Description
Book SynopsisThe first scholarly monograph on Buddhist maṇḍalas in China, this book examines the Maṇḍala of Eight Great Bodhisattvas. This iconographic template, in which a central Buddha is flanked by eight attendants, flourished during the Tibetan (786–848) and post-Tibetan Guiyijun (848–1036) periods at Dunhuang. A rare motif that appears in only four cave shrines at the Mogao and Yulin sites, the maṇḍala bore associations with political authority and received patronage from local rulers. Attending to the historical and cultural contexts surrounding this iconography, this book demonstrates that transcultural communication over the Silk Routes during this period, and the religious dialogue between the Chinese and Tibetan communities, were defining characteristics of the visual language of Buddhist maṇḍalas at Dunhuang.
Table of ContentsContents Acknowledgements List of Illustrations Abbreviations and Conventions Introduction Recentering Buddhism at Dunhuang The Shingon Impact Maṇḍalas in the Making Overview of Chapters 1 From Dhāraṇī to Maṇḍala Dhāraṇī Pillars in Medieval China Maṇḍalas and Altars Visualizing the Maṇḍala 2 The Crowned Buddha and Narratives of Enlightenment The Cult of Vairocana in Early Tibet The Crowned Buddha Networks of Transmission Stylistic Bilingualism in Images of Vairocana The Eight Bodhisattvas 3 Maṇḍalas and Historical Memory Mogao Cave 156 and the Victory of Zhang Yichao The Cult of Avalokiteśvara at Dunhuang The Maṇḍala of Eight Great Bodhisattvas in the Guiyijun Period Amoghavajra and the Vajradhātu Maṇḍala Maṇḍalas and Ritual Space 4 Maṇḍalas, Repentance, and Vision The Vajra Realm in Ritual Manuals from Dunhuang The Five Buddhas and Repentance Altars 5 Beyond the Maṇḍala Bodhisattvas and Repentance The Kalyāṇamitras as Embodied Experience The Vows of Samantabhadra The Ascent to the Dharma Realm Epilogue Bibliography Index
