he asked Tsan-ning

to

find for him the stele erected

by

Shih-huang of the Ch'in dynasty

and

inscribed by his renowned prime minister

LI SSii.

45

OU-YANG

Hsiu ~ ~ 1 1 f f records a

story

of Tsan-ning which would show how

tactful he was. When he, as a smg-Iu, accompanied Emperor

T'ai-tsu 46

to the Hsiang-kuo Temple : f I I ~ in the capital, the

latter was hesitating if he should kneel down to

pay

obeisance

to

a

Buddha's

image. Thereupon Tsan-ning said,

The present

Buddha

would not

pay

obeisance before a

past

Buddha. The

emperor was highly pleased and it

thus

became a rule

that

the

emperor should not kneel before any

Buddhist

images.

Liu-i shih

hua

also has a

story

revealing

that

Tsan-ning was witty

and

quick

in

reply.

In the

year

982 A.

D.

he received the imperial order to compile

the

Sung kao-seng chuan. He obtained

permission to

return

to

the

temple

in

Hang-chou

;fJt1 J

where he came from

and

there

he

worked on the book which he completed in 988 A.

D.48

The book


11/93

250

CHOU YI-LIANG

is divided into

thirty

chapters,

and

composed of 533 biographies.

There

are also 130 monks who have no biographies of their own

but

their lives are briefly recorded

in

the

biographies of others.49

As for

the

sources of this book, he acknowledges in his preface

that

he

has

made use of

the

biographies as well as

the tomb

inscrip

tions written

by

former people.

50

t

is also affirmed

by

Chih-p an

; ; .

in his

Fo-tsu t ung-chi f*Jf llk1f*B.51 This

accounts for the

difference in style, even within one biography.

The first half of Shan-wu-wei s biography is very elaborate in

style

and

language because

it

is entirely

taken

with very few

changes in wording from

the

work of

Lr Hua ~ ,

who was con

sidered a good prose writer.

5

The

latter

half of

the

biography

dealing with Shan-wu-wei s legend is based chiefly on

the Yu-yang

tsa-tsu W ~ J U f H l I . and

hence

the

style is clearly different from the

first half.

For

Vajrabodhi s biography Yiian-chao s

IIt Jm

work

probably is the chief source

but

Tsan-ning did not make use of

all

the

information

in

his

Cheng-yiian shih-chiao lu

P:5C'-'fi:ifk

The

chief sources for Amoghavajra s biography are

CHAO

Ch ien s

M ~

hsing-chuang fiJIX and Fei-hsi s pei-ming 1 i l \ ~ .

The

style of

the

biographies of Vajrabodhi

and

Amoghavajra is more

unified

than that

of Shou-wu-wei s biography. When Tsan-ning

started the

compilation of this book, he was already

an

old man.

His preface says that besides himself several others took

part

in

this work.

53

t

is most likely

that

Tsan-ning only acted as a chief

editor while other monks really did

the

compilation.

This

is why

the

style was considered poor,

and

HUANG T ing-chien

j ( { ~ ~

even tried

to

revise it.

54

Among

other

books which Tsan-ning wrote

55

only two are still

chi

T

49 .400a13). Hsiao-ch u chi

8 b )

and Fo-tsu t ung-chi T 49.398c16) give

983 A. D . as the year when he received

the

order

Cf. his preface

T

50.710a3) .

5 . Cf. T 5 0 . 7 0 9 c ~ ~ . 51 T

49

. 0 0 a ~ 3 .

5

For these sources see notes

in

respective biographies.

53

T

5 0 . 7 0 9 c ~ O . 54

T 49.

4 0 0 a ~ 6 .

55

For

a list of these books

d.

Ku Huai-san JifHlit=:, u wu-tai-shih i-wen chih

: f i j f j l l f t t . ~ 3 t ; ; l ~ a ,

18a; Sung-shih * t .(1l1+11PJ3t-=JiU ed . All the

dyn-

astic histories used

in

the present work

are

cited from this

edition).

~ 0 5 . 1 0 a , ~ ~ a , ~ 5 a ,

~ 0 6 . 4 b ,

5b.


12/93

TANTRISM IN

CHINA

251

preserved today.

The

first one is the Seng-shih-lUeh fft um in three

chapters 5 6

which is a general

history

of

the sangha in China

.

The

second

book

is a

short

treatise in

one

chapter

called

Sun-p u

J 1 i 5 ~

dealing

with bamboo

shoots.

t

has

five headings:

the

various

names of

bamboo

shoots,

the

places where

bamboo

shoots are pro

duced,

the

way of cooking them,

the

stories

about bamboo

shoots,

and

miscellaneous notes.

57

Probably

it

was

due to

this

kind

of

knowledge

that

LIU

K ai

called Tsan-ning

the

CHANG Hua 58 iIi

of

the

day

as

CHANG

was a well-known scholar

with

encyclopaedic

knowledge.

THE BIOGRAPHY OF SHAN-WU-WEI OF THE SHENG-SHAN TEMPLE

OF LO-YANG OF

THE

T ANG

DYNASTY

(Taisho

Trip aka

50.714bl-716a17)

The

monk Shan-wu-wei was

by

origin a native of Central India 1

and

a

descendant

of Amrtodana,2 Sakyamuni s uncle. His Sanskrit

name

was

SubhakarasiIhha

B t ~ t i J a f f t f p J

in

Chinese, Ching-shih

tzii jJfliIj-=f- which was

translated

as Shan-wu-wei. By another

tradition

his name was

Subhakara & ~ i t a

which also means

Wu-wei

in

Chinese.

3

S6 T 54, No. 2126. The number of chapters of

the

book as it is preserved

today

agrees with

the

number given in Sung-shih (205.10a). Hsiang-shan yeh-lu (3.5a)

says that T ai-tsung wanted

to

know

the

life of

the

eminent monks in former times,

so Tsan-ning compiled

the

Seng-shih-lUeh in

ten

chapters

to

present

to

the

emperor.

Apparently he had confused the Kao-seng chuan with the Seng-shih-liieh and

the

number given by him agrees with neither work.

S7

This book is included in

the

P ai-ch uan hsiieh-hai (ts e 37).

6 Hsiang-shan yeh-lu 3.5b.

1 LI Hua s Shan-wu-wei hsing-chuang ~ 1 l H t f i ~ (abbreviated below as hsing

chuang) gives

Magadha

as

the

country where Shan-wu-wei s family originally lived

(T

50.290a6). LI Hua died in

the

early years of

the

Ta-Ii

*M

period (766-779

A. D.)

and

was particularly known as a writer of biographies and monumental inscriptions. Cf.

his biography in T ang-shu

tt

203.1b. His biography says

that

he was converted

to

Buddhism in his later days.

For

his association with monks cf.

the

biographies of

Y e n - c h i i n . t I : ~

(T

50.798a17) and Lang-jan ~

(T

50.800a11) in Tsan-ning s work.

According

to the

former he was still alive in

the

fourth

year

of Ta-Ii (769 A. D .

).

2 On Amrtodana cf. MOCHIZUKI Shinkiis i1J JJ ~ Bukkyo daijiten { ~ t *

I :YI - (abbreviat.ed below as MOCHIZUKI), 1.476b-c, and E . J.

THOMAS

, The Life of

Buddha 24.

3

There is no way

to

derive such a meaning as ~ 1 t l (literally, good without


13/93

CHOU YI-LIANG

Because of unrest

in their

own

country, Central India,

his

ancestors had left it and gone

to

reign over [the

country

of]

O


14/93

TANTRISM IN

CHINA

~ 5 3

At

the

age of ten he was in

command

of

the

army;

and

at

thirteen

he succeeded to

the

throne. He won

the

affection of

both

soldiers

and

civilians;

but

his brothers, being jealous of his ability,

organized an

armed

rebellion.

The

resulting fratricidal struggle was

so severe

that

Shan-wu-wei himself had to

take

active command.

He

was struck by a stray arrow and a flying 6 discus 7 bruised

the top of his head. [Even so] when,

in

accordance with martial

law his brothers upon

their

defeat had incurred the

penalty

of

death,

he indulgently forgave' them, despite the requirements of

strict

justice.

Then,

with

tears

in his eyes, he said

to

his

mother

and ministers:

When

I led my army [against my brothers] that

was

the end

of

any

love [between us].

n

order, however, to perfect

my

duty

[as a brother], I must now abdicate. 8 [714b15] He there

upon gave the throne to his elder

brother

and earnestly requested

that he

might

become a monk.

9

Sadly his

mother

gave consent.

10

She secretly gave Shan-wu-wei the pearl

without

price which

was the emblem of inheritance of the throne,

just

as [correspond

ingly] the vessels distributed among the feudal lords [identified

The text

reads * which means to

swing'

or to whirl.' ~ in this sense

matches better with it . Pei reads

(T

0 ~ 9 0 M O )

:j:1l -

meaning' to protect.'

7 The discus is a kind of weapon. Hsi-yii chi

(T

51.877bI9) "fLmf l : ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ .

J i J f m * t \ F ~ * J J ~ I J ~ 1 $ - j ( ; : 5 t ~ f f i ~ * z J l , ~ i l t ~ ~

WATTERS

(1.171)

omits the enumeration of these weapons. S. JULIEN in his translation of Hsiian-tsang's

work I . 8 ~ ) uses 'fronde' to render _ .

BEAL

(1.83) says various kinds of

slings. Both are incorrect. _ (cakra) and* pasa) are two weapons that Buddhist

and Hindu gods are frequently represented as bearing in their hands. Cf.

T. A.

Gopinatha

Rao, Elements of Hindu Iconography (Madras, 1914) I part I Description

of Terms. 4; P. C. BAGCH , Deux lexiques sanskrit-chinois .

8 The text reads J P J : # ~ : f i E , JM.

e . 1 J r ~ .

r:fitij{i1,

~ ; I t . ~ .

Pei reads

J P J : # ~ [ ~ ] : f i E , . I f , ~ , - & . r

e

[Ja ]

i1ij{, ;ff;ltiit-

(T

0 . ~ 9 0 b ~ I ) .

I t

means When I led my army [against them], it was righteousness which superseded

love. Now I desire to abdicate because I should like to carry

out

my plan.

Chung-pen-chi ching

I=J I

* J t g * ~ (tr.

by T'an-kuo tUI

and K'ANG Meng-hsiang

. m : f { ~ in ~ 0 7 A.D .)

1 Z 9 ~ . IZ9EJAm f i i J ~ F f A m , i \ l E ~ : i J i

[m]

(T

4.148M6).

The

word

tao

is a legacy of

the

early days when Buddhism was first

introduced into China

and

was called fo-tao

f;tm:

after

the

fashion of Taoism. Cf.

T'ANG Yung-t'ung

~ JfIm, Han Wei liang-Chin nan-pei-ch ao fo-chiao shih

~ ~

W 1 H t ~ f ; t t t i l . . 87-95. Later on

Am:

came to mean' to become a monk.' Also

d. J. R WARE,

T

30 (1933).113, 153.

10 One has to obtain his parent's permission before he can be ordained. Cf.

Mahiivagga (SBE 13.1.54.5), 8m-fen-lii

(T

~ . 8 1 0 a 1 8 ) , 8hih-sung-lii

(T

3 . 1 5 ~ c ~ 3 ) .


15/93

~ 5 4

CHOU YI-LIANG

them]. He

went

southward to the sea where he came to a superb

monastery 11 and there obtained the saddharmapm:H; arikasamadhi

i ~ ~ ~

.12

He

piled

up

sand

to

form stfrpas, to

the

number

of

almost ten thousand, and even when a black snake bit his finger,

he would not give up.

He then found accommodation on a merchant ship/3 by travel

ling on which he visted several countries, and [while on board] he

recited [sfrtras] and meditated in secret,14 emitting [the while] a

white light from his mouth. There were

three

days when the wind

did

not

blow

and

yet

the

ship sailed onwards a

vast

distance.

The

merchants' lives were [once] in danger when they encountered

pirates. Filled with compassion for his comrades, Shan-wu-wei

whispered a dharaI)i in silence. Seven kotis 15 of deities appeared

in full glory, and finally the pirates were destroyed

by

other bandits

[who appeared]. These

bandits

then

confessed their sin and became

his disciples.

They became his guides over

the

country, which was now easy

and now difficult. Only after passing through many a weary wilder

ness and crossing stinking rivers did they reach Central India,

where Shan-wu-wei met a king who was married to his elder sister.

[The king] asked Shan-wu-wei

why

he had abdicated and could

not repress his admiration.

They

walked into [the palace] hand

in hand. Like sheltering clouds, Shan-wu-wei's presence comforted

the whole country.

Shan-wu-wei had grace of person and surpassing intelligence.

11 Pei as edited in Ch uan-T ang-wen (319 .9b

and

T 5 0 ~ 9 0 b 2 4 reads ~ ~ M F f - B ~

which would mean' obtained a superb monastery.' This text reads for which

s better. Pei in Wen-yuan ying-hua 3 t ~ ~

(Hu

; i)J ed., 861.1b) has neither ~

n o r ~ Cf. Hsuan-tsang

(WATTERS,

~ 1 9 3 1 9 4 .

12

A kind of meditation practised by Mahayanists, through which one endeavors to

see Samantabhadrabodhisattva

and to

confess one's sins with

the

hope of becoming a

bodhisattva. This meditation is to

be brought

about by

reciting

the Lotus Siitra

for

twenty-one days. Cf.

MOCHIZUKI,

5.4578b.

13

In describing O< ra Hsiian-tsang (WATTERS, ~ . 1 9 3 - 1 9 4 says tha t near the shore

of the ocean in

the

southeast of this country was the city of Che-li-ta-Io (Charitra?),

above twenty Ii in circuit, which was a thoroughfare

and

resting place for sea-going

traders

and

strangers from

distant

lands."

U

The

text has ~ & H ~ f f [ i j M i , which literally would mean practising in secret

the

dhyiina recitation."

am not

certain of my interpretation.

1. Cf.

MOCHIZUKI,

1.687b.


16/93

TANTRISM IN CHINA

255

He understood

the

Five Ways

16

[of Buddhism] [714b27]

and

the

Three Disciplines.

17

He plumbed

the

meaning of

both the

dharanis

and

meditations

and

was

an

artist and expert craftsman [in

the

making of Buddhist images

and

stiipas]. When he first visited

Nalanda Monastery 18

(meaning

untiring generosity in Chinese)

from which the counterfeit doctrine

19

was derived,

and

which

was the pole of all the saints, Shan-wu-wei presented

the

pearl of

inheritance to be set 20 in the forehead of

the

great statue [of

Buddha]. By day it was like

the

moon,

at

night, like

the

sun.

21

There was a certain [monk named]

Dharmagupta

i t . ~

$

in

the

monastery.

He

held

the

mystic key to the Gate of Meditation

and

possessed

the

secret seal of Tathagata. He appeared over forty

years old, but was really eight centuries old. Hsiian-tsang had

once

met

him.

22

With

great reverence, Shan-wu-wei made obeisance

at [Dharmagupta's] feet 28

and

recognized him as his Master.24

, . a n u ~ y a y i i n a

deva-, sravaka-, pratyekabuddha-,

and

bodhisattva,... The first two

are used

to

denote

the

career of lay Buddhists who observe

the

five precepts, etc.

The

second group of two yanas refers

to

Hinayiina, while

the

last one refers

to Mahayana.

There

are three other lists of

the

five yanas which differ slightly from this

set and

which also regard

the

bodhisattvayana or buddhayana as

the

highest way for salvation.

Cf. MOCHIZUKI, 2.1227a.

17 The

Three Disciplines . : : : ~ or

s i k ~ a s

are Sila,

dhyana and

prajfia. Cf. MOCHIZUKI,

2.1472c.

18

For Nalanda

cf

WATTERS. 2.165-169; TAKAKusu Junjiro f 6 : . f m n l l ~ . l l ~

A Record

of the Buddhist Religion

s

Practised in India and

the

Malay Archipelago

154;

E.

CHAVANNES,

es religieux eminents

84-98.

1 .

Buddha's teaching is divided into three periods of which

the

period of the counter

feit doctrine f l i i ; or pratiriipaka is the second one. Cf. S a d d h a r m a p u ~ a r i k a 8.28

samyuttanikiiya

16 .13 (Mrs. RHYS DAVIDS translation 2.152), also ct. T 2.226c7, 419M5.

The length of each period varies in accordance with different traditions. Cf. MOCHIZUKI,

2.1517b. Buddha's teaching is therefore also called hsiang-chiao f l t ;

ct. TP

30.135.

20

In

Hsi-yu chi

the

character is used in

many

cases

to

mean

to set'

or

to

stud.'

The

examples are found

in

T 51.870bI8, 872c8, 876b7, 934a5, 934a20.

21 This simile sounds rather queer. Pei reads

_ m JI @Jl ."

~ J { J j : J \ : j : i t l . It means

literally in the daytime it

is

like a moon, at

night it

shines. It is an Indian figure

of speech

to

compare a good person

to

the

moon because

it

is

bright

but

does

not

hurt the

eyes as the sun does when you look

at it

. This, however, still does

not

explain

the

simile very well.

22 This name

is not

mentioned in

the Hsi-yu chi

or Hsiian-tsang's biography

by

Yen-tsung , , .

23

It

was

the

Indian custom

to

touch

and

kiss

the

feet of

the

man whom

one

reveres. Cf.

WATTERS,

1.173;

TAKAKUsu,

99.

2m World 1. xciii) in their itineraries .


22/93

TANTRISM IN

CIDNA

261

up to

him

each day and

brought

presents of gold coins. He lec

tured on the

P i-lu [che-na ch eng-jo shen-pien chia-ch ih ching]

mlit

~ 1 j f 5 J J X ; f $ j j i l j t ~ : b D * H , l ]

50

in the court

of a Turkish [khan]

and meditated

51

underthekhatun's PItt

52

tree. The Law appeared

in golden letters displayed in

the

sky.

At

that time a female

attendant in the Turkish [khan's] palace pressed her hand to her

breast from which three streams of milk flew out and poured into

Shan-wu-wei's mouth . He, clasping his hands, said solemnly:

She

was my

mother

in a former birth.

On his way, he

met

bandits who struck

at

him

three times with

a sword,

yet he

was not hurt. The man who wielded the sword

heard only the sound of copper [being struck]. [715aI5] He went

on and climbed the Snow Mountain.

53

There

he

fell ill [on reach

ing] a large lake. Dharmagupta came from the sky saying: While

in the world a bodhisattva does not escape transmigration; but

you have long understood the world.

54

How can you be sick

now?

After

he

had said this Dharmagupta ascended to the sky

and Shan-wu-wei recovered [his strength completely] as though

washed.

55

When he passed through

Tibet,

he stayed with some merchants.

The barbarians, being greedy for money, came in large numbers

50 See below,

note

84.

51

The text

has ~ i d j 5 E : ~ P J t t z m . Pei reads I f j j P J t t ~ i * , J 1 ~ ~ m r

(T 50.29IaI8), which would mean As the Khatun asked for

the

Law, he performed

an afijali under a tree.

Pei

in

Wen-yuan ying-hua

(86.3a) reads I f j j P I t t ~ ~ i * ,

meaning the son of the khatun asked for the Law. ~ 5 E : is a term composed of

a transliteration and a translation of the word dhyana, but :t ffdji is a transliteration

of the word afijali, meaning

to

make reverence with both hands clasped. This con

fusion of usage is frequently found .

TING

Fu-pao's

TJJiiii1 : Fo-hsueh ta-tz u-tien

f ~ * i i i 4 - (980b) defines ~ j j i q (afijali) as

A5E:

or concentration, but he does

not cite any Buddhist texts except the work of CHANG Tsan iii l (d. 548 A. D.)

and

WANG Wei i (d. 759 A D.).

52 See Appendix A.

53

See Appendix B.

5< The

text

has t k ~ I l I ; f ; H , which literally would mean

your

separation from

laksanas.

The

text. reads

i J t ~ I f j j j r .

This expression is found in the biography of CHANG

Chia-chen i i i ~ J i in T ang-shu (I27.la), where it seems to mean 'clear.'

Hu

San-hsing i i J I = : ' ~ ' in his commentary to Tzu-chih t ung-chien :llrEJ3i1i ::f lf1itJiU

ed ., 207.5a) defines t l t ; ~ as * ~ or terrified. This meaning, however, does not

fit here.


23/93

262

CHOU YI-LIANG

to surround [and waylay] them. Shan-wu-wei secretly applied

mudras by heart, so that

the

chief of the

Tibetan

[robbers was

defeated

by

his magic power and] begged for pardon. When he

reached

the

western border of the

great

T'ang [country], a god

told him one night: Eastward from here [the country] is not my

domain; Maiijusri is guarding that heavenly land. 7 The god

vanished after having made obeisance

at

his feet.58 This was like

Kapila's protection of [Master] Joined-brows

~ m 9

[i.

e. Dharma

mitra]. Shan-wu-wei loaded his books on the back of a camel,

which, when crossing

the

river

at

Hsi-chou

H

,60

was pulled

down into

the

river by the dragon. Shan-wu-wei also fell into

the

water and stayed three days in

the

palace of the dragon and propa

gandized [them on]

the

Law, so

that

many were converted. When

he led

the

camel out to the shore, the books were still not damp.

While Shan-wu-wei was still in

the

region of North India, his

fame already had spread as far as China. Emperor Jui-tsung 61

ordered Jiiana

: fms 62

and General SHIH Hsien 63 to go

out

66

The text

has W ~ j G r : p .

67 For

the relation between Maiijusri and

China

, cf. Sir Charles

ELIOT, Hinduism

and Buddhism 2.20-21, MOCHIZUKI, 5.4877c-4878a.

58 See above. note 23.

69

For

Kapila cf. Shih-shih yao-lan ~ ~ ~

(T

54.304a16), MOCHIZUKI, 1.460b.

The story of Kapila's accompanying

Dharmamitra is

found in Kao-seng chuan

(T 50.343a22). Joined-brows is probably the translation of samgatabhrii, one of the

minor marks of Buddha. Cf . Lalitavistara 122.1 .15 (Rajendralala Mitra ed.) and

Dharmasamgraha 59.

I t is

also a favorite description of a hero in Sanskrit Buddhist

literature. Cf. Divyiivadiina 2.1.27, 26.1.4, 58.1.4.

60 Hsi-chou roughly corresponds to the present Turfan in Sinkiang Province.

For

a

fragmentary T'ang manuscript of a gazetteer of this region, cf. Hsi-chou chih in

Tun-huang shih-shih i-shu f J c : J ; ~ r E ~ ~ . 2.

61 Jui-tsung reigned once in 684 A. D.

and

was dethroned by Empress Wu.

Then

he

reigned again from 710 to 713 A.

D.

62 Jiiana

must be

an Indian

monk who is not attested elsewhere. A

monk

named

Devendrajiiana ~ ~ ~ m s (T 50.719b19) came to

China

from Khotan in 689 A. D.

The date

of his

death

is

not

known.

Jiiana

could be a simplified form of Devendrajiiana,

but

it

is

not certain whether

he

was stiIl alive about 716 A. D .

63 Pei reads t ~

(T 50.291M). t

seems more likely that

this

general was

originally stationed on the western border. The

Turks

of the royal family who came

to serve the T'ang

Emperor

usually

adopted

the

Chinese s u r n ~ e Shih

re.

which was

an abridged form of the

Turkish

name A-SHIH-NA

ISiiJ

ltms (such as SHIH Ta-nai

*5* and

SHIH Chung

I t . ~ cf. CHAVANNES, Documents 23; Chiu T ang-shu


24/93

TANTRISM IN

CHINA

fl6

the Jade Gate : l i r ~ 64 to

welcome him. n

the

early years of

the

K ai-yiian 005G

period [713-741 A. D.] Emperor Hsiian-tsung 65

dreamed

that

he

had met

an

eminent

monk

of unusual appearance.

The

Emperor, applying

the

paints himself, portrayed [the dream

monk] on

the

wall of his hall.

When

Shan-wu-wei arrived, he was

[found

to

be] identical with [the monk] of

the

dream. [715a29]

Rejoicing at this miraculous meeting, the Emperor decorated

the

temple in the palace

~ ~ 66

[for Shan-wu-wei] and honored

him

as Master. Beginning with the princes of

Ning and

Hsiieh

i

67

all

knelt

down before

him

and

waited

on

him. As a bodhi

sattva

might

be received in

the

celestial palace, so this

Indian

[monk] was seated next

to the Emperor

who honored

him

as

the

Teacher

of

the

Country,68 [just as]

Huang-ti

honored Kuang-ch'eng

}J{Jil(;.

69 [Shan-wu-wei, on his

part],

caused the Emperor

to

[enter]

the

way of Tathagata.

This

sublime doctrine was then at

the peak

of its popularity.

At

that

time there

was

an

astrologer who could manipulate

supernatural

spirits

and

was learned in

the

mechanism of [cosmicJ

changes.

When

[Shan-wu-wei

and the

astrologer] were ordered

to

engage in a test of

their

[rival] miraculous powers in

the

presence

of

the Emperor,

he was calm,

but the

astrologer [who

tried to

worst him] was at a loss

to

know what

to

do.

n

the

fourth year of K'ai-yiian,

the year

of ping-ch'en [716

A. D.] Shan-wu-wei first arrived in Ch'ang-an/o, bringing with

109.4a) . The general

SHIH

Hsien of our text might be a simplified form of A-SHIH-NA

Hsien 1m]

J } f S I t

of T ang-shu. Cf.

CHAVANNES,

Documents 77, 81-82; Chiu T ang-shu

98.15b.

The

headquarters of the chieh-tu-shih of Chi-hsi

lifWlii

J3f. was

in

Karashar ~ ~ (cf . MATSUDA

Hisao tkEBWJ}J, Sekisei setsudoshi kii lifWililt

~ : : n

Shich

~ W j

3.2.25-51, 3.3.48-68).

6 4 The Jade Gate Pass was located in the northwes

tern

part of

Kansu

Province. Cf.

YYY 11.295-6.

6 5 Hstian-tsung reigned from 713 to 755 A. D . 6 6 See Appendix C.

6 7

Both

were Hsiian-tsung's brothers.

For

their biographies

cr

Chiu T ang-shu

limil

95.la-7a, lOa-lla.

6 8 For the

term

kuo-shih cf. PE

LLIOT

, TP 12.671-676.

6 9

The

story

of

Huang-ti

and

Kuang-ch'eng-tzu

is

found in

Chuang-tzu.

Cf.

LEGGE S

translation in

SBE

39.297-300.

70 The exact date of Shan-wu-wei's arrival in Ch'ang-an

is

not given in

the text

or

pei,

but another

monk's biography written by

LI Hua

gives the

date

as the fifteenth

of the fifth moon (Ch iian-T ang-wen 319.7b).


25/93

264

CHOU YI-LIANG

him some Sanskrit texts. He was stationed in

the

southern quarter

of the Hsing-fu Temple

J Q . J l i j ~ 7

by the

Emperor's

order. Later

on he

was ordered

to

stay

in

the

Hsi-ming Temple

V 9 f J l ~

.72

Mes

sengers were [sent] repeatedly [from the Emperor] to inquire

after

his

health

and

the

presents [given him] were unusual. n the fifth

year, the year ting-ssu [717 A. D.],

by

imperial order he made

translations

in P'u-t'i-yiian ~ 1 1 f ~ . 7 3

He asked the

Emperor

to

invite

noted

monks who should discuss [with him] both

the

Chinese

and the

Sanskrit

texts. He first 74 translated in one chapter

the

Hsii-k ung-tsang ch iu-wen-ch ih

fa

M ~ . * m } ~ ~

.75

The

monk

*Siddhartha

~ ~

76 made an oral translation. Wu-chu ~ ~ 77 wrote

11 The Hsing-fu Temple was located in Hsiu-te-fang { ~ ~ I . i in the northwestern

part of Ch'ang-an,

d.

Hsu Sung ~ r l , T ang liang-ching ch emg-fang k ao mmJil

~ I . i ~

( j ; ~ ~ j l . ed.) 4.8b. Hsiian-tsang once worked in thU; temple.

7 The K ai-yiian shih-chiao lu

1 ~ l l J G " l t ~

(T

55.572a12) says:

later

an imperial

edict ordered him

to stay

in

the

Hsi-ming [Temple]. This temple was located

in

Yen-k'ang-fang ~ B J t l . i in

the

western part of Ch'ang-an,

d.

Ch ing-fang k ao 4.18b,

Ch ing-fang k ao pu-i 14a.

t

was also famous for its peony flowers,

d.

ISHIDA

Mikinosuke

;p I WJ Toto

chOan

ni

okeru botan no kanshii mflHit

L k

Vi ;0 t:i:.::PtC9s:1t in Ichimura hakase koki kinen toyoshi ronso m flI1:

t lili

* B 2 ; * i $ N ; J ~ j l

88-94 .

. .

The

P'u-t'i-yiian must be a

part

of

the

Hsi-ming Temple. Hsing-chuang mentions

it

as

an

individual temple

(T

50. 290a18), which

must

be a mistake. A large temple

usually consisted of

many

yiian, which might be occupied

by

monks of different sects.

Cf. YABUKI Keiki * I X ~ } $ , Sangaikyo no

kenkyu

' : = : ~ ~ C 9 l i f F ~ 89, 119, 122-

126; T 5U40a28; CHANG Yen-yiian 5 k ~ i t . Li-tai ming-hua chi

g t t ~ . 1 f f i

( ~ j j * ~ .

ed.) 8.10b; Ch ing-fang k ao 2.4a. Some Japanese books say

that

Shan

wu-wei in

the year 716

A.

D.

visited

Japan

which

is

completely groundless. Cf.

uso

ry kki ;fX:ilRmlre

6 ( ~ ~ j l . ed., 107) ;

Genko shakusho

5G* .

1

(:k

B * f ~ I H 1 : t ~ . 101.144b);

MOCHIZUKI

8.8005c.

niu t J T J l f i U . l j ~ ? ; 1 l ~ J E . ~

d.) 5.4b.

n

A

text

called

Chin-kang shou-ming t o-lo->ni nien-sung fa

~ ~ f

~ ~ W E ~ f f l 2 ;

fWi1 was translated by Amoghavajra. As

the

title shows, it is a dhitraI,li for

longevity. The chief deity is called Chin-kang shou-ming p'u-sa

T

20.275c7), but no

iconographical information

about

this bodhisattva is given in

the

different versions

T

20, Nos. Il33-Il35) of this text. A bodhisattva by

the

name of Yen-shou-ming


41/93

280

CHOU YI-LIANG

the Prince of

Ho-tung fpJ J(UIlE 42 to

paint

an

image in the stiipa

of Vairocl1na. He told his disciples: These two persons will

not

live long.

In

a few

months

both

died as he said. All his pre

dictions were in general similarly exact.

There was no principle with which he was not conversant, and

there was nothing he did that was not effective. He could analyze

and answer questions on siitras, sastras,

the

Vinaya texts, secret

dharaJ).is, and other books whenever anyone asked [him], just as

a bell would ring [when struck].48 Whoever came

to

visit, if Vajra

bodhi

met

him once, he never forgot him.

In

speech

and

behavior

he was always solemn. His [facial] expression remained unchanged

whether he was glad or angry, pleased or offended. Those who

interviewed him, [even ' though] not knowing the scope [of his

mind], naturally expressed their admiration for him.44

From

the

seventh year of K'ai-yiian [719 A. D.], when he first

arrived at P'an-yii ~ 45 and then came to the capital, [he was]

untiring in his propagation of the [doctrine] of

the

Esoteric Scrip

tures and in

the

erection of properly constructed maJ).


42/93

TANTRISM IN CIDNA

281

altar

erected where he received

b h i ~ e k

and [made vows] to fol

low this doctrine. Since he recognized

it

to be profitable, I-hsing

asked [the Master] to translate [some texts] for promulgation.

In

the eleventh year [723 A. D.] Vajrabodhi, by imperial edict, trans

lated in

the

Tzu-sheng Temple j f ~ ~ 46

the

Yu-ch iehnien-sung f

f t f 1 b u ~ ~ ~

47

in two chapters and the Ch i-chu-ti t o-lo-ni

l::mmt

~ ' E & J 8 48

in two chapters. *isvara f1t1f ,49 an officer of the

Imperial Secretariat

iEllfltf 50

and a great Brahman chief of East

India made the literal translation. The monk Wen-ku i \li ti 51 from

Mt.

Sung

i i

wrote

it

down .

This temple was located in

the

Ch ung-jen-fang

~ t : : t i

in

the

northeastern part

of Ch ang-an. Cf.

Ch eng-fang k ao

8.4b

This is an abbreviated form of Chin-kang-ting yil-ch ieh-chung lileh-ch u nien

sung f 1 i t j l l J I J m f t f 1 b u I f l ~ m ~ f I I i ~ which, according

to

Yiian-chao (T55.S75a6),

is also called a ching

*, f and

consists of four chapters.

The

edition in T (IS, No. S66)

is called

nien-sung ching and

has four chapters.

It

is said that Vajrabodhi studied

this siitra under *Nagajfiiina, disciple of Nagiirjuna (see Appendix F) and it was

originally composed of one hundred thousand slokas.

For the

legend

that

this

text

was obtained from an iron stiipa in South India, cf. Amoghavajra s Chin-kang-ting

ching ta--yil-ch ieh pi-mi hsin-ti fa-men i-chileh

1 i t j l l J I J m ~ * f t f 1 b u ~ ~ ~ j i : , : l & ~ r l j

jEll:Jt (T

89.S0Sa24). Japanese monks of

the

Shingon sect

have

speculated concerning

this legend, and one theory is that the iron stiipa is a mere metaphor referring to

one s own body (cf.

KAMBAYASHI

Joryii s jji :4*fI/ft Introduction

to the

Japanese

translation of this

text

in

okuyaku issaikyo

1 I ~ - - t ; J J ~ , Mikkyobu ~ f i , 1.218-

214). According

to

Vajrabodhi, this

text

is abridged from

the

first of

the

eighteen

chapters of

the

alleged original huge work.

The term

liieh-ch u is commonly used

in

the

T ang

dynasty for

an

abridged version of either Buddhist

or

lay books (also

see note

19). It

deals with rites, especially those used in making maI).Q.alas, per

forming abhi(leka,

and the homa

sacrifice. This is

the

only

text

where

the

ceremony

of abhi(leka is

treated

in detail

(cf. KAMBAYASHI S

Introduction, 228-224) .

For this

text

(T 20, no.l075) see note

81

above. It is only one chapter in the

present Tripitaka. I t

may

be that

the Method

of

Painting

Images is considered a

separate chapter by Tsan-ning

*Isvara

checked

the

Sanskrit

text

when I-ching was engaged in translation in

6S0

A. D. (T 50.710c22). n 718 A. D., when Bodhiruci translated siitras, he also took

part in the work by making literal translations (T 50.720blS) .

For

this office

cf.

R. DES ROTOURS, Le traite des examens, 9. This officer is also

called chih-chung-shu-sheng or chung-shu-chih-sheng; cf. Chiu T ang shu

190a.llb,

194

a.25b.

51 Wen-ku was

the

monk who wrote a preface to Chih-yen s 1iffii revised edition

of I-hsing s commentary on

the

P i-lu-chi-na ching. In his preface he says that he

was acquainted with both Shan-wu-wei

and

I-hsing. Cf.

yoto

sup .

~ * I O ' l ~

1.86.8, 254a.

4


43/93

282

CHOU

YI LIANG

In the eighteenth year [730

A.

D.] at the Ta-chien-fu Temple

he

also translated the Man-shu-shih-li wu-tzu-hsin t'o-lo-ni

~ f l j l 1 * I C : W E ~ ] B

52

and the

Kuan-tzu-tsai yii-ch'ieh fa-yao

W l ~

; t E ~ i b n i * ~

,5

3 each in one chapter.

The

monk Chih-tsang

w

l 54 made the

literal translation. I-hsing wrote it down

and

com

posed

the text

with some omissions. Vajrabodhi also noticed

that

some passages and sentences were lacking in the old trans

lation of

the

text of the

[Maha]pratisara[dhararJii]

[*]Il.if f*[WE*-i

] ]

5 5 and completed it by adding [the missing part]. All

the

dharaJ.1ls

and

mudras

translated

by

Vajrabodhi were effective

whenever they were applied. The mystic doctrine was at the

height of its popularity.

Many

of those who studied under Vajra

bodhi in

both

capitals were saved

l'Iflt by

him.

Both lay

and

clerical [disciples]

transmitted

[his doctrine] from one generation

to

another.

On

the

fifteenth

day

of the eighth moon in the twentieth year,

the year of jim-shim [732 A.

D.],56

he told his disciples

at the

6 2 The complete title of this text is Chin-kang-ting ching man-shu-shih-li p'u-sa wu

tzu-hsin t'o-lo-ni p'in ~ m l I J m ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ f l j ~ ~ 1 i ~ I C : ' ~ ' E . ] B T 20, no. 1173).

This

and

the

text

mentioned below are

both

abridged translations from different

chapters of

the Chin-kang-ting ching T

55 .

875al0). The

chief deity of this

text

is

Mafijusribodhisattva, who is represented in the form of a child with a sword in his

right hand and the

text

of Mahiiprajiidpiiramitiisitra in his left hand. A disciple has

to receive a b h i ~ e k a before he can be instructed in the dharal).is in this text T 20.

710a20). t is

stated

that Mafijusri will appear after one recites this text for one

month . Dharal).is

and

accompanying mudriis are

taught

which

su=on the

bodhisattva

into the reciter s own body and send him away.

6 3 The complete title for this text is Kuan-tzu-tsai ju-i-lun p'u-sa yu-ch'ieh fa 1Jao

l

;:E:f w

~ l l i U i 1 f ~ ~ t l J n i * ~

T

20, no. 1087). It contains dharal).is

and

miidras.

At the end

of

the text the

reciter is exhorted

to

read or contemplate on

Mahayana

siitras in a

quiet

place. The siitras recommended are Lankiivatdrasitra, Avatamsaka

sitra Mahiiprajiidpiiramitii,

and

AdhyardhaSatikiiprajiidpiiramita f ~ \ t i f l . f j \ J g ~ T 20.

215c7) .

This was the name granted to Amoghavajra

by

Emperor Hsiian-tsung. See his

Biography. According

to

Cheng 1Juan-lu

T

55 .748c14),

he

helped

the

master

to

translate four texts.

66

This must refer to the translation of this

text made

by Ratnacinta T 20, No.

1154 . For the

Tib

etan translation of this text cf.

ChANI,

no . 179. Also see Appendix

N.

6 6

This date is wrong. Lu T 55.876b5) says

that

on

the

twenty-sixth day of the

seventh moon in

the

twenty-ninth year (741 A.

D.)

an imperial edict was issued

to

release him to return to his own country. On

rea

ching Lo-yang

he

died. CHAO Ch ien


44/93

TANTRISM IN CHINA

283

Kuang-fu Temple J { j j i i ~

57

in Lo-yang:

When

the white moon

becomes

full/

8

I shall go.

Then

he

made

obeisance

to

[the image

of] Vairocana Buddha,59 walking

around

it

seven times.

Having

withdrawn

to

his own quarters,

he

burned perfume and

made

vows.

Mter

he paid homage

to the

Sanskrit

texts and

confided

the

new translations on

the

doctrine [to his disciples], he died

calmly.6o

His

secular age was seventy-one and [his] religious age,

fifty-one.

On

the

seventh

day

of

the

eleventh moon of

that

year he was

buried on

the

right

bank

of

the

I

1Jl

River

to

the

south

of Lung

men. [712a15] A stupa was erected in his memory.

His

disciple

Amoghavajra, his religious heir, made recommendations

to

the

Emperor,

who accordingly bestowed upon Vajrabodhi

the

posthu

mous title Master of

the

Country.

6 Tu

Hung-chien ; f A A ~ 62

the

in Amoghavajra's biography (T

50

.292c

13),

gives

the

same

date

in connection with

the latter's pilgrimage to India directly

after

the master's death . The character fL

is

not

left

out

in Tsan-ning's book

by

a scribe, because

he added the

cyclic

name

jen-shen for the twentieth year, i. e., 732 A. D . HobOgirin (Fascicule annexe 143) is

right in giving

741

first

and

mentioning 731 as a variant.

It

is interesting to note that

Dharmacandra it J:J was also allowed to return to

India

on

the

same day

(T 55

.

878c21) .

7 This temple is not mentioned elsewhere.

The Indian calendar divides each month into two halves: the white moon and

the black moon. Cf.

BEAL S

translation of

Si yu ki

1.71.

Lij (T

55.877al) also gives

the exact date as the fifteenth of the eighth moon .

Vairoc

ana Buddha

is

the

first one of

the

five

Dhyani

Buddhas.

He

also figures

in some mahayana siitras, such as

Avatamsakasiltra

and

*Brahmajiilasiltra;

hut in

esoteric Buddist texts

he

takes the place of Sakyamuni

and

is regarded as

the

highest

deity. Cf.

MOCHIZUKI, 4.3343c3345c, 5.4367b-4369c; A. GETTY, The

Gods of Northern

Buddhism 31-35.

60

The

stele-inscription by Hun-lun-weng

(T 55

.876c27) says that

he

died when

he

was sitting,

and

told his disciples that in accordance with

the

Indian way one should

die lying on the right side.

6 1 The title granted to Vajrabodhi in 765 A. D . was Ta-hung-chiao san-tsang jew .

i ~ j t

(T 55.877b11) . Cf. TP 12.671-6.

62 For Tu Hung-chien (d. 769

A.

D.) cf. his biographies in

Chiu Tang-shu 108.

8b-l0b,

T ang-shu

126.l0a-12a.

The latter

says

that

he became a pious Buddhist in

his later days, whereas

the

former calls him [only] a faithful Buddhist.

He

died in

769 A. D .

at

the age of sixty-one. Therefore when Vajrabodhi died in

741

A.

D.

u

was about thirty-three years old. His a b h i ~ e k a must

have

taken place before then.

This proves

that

he

had been a pious Buddhist ever since his early days. The

authors

of T ang-shu took pride in the superior conciseness of their work.

The

addition here,


45/93

~ 8 4

CHOU

YI-LIANG

Assistant Secretary of the Imperial Secretariat t : p ' H j $ ~

63

a dis

ciple who

had

received b h i ~ e k from Vajrabodhi

and

believed in

him ever since, composed [an inscription] on

the

stele

to

record

his virtue.

The

author says: "According to

the

scheme of

the

Mal:u;iala of

Five Divisions,64 young boys

or

virgins

must

be used as media to

summon spirits. t was once extremely easy to cure illness

or

exorcise evils. People in modern times, [however,] use this [method]

to profit their body or mouth, therefore little result is obtained.

Generally [these methods] are held in contempt

by

the

world.

Alas

that the

deterioration of the good Law has gone so far as this "

THE BIOGRAPHY OF AMOGHAVAJRA

OF THE

TA-HSING-SHAN

TEMPLE

OF CH ANG-AN

OF THE

T ANG DYNASTY

(Taisho Tripitaka

5 0 . 7 1 ~ a ~ 4 - 7 1 4 a ~ O )

The

monk Pu-k'ung's Sanskrit name was Amoghavajra

jmJ I3f rutfJf. of which

the

Chinese translation is Pu-k'ung-chin-

however, of

the

words later days iii ' only leads to confusion. I t is also recorded

that

Tu

Hung-chien because of Buddhist law preferred not

to

inHict severe punishments

and

did

not

like to be in charge of an army.

Thus

troubles were caused in Szechuan,

where he was a governor. On his death-bed he ordered his family to

have a monk

shave his hair

and

bury his remains in the Buddhist way. He was also a good friend

of

the

monk Ta-i

_

(T

50.800b5).

The Great

Princess of

Tai

i t ~ k 3 : ,

a sister of Su-tsung, received t'o-Io-ni kuan-ting

W MflG iliJJt

( * d h a r a J } . y a b h i ~ e k a )

from Vajrabodhi, according

to the

inscription on a stele erected in her memory

(Ch iian

T ang--wen 279.8a). Cf. also op. cit. 501.8b

3

For

this office d . T ang-shu 47.6a; R DES ROTOURS Lf . traite des examens 9.

The MaJ}.9ala of Five Divisions refers to

the

maJ}.9ala

taught

in

the

Chin-kang-,

ting ching. The

five divisions or groups of deities are Buddha,

Padma,

Vajra,

Ratna,

and Karma. The

Division of

Padma

or Lotus symbolizes

the

theory

that

within

human beings there exists a certain incorruptible purity, like a lotus Hower, which can

never be polluted even though it grows

out

of the mud. The Division of Vajra sym

bolizes

the

wisdom which is everlasting

and

can destroy all mental confusion.

The

Division of

Buddha

symbolizes the synthesis of

the

two mentioned above.

The

Division

of Ratna symbolizes Buddha's prosperity, while

the

Division of

Karma

symbolizes

Buddha's work in delivering others. Each division has a head with a particular seat

and

a dominant color: Division of Buddha, Vairocana, lion seat, white; Division of

Padma,

Amitabha, peacock seat, red; Division of Vajra, A k ~ o b h y a , elephant seat, blue;

Division of

Ratna, Ratnabhava,

horse seat, gold; Division of Karma, Amoghasiddhi,

garu9a seat, miscellaneous color d. MOCHIZUKI 2.1280b).


46/93

TANTRISM

IN

CHINA

285

kang; but he was known for the sake of brevity by [the abbreviated

name consisting

of]

two characters. He came of a Brahman family

of

North India

1

and his father died in his childhood. [Later] he

visited China with his uncle.

2

At

the age of fifteen he became

Vajrabodhi s disciple.

s

[The Master] first introduced to him a

Sanskrit text of Siddham/ and a treatise on

the

Science of Sounds

5

1 CHAO Ch ien. a disciple of Amoghavajra, wrote a biography of his Master: Ta-pien

cheng kuang-chih pu-k ung san-tsang hsing-chuang

* ~ . l E l I ( f r ~ ~ ~ . t r J l X

(T

50.292b-294c, abbreviated below as hsing-chuang) which says that the

Master

was originally from a

Brahman

family of North India of Hsi-liang-fu w m (292b7).

The character

a

presumably is a mistake for

re

and

the name

W

eJf f

also appears

at the

end of biography. As Kuang-chou

is

sometimes called Kuang-fu (see note 20

in Vajrabodhi s biography), this Liang-fu may refer to re ;H. It

is

strange

that

CHAO

Ch ien should add Hsi-liang-fu in front of

North

India.

Is it

because he came to

Wu-wei li ttIDt in his childhood that he was considered a

native

of Liang-chou?

2 Hsing-chuang (T 50.292b22) says

that he

came to visit

China

with his

maternal

uncle 5 ~ , and a stele-inscription composed by his disciple Fei-hsi

(T

52.848b-849c,

abbreviated below as pei) also indicates

that

he came to Wu-wei with his maternal

uncle

l (T

52.848b23). Tsan-ning uses the

w o r d ; t l { ~

which would mean paternal

uncle.

According to hsing-chuang

(T

50.292b8), since Amoghavajra s father died early,

he

was brought up in his mother s home and adopted his mother s surname K ANG

This indicates that he

is

from

the

neighborhood of Samarkand. (Cf. HSIANG

Ta

J i i J ~ T ang-tai Ch ang-an yii hsi-yii wen-mingmft- : W : W ~ 5 C O O , YCHP

monograph no. 2, 12-16; KUWABARA Jitsuzo, Suito jidai ni shina ni raijiishita seiikijin

ni tsuite ~ m f f i f f t , c x m W : * t I : C 1 2 W ~ A , c : t t \ f ' - r , Tjjyo bummeishironso

* ~ 5 C O O . E l . l l \ i i For the settlement of the people from

Samarkand

in Western

China cf. Paul PELLIOT,

Le

cha tcheou tou fou t'ou king et la colonie sogdienne

de

la region

du

Lob Nor,

J

eleventh series, 7.111-123 (1916).

Both Yiian-chao

(T

52.826c17)

and YEN

Ying

(T

52.860a18) give Hsi-yii or Western

Region as Amoghavajra s native place. He

is

called hu-seng Mftt in Chiu T ang-shu

(see note 82, below), and the

name

hu was invariably applied to Central Asia while

the word fan was used for India (see note 34 in Vajrabodh s Biography) . Yiian-chao

in his Cheng-yiian shih-chiao lu

(T

55.881a11) says that Amoghavajra was originally

from Ceylon which contradicts his other account mentioned before. P . C.

BAGCHI

in

his

Le

canon bouddhique en Chine (2.568),

OMURA

Seigai in his Mikkyo hattatsu shi

(4.559),

ONO

Gemmyo

/ J ' J f ~ k P

in his Bussho kaisetsu daijiten (12.169), and

MOCHIZUKI

in his

ukkyo

daijiten

(5.4385a) all

make the

same mistake.

TOGANOO

ShOun (Himitsu bukkyo shi

* ~ W $ i t . E l .

110) rightly suggests that this error is

due to a misinterpretation of Liang-pen s

a

1t work

(T

33.430b24), which calls him

chih-shih-tzii-kuo

kuan-ting

san-tsang J L ~ i I i ~ m ~ m ~ . , meaning a

monk

who

received a b h i ~ e k a in Ceylon,

not

a

native

of Ceylon.

See Appendix

M.

For

Siddham

cf.

WATTERS, 1.154-156; TAKAKUSA, Record of Buddhist Religion,

170-172: MOCHIZUKI. 2.1937a-1951b. According to I-ching, Indian children began to


47/93

286

CHOU YI-LIANG

[i. e.,

grammar

which he mastered in ten days. The

Master

was

surprised

and

ordained him as a bodhisattva.

6

Having

led [Amo

ghavajra]

to

the

Vajradhatumandala

and

tested him

by

[observing

the place where] he threw a flower [on the

maQ.0

See note 54 in Vajrabodhi's Biography.

U This must refer

to the P u-hsien p u-sa hsing-yuan tsan - t f J t : f fi f i : f fBa la ter

translated

by

Amoghavajra

(T

10, No. 297).

t

is a collection of hymns in praise of

Samantabhadra's ten great desires; to worship the Buddha, to praise the Tathagatas,

to make offerings, to confess all one's sins, to be pleased with

the

merits of others,

to pray

for the turning of the Dharmacakra,

to pray

for Buddha's

stay

in the world,

to

follow

the

Buddha,

to

transfer his own merits

to

others. The Sanskrit

text

of this

siitra was published by

IZUMI

Hokei

~ j J = I J

in ukkyo kenkyu f t ~ l i t f ~ 9.2 (1928)

and

Mayura


48/93

TANTRISM IN CHINA

287

others would have] spent one year. His quick comprehension was

always like this.

[Amoghavajra]

had

wished for three years

to

learn

the

method

of

the

Five Divisions

12 and the

Three Secrets

13

of the new Yoga

14

doctrine; but since the

Master

did

not

teach it to him, he thought

of returning to India.

The Master

then dreamed

that

all

the

images of Buddhas

and

Bodhisattvas of

the

temples in the capital

went off towards the east.

1 5

When he awoke he realized

that

Amoghavajra was a real recipient of

the Law and

gave his assent

to the

latter s

request. Thereupon

the Master

imparted

to

him

the method of b h i ~ e k of the Five Divisions,

the

homa rites 16

0 a

~ 5 C

Ri,tv> 'C,

Kogetsu zenshii

ID .FJ l.299-327. The word Bhadra

in the title

s

an abbreviation of Samantabhadra,

and

this work is quoted in

S i k ~ a s a -

muccaya

as

Bhadracaryii.

Cf. WINTERNITZ,

History of Indian Literature 2.326-327.

Cf. ClTANI No. 716: Arya-Samantabhadracaryapral).idhiinaritja. t s strange

that

Tsan

ning adds Wen-shu

to

the

name

of the text. Hsing-chuang (T 50.292c4), on the

other hand, simply has 5C?i*I'i. Buddhabhadra f*WENltWE#.m (d. 429 A. D.) trans

lated

a

text

called

Wen-shu shih-Ii fa-yuan ching

5 C ? i ~ i 1 i I J ~ D ~

(T

10, No. 296)

which deals with the same

ten

desires, but they are

attributed

to Mafijusri instead of

Samantabhadra

. Since early times

there

seems

to

have been a confusion between

these two bodhisattvas.

Buddhabhadra

s work, according

to

Yuan-chao

(T

55.505c7) ,

was usually recited

by

the Buddhists in a foreign country, presumably India, when

they made obeisance to Buddha. This would also account for Amoghavajra s study

of this text in his early days.

12 See note 64 in Vajrabodhi s Biography.

13

See

note

29 in Shan-wu-wei s Biography.

See

note

28 in Shan-wu-weis Biography.

15 Hsing-chuang (T 50.292c6) says that Amoghavajra

had

already reached Hsin-feng

ff l a town to the east of Ch ang-an. Apparently he intended

to

return

to India

by

sea.

16 Homa is the rite of worshipping different deities

by

throwing offerings into a fire .

Cf.

Chin-kang-ting yu-ch ieh hu-mo i-kuei

~ I 3 j I J J J i j \ { 1 I D ~ ifL (T 18, No. 908),

a translation

by

Amoghavajra. There are five types of homa sacrifice.

The

first kind

is performed to remedy one s own misfortune or any public disaster . A round earthen

stove

s

to be used. The rite should be performed

at

dusk, which symbolizes rest and

peace. The performer should face the north

and

everything should be in white. The

second kind s to pray for the prosperity of either an individual or a nation. It should

be performed in

the

morning, with

the

performer facing the ea

st

, which s a symbol of

wealth.

The

shape of

the

stove s square

and the

color s yellow.

The third kind

of

homa is performed to subdue an enemy. It is to be practised

at

noon with a triangular

stove. The performer faces the south and the color is black. The fourth kind of homa

s

to

summon those in

the

three worst gatis,

that

is, the gatis of hell, animals, and

pretas. The stove s in the shape of a

vajra and

the color s red. There is no speci-


49/93

288

CHOU

YI-LIANG

and the rites an acarya [should know].

He

also

taught

Amogha

vajra in full detail the Vairocanasiltra and the manuals of siddhi 17

and

so forth.

Later

Amoghavajra accompanied

the Master to

Lo-yang where

the latter

died in

the

twentieth year of K ai-yiian

[732

A.

D.].18 After the portrait-hall 9 was finished and a posthu

mous title was conferred on the late Master, Amoghavajra planned

to

make a long journey to India and Ceylon, as the late Master

once ordered him

to

do.

He first arrived at N an-hai-chiin 1.imW

,20

where Governor

General

* ~ - f i I

21 w

Chii-lin

I t l l i

22

made

an

earnest request

fication as

to

time and direction.

The

fifth kind of homa is performed

to

seek for love.

The stove is in the shape of lotus and the color is also red.

The

performer faces the

west and

the

rite is

to

be performed in

the

early evening. Different

mal).c;Ialas

are

used for different homas.

17

This might refer

to the Su-hsi-ti chieh-lo ching,

translated

by

Shan-wu-wei. See

note 88 in his Biography.

18 This date is wrong. It should be the twenty-ninth year of K ai-ylian (741 A. D.) .

See note 56 in Vajrabodhi s Biography.

, .

It

was a popular custom during

the T ang dynasty to

worship a deceased master s

portrait

in a special hall. The portrait-hall of some monks of the Pure

Land

Sect and

T ien-t ai Sect are mentioned in Tsan-ning s biography of Shao-k ang j ;

m

T 50.

867M8), Ennin s diary

(Dainihon

bukkyo

zensho

Il3.232a), and CHANG Yen-ylian s

Li-tai min