A at Siang Buddhist Text Northern Qi 1996

Monumentalization of Buddhist Texts in the Northern Qi Dynasty The Engravingof Stras in Stone at the Xiangtangshan Caves and Other Sites in the Sixth Century

Katherine R Tsiang

Artibus Asiae Vol 56 No 34 (1996) pp 233-261

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K A T H E R I N E R T S I A N G

MONUMENTALIZATION OF BUDDHIST TEXTS IN THE NORTHERN QI DYNASTY THE ENGRAVING OF

Sl fTRAS IN STONE AT THE XIANGTANGSHAN CAVES AND OTHER SITES IN THE SIXTH CENTURY

I N T R O D U C T I O N

n the Northern Q i Dynasty (550-77) the engraving of Buddhist szitras in stone on a monumental scale was undertaken at cave temples and other sites in Northern China Among these sz2tra

inscriptions the group at Xiangtangshan in Handan Municipality Hebei province is probably best-known because it has been most extensively published Along with the sittra-engravings at other sites in the area controlled by the Northern Qi they demonstrate that this practice was rather widespread beginning in the second half of the sixth century The existence of a body of inscriptions that can be dated to the Northern Qi and the seeming lack of precedence for this type of activity in earlier periods most notably in the Northern Wei Dynasty make it a particularly interesting topic for exploration with respect to Northern Qi Buddhism and Buddhist art

The texts are painstakingly engraved into the monumental faces of cliffs and cave walls after preparation of the stone surface by cutting and grinding Some of the inscriptions seem to be related to cave construction and sculpted images others are not At several of the caves in Hebei province passages from Buddhist scriptures appear inside caves engraved on the smoothly finished interior stone walls Other inscriptions at various sites are written outside the caves or have no association with the caves The characters are cut in intaglio into the surface of the stone in a variety of styles of script that may be seen as transitional between lishu (clerical script) and kaishu (standard script)

Previous studies of the Xiangtangshan inscriptions particularly by Mizuno Seiichi and Nagahiro Toshio have recorded some of the sz7ttrd passages and largely identified their textual sources Recently more studies have been made on this group In addition sitra engravings at numerous other sites in Hebei Henan and Shandong provinces have also been identified and catalogued and they have been the subject of a broader study of szitm engraving in the Northern Dynasties They have been examined from various perspectives including those of the history of Buddhism the art of calligraphy environmental art and conservation A number of fundamental questions about these inscriptions

however remain to be satisfactorily answered What factors might have led to the emergence of s~ttra engraving activity in the Northern Qi period For what reasons were the texts written at these sites

This article is adapted from a chapter of my dissertation on the Xiangtangshan Caves written under the name Katherine Tsiang Mino Bodies of Buddhas and Princes at the Xiangtangshan Caves Image Text and Stz7pa in Buddhist Art of the Northern Qi Dynasty (550-577) (University of Chicago 1996) I am very grateful to Harrie Vanderstappen Thomas Lawcon and W u Hung my advisers and to SLI Bai Koichi Shinohara Ma Zhongli Amy McNair Lothar Ledderose and Bernard Faure for their advice and encouragement during various stages of this exploration

See Mizuno Seiichi and Nagahiro Toshio KjJdJzan iek-kimu [The Buddhlst Cave-Temples of Hsiang-tang-ssu] (Kyoto Tohd bunka gakuen Kyoto kenkyusho 1937) and Zhongguo shufajia xiehui Shandong fenhui and Shandong shike yishu bowuguan Beidao Ilola kejinfi lan j i i~ (Jinan Qllu shushe 1991)

I

and what purpose did they serve in religious observance of the time What relationships did the engravings have with the caves and their sculpted images or with Chinese Buddhist art in general This article gives further consideration to these questions while examining the Northern Qi szztru

engravings in various contexts

SITES O F S U T R A E N G R A V I N G S

Monumental scriptural engravings have not been shown conclusively to have been made at any sites before the Northern Qi Dynasty They do not appear at the Northern Wei caves at Yungang or Gongxian nor at Dunhuang Nineteen szitra engravings however have been found at the Longmen

caves While some scholars believe that the oldest of these may be as early as the Northern or Eastern Wei period none of the inscriptions is dated prior to the Tang Dynasty The stone scriptures at Longmen include the Guay in jing (Chapter 26 of the Lotas Sampa) and the Jingung bunrz~o buolz~on~i jing (Diuvzand Szitra) which are known at other sites of the Northern Qi period Others such as the Bunrz~o buolz~ovzi dz~oxin jing (Heart Szitm) and the dhdran~scriptures are not seen at other Northern Qi sites and may be later in date

The Anyang Area

One of the earliest large-scale szitva inscriptions known today is at Xiaonanhai near Anyang The

area of Anyang in present-day northern Henan Province was in the immediate sphere of influence of the Northern Qi capital at Ye now in Linzhang Xian Handan Municipality in southern Hebei A number of eminent monks of the period some of whom will be mentioned below are known to have been active in this area O n the facade of the Central Cave of the Xiaonanhai Caves an excerpt from the Mah~~arinirvdza Sz2tru are engraved Szitm and a hymn in praise of the Huuyun jing or A~utu~zsuku along with a dedicatory inscription which reads

In the first year of Tianbao of the Great Qi [jyo] the Dharma teacher Sengfang from the Lingshan Temple and

the noble scions of old Yunyang Lin and others led the people of the district to have this cave cut into the

cliff and make true likenesses of the forms [of the deities] In the sixth year [ j j ~ ] the State Preceptor and

Meditat~on Master of Great Virtue Sengchou had further improvements made H e examined it and was

pleased with it At that time he wished to have the golden words [of the Buddha] carved and recorded [there]

so their glory would endure Into later ages However his fortunes changed and in the first year of Q~anming

[j60] he suddenly died at the Yunmen Temple The masses looked up to him as their foremost teacher

According to his reading of the Dharma they engraved r ~ t ~ ~ a s in stone to transmit them and preserve t11emj

Across the upper part of the facade and to the left of the doorway of the Central Cave is the inscription of verses on the Huayan SZltra followed by an excerpt from the Dubun niepun jing or

The Longmen engravings have not been studied in depth Li Yukun includes a brief discussion of them in an article that touches on

various topics concerning the Longmen caves Li Yukun Longmen xukao Wenuid 1983633 This inscription is recorded in the Bgjiongshi jinsbi buzbeng jidun 2117and in the Chlnese report on the Anyang caves Henansheng gudai jianzhu baohu yanjiusuo Henan Anyang L~ngquansi shiku ji Xiaonanhai shiku Wenuu 19884rzSee also Chen Mingda and Ding Mingyi Zbongguo tr2eisbuquanji Diaoii~htan vol 13 (Beij~ng Wenwu chubanshe 1989) 4 3 Koichi Shinohara has suggested that the monk Sengfang mentioned in the inscription map refer to a Sengfang who worked with the Indian monks Gautama Prajfiaruci and YupaSunya as a translator of Buddhist texts If this 1s the case Lin may refer to Tanlln who also is recorded to have worked w ~ t h Prajiiiiruci Taishi Shznshi~ Duiz8kYo (hereafter cited as Taisb8) (TOkyO 1924-34) no 2060 50 429 and 430 and Tuishono 83317879

MahZpa~inirudna SzZtra the chapter entitled Sagely P r a ~ t i c e ~ Inside this cave on the back wall beside a relief figure of a monk holding a lotus is an identifying inscription the monk Sengchou makes ~ f fe r ings ~ The szZtra engraving while suggested by Sengchou in 555 was not carried out until 560 or somewhat later after his death The year 555 is the earliest date that can be associated with this type of activity or its intent The fact that the name of one of the most eminent sixth-century monks is connected with the inscription gives it particular historical significance Sengchou (481-ybo) active in northern China from the Northern Wei into the Northern Qi period was famous particularly as a meditation master His biography in the Xu gaosengzhzlan tells us that he received instruction from Daofang a disciple of the renowned Indian meditation master Fotuo or Bhadra At first unsuccessful at the practice of meditation Sengchou took up the recitation of the Mah~parinirudna Szztra Sengchou is recorded to have practiced the Four Foundations of Mindfulness

according to the chapter on Sagely Practice in the Mah~parinirvdna Szltra thus the choice of this passage for engraving at Xiaonanhai Later Fotuo called him the supreme practioner of meditation east of the Pamir Mountains As Sengchous reputation grew two emperors of the Northern Wei Emperor Xiaoming (r 516-27) and Emperor Xiaowu (r 532-34) summoned him to court but he refused to go In 551 Sengchou in his old age went to the capital at the invitation of the Northern Qi Emperor Wenxuan (r 550-59) After amassing a lifetime of experience Sengchou finally consented and descended from his mountain abode Wenxuan studied meditation with him and established meditation centers in all regions of the empire 6

Chapter 6 of the Hzlayan jing Bodhisattvas Clarify Problems was engraved at Baoshan (Treasure Mountain) also near Anyang under the sponsorship of the court official Lou Rui From the description this seems to have been a free-standing stele that now appears no longer to exist The dedication written at the end of the szltra excerpt identifies Lou Rui as chief benefactor of the temple Governor of Five Regions (Ying Yi Guang Ji and Feng) Provisioner of Food in Changshan commandery and Prince of D ~ n ~ a n ~

Lou Rui (531-70) was a nephew of the Empress Dowager Wuming Lady Lou Zhaojun and first cousin to Wenxuan and two other Northern Qi emperors An able soldier and trusted advisor Lou Rui came to hold some of the most exalted titles of the empire including Counselor-in-Chief of the Right Minister of Education Commander-in-Chief and Grand ent tor^ He was an influential and ardent patron of Buddhism I t is recorded in the Xu gaosengzhzlan that Lou Rui and Gao You the Prince of Pengcheng and others built a monastery for Sengchou at Damingshan in the Eastern Wei period (534-49) where he attracted many follower^^ Later Lou submitted himself to the exegete

The chapter prov~des a guide to contemplation and realizat~on of the non-existence of the self Tuish no 12 ~ 4 3 4 See Chen and Ding pis 189-91 and Henansheng gudai jianzhubaohu yanj~usuo 19 figs 30-31 and 35 After spending some time in the capital advising the emperor the eminent monk requested to return to a life of seclusion In 552

the emperor constructed a monastery on the southern slope of Longshan or Dragon Mountain southwest of Ye also near Anyang named it the Yunmensi (Cloud Gate Temple) and inv~ted Sengchou to make it his residence It is here that he spent his last days Taishi no 2060 50553-55 See also John Robert McRae The Northern School of Chinese Chan Buddhism (PhD

Dissertation Yale Ilniversity 1983)36-38 Bujionfiihz linshi buzhenfi 2130-31 O n my visit to the site of the Lingquansi Baoshan in July 1992 I inquired about this stele but

was told that it is not among the cultural relics preserved there Lou Ruis tomb and its epitaph discovered in the area of Jinci south of Taiyuan Shanxi and excavated from 1979-81 provide information not known from his b r ~ e f biography in the Bei Qi shil juan 15197and 48666 Shanxisheng kaogu yanjiusuo and Taiyuan wenwu guanli weiyuanhui Taiyuanshi Bei Q i Lou Rui mu fajue jianbao Wenwu 198310 17 fig 59 See also Tao Zhenggang Bei Q i Donganwang Lou Rui m u di bihua he diaosu hleishu yanfi i~ 1984161

q u i s b ~ no 2060 50554

Lingyu (518-605) for instruction in the Buddhist precepts and supported Lingyu pouring large amounts of gold and valuables into the Baoshan Temple for himI0This monastery is believed to have been established in 546 by the eminent monk Daoping (488-559)11As Lingyu was the successor to Daoping as the abbot of the temple at Baoshan the Huuyun stele of Lou Rui can be dated approximately to the years between 559 (the year of Daopings death and Lingyus likely succession) and 570 when Lou Rui died

In the Kaihuang era of the Sui Dynasty the temple at Baoshan was renamed Lingquansi (Temple of the Divine Spring) A cave now known as the Dazhusheng Cave with images of three Buddhas and attendants inside was made at the site O n the facade of the cave are engraved a dedicatory inscription dated the ninth year of Kaihuang (589) and passages from the Lotus the Srhdlddeu~ and the Muhdmdyd Satras and the Duji yuezang jing or Cundrdgdrbhu Sz2tra12 This may also be associated with the monk Lingyu whose career extended from Northern Qi through Sui when he was named State-Establishing Buddhist C~n t ro l l e r ~

Xiangtangshan

The Buddhist cave temples at Xiangtangshan (Mountain of Resounding Halls) in present-day Fengfeng Mining District Handan Municipality are also located in the vicinity of Ye the Northern Qi capital There are two principal groups of caves at Xiangtangshan both of which are known to have been made with the sponsorship of Northern Qi rulers and members of the court The Northern Group or Bei Xiangtang is of larger scale and has three main caves The Southern Group or Nan Xiangtang is a smaller more concentrated site with seven caves

A stele standing at the site of the temple at the foot of the Gushan (Drum Mountains) into which the Bei Xiangtang caves are excavated bears a Jin Dynasty inscription dated 1159 and gives a brief account of the temples history

The Wei Grand Counselor-in-Chief and prince of Buohai Gao Huan built a villa at the foot of the mountain

to escape the summer heat In the reign of Emperor Wenxuan of the Northern Qi innumerable saintly

monks were glimpsed there mysteriously appearing and disappearing In due course three caves were

excavated and Buddhist images carved At first i t was called Shikusi [Stone Cave Temple] and then in the

Tiantong era [~65-691the name was changed to Zhilisi [Temple of the Power of Wisdom] I4

This important inscription links the Northern Group of caves with direct patronage of the Gao family founders and rulers of the Northern Qi Dynasty The sz2tra inscriptions here are concentrated

I0 Tuishg no 2060 50495-96 Lingyu had been a disciple of Daoping the founder of the temple H e was an expert on the Atutunzsuka and Afahzparinirva STtrus as well as other texts There was already a monastery at Baoshan by the time of Lou Ruis recorded patronage Tokiwa Daij6 reported finding a stone slab set in a fragment of a wall in a ruined building in front of the Daxiongdian Great Hall of the Heroes at the site in 1921 that read Made by Dharma Master Daoping in the fourth year of Wuding (546) of the Wei These characters are said to have appeared on the facade of the Daliusheng cave there much of which has fallen away It is possible that a portion of this inscription was preserved and set into a wall and was that seen by Tokiwa The founding date 546 also appears on a Ming stele erected on the occasion of the construction of a bridge at the Lingquansi Tokiwa Daij6 and Sekino Tadashi Shina b~lkkjo ihiieki hlgkui (Tokyo Bukky6 shiseki kenkyukai 1924-31) 3160 Chen and Ding 42

I3 Taiih8 no 2060 jo496-7 The biography ofLingyu mentions that he had a cave made at Baoshan l4 Adapted from the translation by Alexander Soper Imperial Cave-Chapels of the Northern Dynasties Donors Beneficiaries

Dates Artihus Asiue 28 no 4 (1966) 260

12

at the South Cave (fig I) where the dedicatory inscription of the court official Tang Yong explains

that they were carved from 568 to 572

Lord Specially Advanced Cavalry General-in-Chief Commander Unequalled in Honor Director of the

Imperial Secretariat Senior Rectifier of Bingzhou Food Provisioner of Sizhou Administrative Clerk of

Puyang Commandery Dynasty-Founding Duke of Jinyang Commandery [I] Tang Yong to secure stability and regulate the age have devoted my llfe to society Serv~ngthe masses one must reflect [their needs] like a

mirror attending to the multitude one must be as responsive as an echo The empire lifts its cries to fill the

skies The thousand officials are full of anxiety They ask with concern if the Treasure of the Dharma [the

Buddhas teaching] is being upheld As silk scrolls can be spoiled bamboo documents do not last long metal

tablets are difficult to preserve and parchment and paper are easily destroyed therefore the seals of the seven

offices have been taken out and the coffers of the seven treasures opened Upon investigating the Buddhist

texts the trace of the silver chisel has been ordered In agreement it was declared that the celebrated mountain

at the Gushan Cave be completely engraved the Weirno jie jing in one section the Shengman jing in one section

the Bojing in one section and the Mile chendo jing in another It was begun on the first day of the third month

in the fourth year of Tiantong [j68] and completed on the 28th day of the fifth month in the third year of Wuping [ j p ] I5

The texts mentioned in the inscription are the Vi~nulakzrti NirdeSu Sitru the Sr~mdlddevi Simhundda Sitvcl the Stttvic Spoken by Baddha on Bo [Pushya] I6 and the Sz7tru on Maitreyu Achieving Buddhuhood Of these the Vivzuluketi and the ~rimdlddevi Szltras are among the most influential

scriptures of their time The Virnalaketi is written in its entirety and occupies a position of prime

importance filling the interior walls of the narrow enclosed porch in front of the cave (fig 2) I t begins on the front wall of the cave to the left of the guardian at the left side of the entrance

continues around the walls of the porch back to the front wall of the cave and ends next to the right- hand guardian (fig 3) The importance given to this scripture reflects the popular belief in the

possibility of enlightenment for a lay person and the importance of the enlightened layman in the

promulgation of the religion Prominent laymen of the Northern Dynasties period aspired to this

ideal of wisdom virtue wealth and power17 Philosophically the text may be considered a discourse

on the fundamental harmony between fact and principle form and essence The Srfizdl~devi Sitra complements these ideals glorifying a wise Buddhist queen and rejecting the theory of female

pollution and other limitations to enlightenment for women

The texts continue from the inside of the porch onto the north wall of the facade of the porch that is the wall at the left of the entrance and on around to the left wall of the courtyard First the Szlttrd on Muitreya Achieving Bzlddhahood is written in thirty-four vertical lines of characters followed by the

Mizuno and Nagahiro 143 For rubbings of the engraved text see lhid fig 40 and Tokiwa and Sekino pl III8r Tang Yong was an able offic~al and military administrator who served throughout the Northern Qi dynasty H e was one of the Emperor Wenxuans most trusted advisers and held Important posts under succeeding emperors The engravings at the South Cave were undertaken in the reign of Houzhu Three years after their completion In 575 the Northern Zhou invaded Northern Qi imposing the forceful suppression of Buddhism and bringing the Northern Q i dynasty to an end in 577 Li Baiyao (565-648) Be2 Qi ihu (Beijing Zhonghua shuju 1972)juan 402530-32

I6 This translation of the name Bo was suggested by Bunyiu Nanjio A Cdtulogue of the Chine~e Trun~lution ofthe Bi~ddhist Tripztuka (Oxford The Clarendon Press 1883) 93

I Mizuno and Nagahiro 137-42 Tuishb no 475 4 537-57 Numerous images of Vimalakirti and MaiijuSri sitting together in discussion were carved in stone in China in the fifth century and first half of the slxth century Images of Vimalakirti and MaiijuSri can be seen in Northern and Eastern Wei cave temples at Yungang Longmen Gongxlan and Tianlongshan but interestingly none is known at Xiangtangshan or at other Northern Q i caves

18 T U Z J ~ ~no 353 12217-23 also Alex Wayman and Hideko Wayman The Lions Roar of Queen Srimzla (New York Columbia lJniversity Press 1974)

SrkZLZdev~SZltra lines 35-121 or eighty-four in all and then the Bojing lines 122-205 (fig 4)19 At the end of the texts is the stele of Tang Yong In addition to these engravings there are verses from the Wzlliangshou jing or Larger Szlkhavdti VyzZha on the south wall of the facade to the right of the entrancel0The latter is not recorded in the Tang Yong stele and may therefore be a somewhat later addition

The South Cave is designed as a stzipa with a domed roof as many of the Xiangtangshan caves are now known to be The dome is rendered in relief on the stone facade over the entrance (fig 5) Above the dome of the stzipa are carved the names of three Buddhas of the Future the Ten Titles of a Great Sage and the names of the Twelve Divisions of the Mahayana canon Inside the cave an excerpt from the Wzlliungyi jing or Szitra ofImvzeuszlruhle Meanings is inscribed on the front wall

The Mahdbarinirvdna Szltru (or an excerpt thereof) is recorded to have been engraved as well at Bei Xiangtang and to have been dated the fourth year of Tiantong (568)23The inscription was described in the 1930s as being located part way up the mountain slope under a stand of cypress trees Examination of the site in recent years has located an ancient cliffside inscription but it is no longer legible I t is possible that this is the one recorded in the 1 9 3 0 s ~ ~

If as the Tang Yong inscription seems to suggest sutra carvings were widely distributed on the mountain at the Northern Group of caves scriptures may have been carved in other areas of the complex perhaps in the courtyards of the North and Central Caves which are now no longer preserved in their original states The facade of the North cave is badly damaged and much of the original front wall and entrance are now lost

The Southern Group of caves at Xiangtangshan was known in the past as the Fushan Cave Temple and later as the Xiangtang Temple At the Southern Group parts of the Avuturnsaka SzZtra PrajEZpdramitd texts the Saddhamzabundur~ku and the Muhdparinirv~a Sfltms are engraved in and around the seven caves in two levels Of these the longest excerpt is that of the Huuyun jing or Auutu~suku Szltru inscribed on the walls of Cave I (fig 6) taken from the version in sixty juan translated by Buddhabhadra (359-429) in the Eastern Jin Dynasty The existing engraved passages are from books 4-7 of this t r ans la t i~n ~

I9 ~a Zhongli Yedu jinyi Bei Q i fojiao kejing chutan in Beiihuo nzoyu kejtng lunf iu 164-65 The S12tru on Aluitrelu ALhiettng Buddhahoodis that translated into Chinese by Kumarajiva (active ia401-09) Tuishi no 45614429-34

What portions of the sfltrai mentioned in the Tang Yong stele are engraved at the slte have not been identified in the existing publications I was unable to de te rm~ne this during my visits to the sire due to lack of rime and to the difficulty of reading the inscriptions Some inscriptions are now badly eroded or partially hidden by later construction Most extend out ofview without the help of a ladder J u d g ~ n g by the length of the texts the Srtmdld Sflttld could be completely inscribed in eighty-seven lines of up to one hundred characters each but the f12tm on Alaitreju Achievzng B~~ddhuhood which is nearly as long would not fit in thirty-four lines

20 Ma 166 21 See Chen and Ding 17and pls 106156-57 22 Ma 166 This particular system of classification of the scriptures into twelve divisions can be seen in Nagarjunas

AlahzprajEzpdrufi2itz Sd~tra and Sfltrus such as the Sundhinirnzocunuand iMuhZ~u~~nipdtu See Hirakawa Akira The Rise of S ~ i t r u ~ Mahayana Buddhism and Its Relationship to the Worship of Stupas hlemoires oftbe Kaearch Department ofthe Tij~iBunko (1953) 2261-3

23 Guoli Be~plng yanjiuyuan shixue yanjiuhui kaoguzu RTdribei Xiarigturwi ji q i f i~ j in ihike mzdz~ (Beijing 1936)Foling mulu I

24 Ma Zhongli Xiangtangsi s h ~ k u jiqi shidai yishu tedian (Longmen s h ~ k u 1500 zhounian guoji xueshu taolunhui lunwen

1993)7 T a t s h ~no 278 9422-32

In Cave 2 an excerpt from the Wenshu shili suoshuo mohe bunruo buoluon~i jing or Suptufutikd Prujndpdrun~itd appears on the front wall left of the entrance (fig 7)26 he passage is a discussion between Mafijuiri and the Buddha on the meaning ofprujCdpdTdn~itd O n the back wall of the cave in the passageway at the back of the central pillar is an excerpt from the Mohe bunruo buoluonzi jing or M u h d p u j p u m i t Sitru (fig 8)27 O n the side and back walls the columns between the row of niches along the lower level of the cave once were engraved with the names of sixteen Buddhas from Chapter 7 Parable of the Conjured City of the Miuofu liunhuu jing or Suddhurmupu~duriku sitra As there are only twelve niches around the walls of the cave some of the columns had more than one name The appearance of the sixteen names seems odd in this context since the content of the other inscriptions is taken from the prujCdpdrunzitd literature based on the concept of negation and of emptiness However it can be better understood relative to the great North Cave at Bei Xiangtang which has sixteen niches on the walls around the central pillar29

In Cave 4 the popular twenty-sixth chapter of the Miuofu liunhuu jing or Lotus Si t ru The Universal Gateway of Guanshiyin appears30 Guanshiyin (Guanyin or Avalokiteivara) is the bodhisuttuu Who Observes the Sounds of the World This chapter of the Lotus S i tm is also known independently as the Guunyin Sitru Because the cave has groups of images on altars along three walls the engraving is done on the upper levels of the side walls above the images and on the front wall above the entrance O n the north or left wall the text begins with forty-three lines of characters I t extends onto the front wall which has forty-one lines and ends on the south or right wall where there are thirty-one lines

Cave 6 the pair to Cave 4 contains no sgtru inscriptions nor do Caves 3 and 5 Carved on the facade above the entrances to Caves 4-6 however there is a brief verse inscription of sixteen characters from the MuhdpuriniruZnu Sitru Chapter 7

Zhonghuangshan

At the site of the Daoist temple of Wahuanggong She Xian in southwestern Hebei sgtrus are engraved in several locations halfway up a mountain known from the past as Zhonghuangshan (Middle Imperial Mountain) The name Wahuanggong (Palace of Empress Niiwa) is that of a later establishment devoted to the goddess Niiwa whose halls now nestle both on the mountainside against the stone cliffs and at the base The form of the mountain closely resembles that of Bei Xiangtang and similarly faces west Like Bei Xiangtang as well the site is believed to have been one of the stopping places on the route between Jinyang the summer capital of the Northern Qi

26 Mizuno and Nagahiro 123-24 See also YanJuany~ng Hebei Nan Xiangtangshan sh~kus i chutan In Song Wenxun et a ed Kaogzlyz~ lishi Z L ~ Z ~ Z I U

VOI2 (Ta~bei Zhengzhong shuju youxian 1991)340 Tazsh8 no 232 8711 27 While Mizuno and Nagahiro ventured only a guess that this passage was from thep~aj$+iratnitZ l~terature YanJuanying was able

to locate the source of the passage 340 Taishino 223 8421 Mizuno and Nagahiro 124 Tazshfi no 262 92j The Buddhas were born as princely brothers who relinquished their lives in the palace to become novices and attained enlightenment

The design of the North Cave and its possible political implicat~ons are discussed in my dissertation j0 Mlzuno and Nagahiro 127 Tazshono 262 956-58 j1 Mlzuno and Nagahiro 127 Yan 341 and Ma 1991169-70 In addition an excerpt from the Lotul Szit~a is recorded to have been

carved in the fourth year of Wuping in a small cave on the east h ~ l l at Shuiyus~ Recent investigat~on of the site has failed to locate such an inscription Guoli Be ip~ng yanj~uyuan shixue yanjiuhui kaoguzu hTanbez Xiangtangsi j z q i j i z n shike mulz~ (Beijing 1936) Fojing mulu no pag and Ma 1991170 Mizuno and Nagahiro 111Taishfino 384124jo-51 See also Yan 34r

emperors and the capital at Ye Even the story of the origin of the site is similar to that at Bei Xiangang The sgtra engravings at Zhonghuangshan are all considered to be of the Northern Qi period although none has a date There is however an inscribed dedication by Lady Zhao wife of Tang Yong for her deceased daughter34 This is the same Tang Yong who sponsored the szltra carving at Bei Xiangtang

O n the mountainside there are sitra engravings inside two caves numbered one and two It is believed that there was once a third cave that was destroyed and the remains now hidden under a later wooden structure Cave One is 382 meters wide 316 meters deep and 44 meters high The front wall has been damaged and repaired with stone The walls are ground to a smooth surface fully carved with text and have no sculpted images attached to them unlike at Xiangtangshan O n the right or south wall seventy-seven lines of the text of the Shidi jing or DaSadhin~ika Sitru are discernable O n the back wall of the cave are ninety-nine lines of the text and on the north wall another eighty lines Part of the text is lost or hidden by the repairs to the front wall but as a whole can be seen to comprise the first six sections of the sitra Cave Two is very close in size to the first cave Part of the facade with its two guardian figures still remains (fig 9) The engravings on the walls take up where those in Cave One leave off and include sections 7-10 of the Shidi jing in 261 lines This scripture while considered as complete in itself is also Chapter 22 of the Huayan SzZtra in Buddhabhadras translation

The first polished cliff inscription appears on the flat surface of a mountainside 425 meters high and 1285 meters wide engraved with the text of the Fuoshzlo siyi fantian wen jing or Viiesacintd Brahmaparipyic~hd Sgtm in 348 lines (fig IO) ~ Farther to the north and slightly below the caves is the second polished cliff It has an area 55 meters high and 23 meters wide and contains parts 1-7 of the Shennzi jietzlo jing or Sadhinirnzocana S i t w (fig 11) The remaining three chapters are inscribed in a smaller area of polished stone around 2 meters high and 275 meters wide not far removed37

An excerpt of the Gzlanshiyin punzen chapter of the Lotus Sgtra also appears on the mountainside farther to the south The inscription is damaged and now incomplete Three small Buddha niches are carved nearby j8

In addition there are two stone stelae that have been moved to Zhonghuangshan from the nearby site of the Mujingsi (Temple of the Wooden Well) The first stele dated the second year of Wuping (571) is inscribed with the text of the Guanshiyin purnen chapter of the Lotzls SzItra and was once associated with a seven-storey pagoda at the M ~ j i n ~ s i ~ The text is complete in fifty-six lines carved on the front sides and back of the stele The second stele carved with the same text on one face is dated the fourth year of Wuping (573) The other face bears the text of the Fo chzliban niepan

33 The She Xian xianzhi [She Xian Gazetteer] of the Guangxu period (1875-1907) records that the Emperor Wenxuan built a detached palace at the foot of the mountain O n the mountainside several hundred monks could be seen per form~~lg their religious activities and so three caves were excavated At the end of the Tianbao era of the Northern Qi the s7ittrd casket from the Zhulinsi (Temple of the Bamboo Grove) was brought and the texts engraved on the cliffs Ma 1991176

j4 The inscription is outside the entrance of one the of the caves bes~de a damaged sculpture Ma 177 3 This chapter w h ~ c h outlines the ten stages of mental and s p ~ r ~ t u a l progress of the bodhz~attuais considered by some to be the

oldest part of the Hz~aja~zjzng Cleary 192-97 j6 This inscription was previously thought to have been from the Hua)an jing because of an erroneous record in the She Xzan xiafzzhi

of the Guangxu period Ma 1991155-56 37 Ma 1991I j8-60

38 Ma 1991160 j 9 Ma 1991185

Fig I The South Cave the

Northern Group of caves Xiang-

tangshan Handan Municipality

Hebei province

- 1 4 -- -

Fig 2 Rubbing of the Vimab-

kirti Nirdja Sctra South Cave

porch After Zhongguo shufajia

xiehui Shandong fenhui and Shan-

dong shike yishu buowuguan

Beichao moya kejing yanjiu (Jinan

19911 PI 4

Fig 3 Guardian figure and sBtra

engravings by the entrance South

Cave porch

Fig 4 North wall of courtyard

with sgtra engravings South Cave

Fig 5 Upper level South Cave

Fig 6 Cave I Southern Group Xiangtangshan left and front walls Fig 7 Rubbing of the Saptahtika Prajiiaparamita SStra

engraved with text from the Avatapsaka SStra After Mizuno Seiichi Cave 2 Southern Group Xiangtangshan After Mizuno

and Nagahiro Toshio Ky8d8zan sekktltsu (Ky6to1937) pl 7B and Nagahiro Kycdiizan sekkiltsil (Ky6to1937) rubbings

of engravings no I

LA- I

pylt t hgt Pl T - s - C

Fig 8 The back wall of Cave 2 with engraving of the

Mab~praj~apZramitZ Sstra Cave 2 After Mizuno and

Nagahiro pl ITA

Fig 9 Cave Two Zhonghuangshan Shexian Hebei province

Fig 10 Rubbing of the Vife~acintz Brahmaparifiiccha Sitra Fig 11 Cliffside sitra engraving Zhonghuangshan Zhonghuangshan After Zhongguo shufajia xiehui Shandong

fenhui and Shandong shike yishu bowuguan Beichao moya

kejing yanjiu (Jinan Qilu shushe 1991) pl 13

Fig 12 Rubbing of the Saptafatik2 PrajEZpZramit2 Fig 13 Buddha and attendants on back wall South Cave Northern Group Xiang-

SBtra Jianshan Zou Xian Shandong province tangshan After Tokiwa Daij6 and Sekino Tadashi Sbina btlkky8 sbiseki vol 3 pl 83

After Wang Jun and E Tao Sirhan moya k+ng

(Beijing 1990) pl 3

Fig 14 Buddha and attendants in the central pillar front Cave I Southern Fig IS Miniature stgpa in the Jiuquan City Museum

Group Xiangtangshan After Tokiwa Daij6 and Sekino Tadashi Sbina bakky8 Jiuquan Gansu province After Lin Shuzhong Zbonggtlo

sbiseki vol 3 pl 96 meisbtl qunji Diaostl bian vol 3 (Beijing 1988) pl 31

lueshuo jiaojie jing [S i t ra of Teachings Spoken Briefly by the Buddha Just Before Entering Pari-

nirvana] 40

Sites in Shandong Province

In Shandong province sit engravings on cliff faces and outcroppings or rocks are concentrated at

several sites The earliest recorded stone sdtra in Shandong however seems to have been a free-

standing stele at Quanlin in Sishui Xian The stele was inscribed with Chapter 12 On Seeing the

Buddha Aksobhya of the Vinzalak~rti AirdeSa Si tra and dedicated in the first year of Huangjian

(560) by the elders of the district to Jun X i ~ l u o ~ The present whereabouts of this stele are unknown

At Culaishan in Taian Xian inscriptions of the SaptaSatikd PrajEdpdldflzitd SlZtm and the names

of Buddhas were inscribed with the date the first year of Wuping (570)~ At Jianshan in Zou

Xian an excerpt from the SaptaSatikd PrajEdpdldnzitd S i t m and other scriptural passages appear with

the name of the monk Sengan and a date corresponding to the year 575 (fig 12) Significantly one of

the sponsors of the engravings at Jianshan was Lady Zhao (wife of Tang Yong) whose name also

appears at W a h ~ a n g g o n g ~ ~ Unfortunately these inscriptions were completely destroyed in the

1960s when local peasants selected the site as a stone quarry In Zou Xian s i t m engravings are known

at four peaks Jianshan Tieshan Geshan and Gangshan At Tieshan a long passage of more than

eight hundred characters from Chapter 5 of the Dafangdeng daji jing or MdhdSafiznipdta S i t m with a

dated inscription of the first year of Daxiang in the Northern Zhou period (579) The name of the

monk Sengan appears again here44This may be the same Sengan whose biography in the X u gao~engzhh~~zrecords that he was active at Wangwushan in southern Shanxi province during the

reign of Emperor Wenxuan Later in the Wuping era he led his followers into Yuezhou in present-

day Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces45 He and other monks may have taken up residence in Shandong

with the proscription imposed by the conquering Zhou at the end of the Northern Qi The engraved

texts at Gangshan occur in a number of locations They include excerpts from the Guan Wuliangrhou jing or Si t ra on or Lakkd~iatdra ~ i t r a ~ ~ Visualizing A~nitdbha and the Ru Lengjia jing The

engravings at Geshan now badly eroded include Chapter 12 On Seeing the Buddha Aksobhya

from the Vinzalak~rti NirdeSa Sljttrd and a dated inscription from the second year of Daxiang ( 5 8 0 ) ~ ~

At these sites can be seen the continuation of the sit engraving activity of the Northern Qi into the

period following the Northern Zhou conquest

Sdtra engravings appear in Shandong Province also at Yishan in Zou Xian Shuiniushan in

Ningyang and Taishan in ~ a i a n The best known of the Shandong sTtra engravings is probably

that at Taishan the sacred Eastern peak of the Chinese empire and site of imperial sacrifices from

O Tairhfino 389 IZIIIO-10The slte of the Mujingsi also in She Xian is believed to have been another stopping place on the route between Jinyang and Ye Ma 1991160-61 and 177

Shat2z11o jirzshizhi I O ~ andJinrhz btizheng 2119-20 I n the text of the dedication Jun Xiuluo ninth-generation descendant of the Western Han official Jun Buyi who served under the Emperors Wudi and Zhaodi is eulogized for his duty to family and state

42 Shanztici jinihizhi IOIO-11and Jiang Fengrong Taishan jingshiyu moya kejing kao in Beichao t12o)a kejing jarzjill 211 Wang Jun and E Tao Siihav ti2o)a kejinfi ( B e ~ j ~ n g Zhishi chubanshe 1990)4

Wang and E 1-2 See also Michihata Rposhu ChCgok~l120 jekihtititi to sekkjb (Kyoto Hozokan 1972)13-36

Taiihb no 2060 50657 Sengan lectured on the AIaha)arirzirtdu SCtru and led his followers in the practice ofuhita observance of discipline to obtain release from ties to clothing food and dwelling

Wang and E 3 Wang and E 5 Wang and E 8

ancient times where the Jingung Bunraojing or Vujrucchedzkd PrujEdpdrunitd SCtm is carved in large

characters fifty centimeters across in the Shijingyu (Valley of Stone Scriptures) That inscription

too is believed to be of the Northern Qi Dynasty The text covers an area of 2064 square meters and

is the largest of all the sCtm engravings though with 2799 characters it is far from the longest More

than half of the characters are no longer visible49 A characteristic feature of the Shandong

inscriptions is that they are frequently written on outcroppings of rock some boulder-like that are

left much in their original form The stone is worked to an even surface but not as meticulously cut

and ground into a perfectly flat smooth vertical wall as seen at sites near the capital At Tieshan

Geshan and at Taishan the engravings appear on sloping surfaces on which it is possible for a person

to stand The characters may be very large more than a foot square Furthermore the engravings are

not known to be associated with caves or sculpted images

T H E E M E R G E N C E O F E N G R A V E D SUTRAS

I N T H E N O R T H E R N Q I P E R I O D

Judging from the sl2tru engravings already discussed this activity appears to have played a

significant role in the state-sponsored Buddhism of the Northern Qi The concentration of groups of

these stone inscriptions at Buddhist sites around the capital at Ye and the evidence of sponsorship by

prominent court officials and their families support such a conclusion A number of factors that may

have contributed to the emergence of sitm engraving and its importance under the Northern Qi are

discussed below

Relationships between Images and Engraved Texts

The cave temples of Xiangtangshan are known in the West chiefly for their sculptures in large

part through the group of strikingly fine images and fragments attributed to these caves that can be

seen in museums in the United States Europe and Japan Among the sites at which sgtm engravings

appear those at Xiangtangshan are most closely associated with sculptures While the engraved

sl2tms outside the South Cave do not have any direct relationship to the contents of the cave other

engraved texts inside the caves appear to have some bearing on the images and may offer clues to the

ways in which the caves were used In a few of the Xiangtangshan caves the engraved texts and their

accompanying sculpted images may be seen to complement each other in the presentation of

religious themes

Inside the South Cave there are three image groups placed on altars attached to the left right and

back walls Each group centers on a seated Buddha accompanied by standing attendant figures

(fig 13) An excerpt from Chapter I Virtuous Practice of the Wzliungyi jing [ S ~ t r u of Immeasurable

Meanings] is inscribed on the front wall of the cave at either side of the e n t r a n ~ e ~ The excerpt

comprises the verse section at the end of the chapter that is recited in unison by an assembly of

b~dhisuttuusand bhiksus gathered on Vulture Peak near Riijagrha to hear the Buddha preach The

verses praise the Buddha describing his spiritual achievements and his state of having overcome

49 Jiang 227-28 j0 Ma 199116z-6~Shis jtra believed have been composed in China came to be considered the f rst in the so-called Lotus Srilogp

that included the Lot11r SZJtra See Kogen Mizuno Btiddhijt Sntras Origzn Deiseio)t12erzt Transmiiriov (Tokyo Kosei Publish~ng Co 1982) 117

longing illusion and the duality of the phenomenal world They go on to describe the Buddhas

physical attributes and mention worship of him by bowing the head to the ground and concentrating the mind on living according to the Dharma observing his precepts and studying his teachings

The section on the Buddhas appearance may be translated as follows

His curling hair is bluish black on top of his head is an uszCaHis clear eyes shining bright gaze up and

down H e eyebrows and lashes are black and extended and his jaw square His lips and tongue are crimson

like red fruit His forty teeth are like shells white as snow His forehead is wide his nose long and his face

expansive On his breast is a swastika sign his physique is like a lions His hands and feet are soft and

pliable and marked with a thousand spokes of the wheel [of the Law] His hands are webbed and grasp both

inward and outward His arms are long and his fingers are straight and slender His skin is soft and fine and

his hairs curl to the right His ankles and knees are invisible and his penis retractable like that of a horse

Externally and internally his shining glory penetrates and his purity is undefiled Clear water without

taint he is uninfluenced by worldly concerns Thus are his thirty-two signs1 and the eighty notable physical

characteristics that are visible

This inscription provides evidence of more than one aspect of the religious functions the caves

may have served the first being that of assisting a devotee in the practice of meditation or

specifically visualization The text encourages the devotee to pacify the mind and constantly reside

in meditation One of the important aspects of early Buddhist practice was a systematic visualization

of the Buddha focusing on individual features and building up toward a complete mental image The

detailed description of the physical attributes of the Buddha assists the devotee in constructing his

mental image Further practice would enable him to visualize multiple images within a chamber and

ultimately fill an infinite space in the ten directions with golden imagess2 Visualization texts describe the efficacy of entering a stzpa to contemplate a Buddha image demonstrating a relationship

between stlZpas or stipu-form caves containing images and meditationj3 The Wuliungyi passage also touches on metaphysical concerns and the great wisdom of the

Buddha that negates the dualities of ordinary perception and knowledge It exorts the devotee to

uphold the rules of discipline and to study the teachings of the Buddha Thus the presence of the text

in the cave demonstrates the close associations in religious practice of the time between devotion to

images meditation and the study of scriptures

Cave I of the Southern Group at Xiangtangshan has its main image group set in the front face of a central pillar (fig 14) and has a row of smaller niches in the upper level of the walls around it The

lower part of the west or left wall below the row of Buddha niches is filled with engraved text from the Huuyan ling The text continues onto the front wall at either side of the doorway The left wall

bears the end of Chapter 4 and the first part of Chapter 5 in one hundred fifty-five columns of forty

characters each The rest of Chapter 5 all of Chapter 6 and the beginning of Chapter 7 appear on the front wall at the right of the doorway in forty-six columns of fifty-eight characters each At the left of

I Taijhg no 276 9384-85 A group of texts specifically describing visual~zation exercises in particular the Gziuzfi ruznielhai jivg or St7tra on the Sea of the Samidhi of Buddha Visualization and its Importance in fifth-century Buddhist practlce is discussed by Stanley Abe in his study of Cave 254 at the Mogao Caves Dunhuang Art and Practice in a Fifth-Century Chinese Buddhist Cave Temple At- Orier~taiij 20 (199o) 5-9 See also Alexander Coburn Soper Literurj Evzderzce fir Eurij Bziddhzit Art 111 Chznu (Ascona A r t ~ b u s A s ~ a e Publishers rqjg) 184-91

See Li Huida Be1 Wei shiku yu chan Kaogn x~lebao 19783317-52 Yan 352-53

the entrance is the remainder of Chapter 7 in forty-two rows of fifty-five charactersj4 Most of Chapter

4 however is missing

Chapter 7 of the Huajman jilzg entitled Purifying Action is comprised of prayers that help

develop proper attitudes for the cultivation of unattachment well-being and lack of obstruction for

the devotee and for the liberation of all beings The prayers refer to daily activities and situations

and develop awareness within these settings Chapter 6 Bodhisattvas Clarify Problems deals with

metaphysical concerns such as the lack of the existence of an individual nature for each being and the

interdependence of all things Chapter 5 Awakening by the Enlightened Ones Light is a vision

that expands outward from a light emerging from the wheel on the sole of the Buddhas foot to

illuminate multiple worlds that illustrate the universality of experience and of the Buddha nature

Chapter 4 presents the Four Noble Truths that were revealed by the historical Buddha and elaborates

on these truths concerning suffering and the extinguishing of sufferingj5

The first line on the west wall begins mid-phrase close to the end of Chapter 4 probably because

the work of engraving the text was never completed It would seem that originally the lower portion

of the opposite or east wall must also have been intended for engraving though no traces of it can be

seen It seems likely too that a text would have been mapped out and written by the calligrapher in

ink on the walls (or on paper which was pasted to the walls) in preparation To ensure that the text of

Chapter 7 would end precisely on the front wall the engravers may have begun at the end and

progressed in reverse order Once the text had been written in ink the stone engravers could con-

ceivably have worked on any section they chose Examination of the sculptures seems to indicate too

that Cave I was not completed as originally planned but the work was carried out in several stages

The entire right or east wall was probably left unfinished - the sculptures in the upper level niches

uncut and the text not engraved Only later probably in the Sui-Tang period were the sculptures in

the upper row of niches on the east wall completed and the rather haphazard assortment of niches and

personal dedications added to the lower level

If we assume for a moment that the east wall was to have been carved and that it would have had

approximately the same number of words as the west that is one hundred fifty-five columns of forty

characters each or 6200 characters we could hypothesize that the first part of Chapter 4 and all of

Chapter 3 should have been inscribed on this wall Chapter 3 Rztlai ~ninghao Names and Epithets of

the Enlightened Ones presents the virtues and qualities of enlightened beings of various worlds

This version Buddhabhadras translation of the H u u ~ u ~ is divided into eight sections jing corresponding to the Eight Assemblies or buhui at which it is said to have been delivered Chapters

3-8 are of the Second Assembly the Puguung futufzg hui (Assembly at the Dharma Hall of Universal

Light) Thus Cave I may have been intended as an effort to record nearly a whole section of the long

szit~aand may be regarded as a forerunner to the more complete systematic renderings of the Huayan Sgtm and other texts in stone in later periods56

4

Mizuno and Nagahiro 119-21 Yan 119-40 Ma 1991166-67 See Thomas Cleary Entry Into the Inmnceivable An Introduction to Huu-)un Buddbi~tn (I-Ionolulu University of Hawaii Press 1983) Appendix Cleary works wlth a later version of the Hua)an jing that in eighty unn translated by ~ i k ~ ~ n a n d a (652-~IO)but he notes the corresponding books of Buddhabhadras sixty-juan version

6 The Hunyunjing was carved in its entirety in stone in a cave at Fengyu west ofTaiyuan Shanxi province The same text is recorded to have filled the walls of the cave and numerous stone slabs that may have been fitted together to form three pillars inside the care According to the Jinshi cubian there were 124pages of rubbings taken from these slabs Epigraphically they were considered by the author to date from the Tianbao era (742-56) of the Tang DynastyJizsbi cubinn 11zo-22 In 1919Tokiwa Daijd visited the site

An examination of the design of the cave for any possible correspondence with the Hzlayan Sctru

suggests relationships though not in a specific narrative sense Chapter j which is inscribed in full

on the west wall begins with the Buddha and expands to a vision of multiple worlds having their

own Buddhas and bodhisuttvus The Buddha in front of the central pillar would logically represent

this glorified universal aspect of the Buddha and the niches around the wall would symbolize the

Buddhas of the various worlds in the ten directions Thus Cave I could conceivably have been

designed to represent in a general sense the Assembly of the Dharma Hall of Universal Light57

Cave 2 which forms a pair with Cave I had only a single main Buddha group on the front face of

the central pillar The sides of the pillar were filled with small seated images of the Thousand

Buddhas which can also be seen on the upper part of the central pillar of Cave ~ n inscription on

the outside of the Cave 2 flanking the doorway records that the work was begun at this site in 565

under the patronage of Gao Anagong Prince of Huaiyin and Counselor in Chief under Emperor

Houzhu I t further records that the site was damaged during the persecution of Buddhism that

occurred after the conquest of Northern Qi by Emperor W u of the Northern Zhou then repaired in

the Sui Dynasty with donations from the Palace Guard Li ~ o n g ~ u n ~ ~

Cave 4 at Nan Xiangtang now stripped of its images originally contained groups of figures on

three walls Through examination of old photographs and comparison with Cave 6 its somewhat

better preserved mate one can surmise that the former images represented Buddhas Srdvukas

pratyekubuddhas and bodhisuttvus In the text of the GzlutzjlZ4z Sitru inscribed on the walls of Cave 4 the

Buddha describes the efficacy of invoking the name of Guanshiyin who will hear and rescue people

from a host of dangers fire water murder harmful spirits imprisonment bandits etc Guanshiyin

is described as having the power to appear not only in the form of a bodhzsuttvu but also as a Srdvuku

prutyekabzlddhu or Buddha or as a lesser being Therefore the sculptures can be seen to reflect in

some way the content of the text

While it may be shown that some of the Xiangtangshan sctra engravings could have served as aids

to the visualization of images this does not fully explain their existence For the most part it is

difficult to relate the texts and images in a literal or direct way In a general sense the texts reflect the

Mahiiyiina belief in a three-fold path to salvation and of the union of these three in the single vehicle

and made rubbings of some of the stones I-Ie was of the opinion that the writing was of the early Tang period Tokiwa and Sekino 1IIzrProfessor Su Bai has also voiced the opinion that this cave is ofTang date I have not vlslted this cave

The Huujun jing (along with numerous other iz7tvai) was also engraved at the Yunjusi Fangshan I-Iebei and completed in the eighth year of Zhenguan (634 AD ) The Yunjusi project begun in the Sui Dynasty to preserve the entlre Tr tp i~akain stone extended into much later centuries Zhongguo fojiao xuehui Fangihan Yzljzlsi ihijing (Beijing Wenwu chubanshe 1978) 102 The Buddhas and attendants carved In relief on the sides of the central pillar also hare the appearance of having been added later I t would seem if the layout of the cave were meant to reflect the text inscribed on the wall the sculptural program should not originally have included the two Buddhas on the sides of the central pillar Possibly later artisans and their sponsors who with good intentions picked up where previous work had been left unfinished were unaware of the original plan of the care and added the two extra Buddhas in imitation of the three main images in the central pillar of the great North Cave at Bei Xiangtang The main images in the North Cave appear to be the Buddhas of the Three Ages iconography that does not seem appropriate to Cave I

Neither does the iconography of the tvlkzyu or three bodies of the Buddha which was later attributed to the H u q n n Sitmr but is not specifically stated in the text

j8 Stanley Abes study of Mogao Cave 254 includes a discussion of the textual bases for the appearance of these multiple images and their relationship to the practice offoniing recitation of the names of Buddhas Abe 9-10

j9 The stele of the Fushan Cave Temple beliered to be of the Sui Dynasty was discovered on the facade of Cave 2 in recent years Chen Mingda and Ding Mingyi Zhongg~dotizeirhu qzlanji Dtuoszl bian rol 13 (Beijing Wenwu chubanshe 1989)35

of Buddhahood seen in the representation of Sr~vakas prutyekabzlddhus and bodhzsattvas flanking a

central Buddha in Northern Qi sculptural groups The visual expression of belief in Buddhas of the

Past Present and Future and of various realms can also be seen in the multiple images depicted in

many of the caves Because the images are mainly iconic in function and represented in a generalized

way with little variation in poses gestures or other identifying characteristics it is difficult to make

specific interpretations of them or to associate them with particular scriptural passages

At other sites in Hebei Henan and Shandong provinces the relationships between engraved texts

and images are more tentative or indiscernible At Zhonghuangshan for instance the two caves

contain fragmentary sculptures but appear to have had no images attached to the inside walls or floor

originally Wi th the exception of the guardians flanking the entrance of Cave Two the sculptures

and fragments of Buddhas and attendants that now remain were made separately and brought into

the caves though it is not certain how long after the engraving of the walls that work was completed

Judging from the appearance of the sculpture they seem to be closer to Sui than Northern Qi in date

though they may possibly be of the earlier period There are no images in the vicinity of the two large

polished cliff inscriptions at Zhonghuangshan

Nor are the szttra engravings at most other sites known to have had any association with Buddhist

sculptures Therefore the main purpose for carving the inscriptions apparently had no necessary

relationship to the experience of viewing and worshipping images In fact some of the szttra inscriptions seem to take the place of the carved reliefs seen in earlier caves in which narrative scenes

such as stories of the Buddhas life or past lives or the meeting between Vimalakirti and MafijuSri

were depicted Textual engravings at sites that were centers of meditation may have functioned as

aids to contemplation though not visually as did the three-dimensional images but conceptually to

invoke a certain state of mind or perspective on the world

The texts may have been recited or chanted for observances or instructional purposes at the sites

where they appear but generally speaking they appear to be more symbolic of the presence of the

Buddhas teachings than of specifically didactic or liturgical function as they cannot easily be read

from the walls of the caves or cliffs In any case the texts and passages inscribed can be understood to

have had special significance in the beliefs and practice of Buddhism of the time

Buddhist Scholarship in the Northern Qi

The Northern Qi period was one in which Buddhist scholarship flourished The officially

sponsored translation of szttrus in the Northern Wei and Eastern Wei periods and which extended

into the Northern Qi had made available many Buddhist texts for study and interpretation by

Chinese monks The texts featured in the engravings are those that are frequently mentioned as

influential in the biographies of eminent monks of the time The i2fahZpuriniru~na Szttra was much

studied In addition to Sengchou other eminent monks of the age who are mentioned as having

concentrated on the meaning of this text include Fashang the Chief Buddhist Controller from the

Indian monks Bodhiruci and Ratnamati worked in Luoyang in the late Northern Wei period and received invitations into the palace Bodhiruci accompanied the court from Luoyang to Ye with the fall of Northern Wei BuddhaSanta translated scriptures in Luoyang and made the more to Ye Gautama Prajiiaruci mentioned in footnote 3 abore in connectlon with the Xiaonanhai inscription was also active as a translator in the Eastern Wei NarendrayaSas arrived at Ye in 556 bringing scriptures from India and was warmly welcomed by Emperor Wenxuan Among the texts he brought was the Cnndrdgarbhn Sutra translated In 566 An excerpt of this szztra was engraved in j98 on the facade of the Dazhuzheng Care at Baoshan mentioned abore Taisho no 2060 j0428-30 and 432-31

Eastern Wei into the Northern Qi Daoping the abbot of the Baoshan Temple and Lingyu his

successor Fashang (496-581) was a great scholar-monk who lectured on the Vimuluk+ti the Lotus

the MuhdpnrinirvZpa and L3aidhhzinzika ~ z i t r a s ~ I n his position as the highest cleric in the land

Fashang is likely to have been involved with the selection of texts for engraving at officially sponsored

sites Daoping (488-59) also lectured on the Mah~parinirvdpa the DaSabhzin~ika and Huuyun ~ z i t r u s ~ ~

The exegete Lingyu (518- GO^) who studied with Daoping as a young man and is said to have carried

on in Fashangs tradition of scholarship can be linked to the engraving of the Huuyun Szitru and the

sponsorship of the Baoshan Temple by Lou Rui His career extended from the Northern Qi into the

Sui when he was named Buddhist Controller Lingyu is recorded to have mastered the scriptures of

both MahZydnu and Hinuydnu and to have written commentaries on many texts including the

Afuhdpurinirvd~~ Szitras63 It was probably under Huuyun PrujEdpdldnzitd Viv~ulukirti and jr iv~dld

his influence that the carving of szitrus at the Dazhusheng Cave dated 589 at Baoshan was undertaken

Huishun of the Zongchisi in Ye was a disciple of the vinayu master Huiguang who also lectured on

the Huuyun and VinzulakTrti ~ i t r n s ~ ~ Daochong studied with Bodhiruci at Luoyang and became an

authority on the L3huf~zbh~v~iku~~ This evidence shows that the area in and around Ye was a center for

the study of Buddhist texts

During the Northern Wei period sitru lectures were held in summer at the Shaolin Temple a

meditation center where monks would go on retreat66 The Gushan Cave Temple (Bei Xiangtang)

was a summer dwelling place for monks in the Northern Qi period particularly from the officially

sponsored monasteries in the capital67 It too may have been a center for the practice of meditation

and the study of szitrus The changing of the name of the monastery there to Zhilisi (Temple of the

Power of Wisdom) during the Tiantong era (565-69) is an indication of the importance given to

Buddhist learning at that religious center

The monk Sengchous involvement at Xiaonanhai can be seen to have inspired the engraving of

szitras at that site Although he concentrated on meditation Sengchou is known to have supported

the propagation of Buddhist teachings When Emperor Wenxuan once criticized the pointlessness of

the scholar-monks recitations and lectures Sengchou admonished him saying The Dharma masters

also transmit the Four Noble Truths and disseminate the Tripituku They cause many people to

discern the false and the true and to attain the sublime All [their activities] are the preliminaries

to meditation68 Sengchous desire to have the szitrus engraved at the Xiaonanhai cave in 555 precedes

the beginning of work on the Tang Yong inscriptions by more than a decade Nevertheless Sengchou

may have been influential in the execution of these later engravings as there is evidence to associate

Sengchou with the Bei Xiangtang caves In 552 at the same time that the Emperor built the

Yunmensi (near Anyang) for Sengchou he named the monk to head the Shiku Dasi (Great Cave

61 Tnrtsbi no 2060 50485 62 Ibld 50484 63 Ihld 5043$-97 64 lb~hld50484 Ibtd jo482 A reference to this appears in the biography of Daoping TdzshG no 2060 50484 In the biography ofthe monk Yuantong it is recorded that in the summer of the fifth year of Wuping (574)he and more than one

hundred monks went to live at the Stone Cave Temple at Gushan Tnrlshi no 2060 50648 Tdishi no 2060 jo554 Translation adapted from McCrae 42

Temple) This would almost certainly refer to the large scale cave temple at ~ u s h a n ~ ~ The

Northern Group of caves thus was probably under construction by 552 As no further record is

available regarding the planning and construction of these caves we can only speculate upon the role

Sengchou may have played in their design up to the time of his death in 560

However because evidence indicates that Sengchou was a motivating force in initiating sgtra engraving activity it is worth investigating possible reasons for his having developed such an

interest Although Sengchou is not considered a Buddhist exegete he did have a scholarly back-

ground Before taking religious vows at the age of twenty-seven he had been an accomplished young

Confucian scholar and a member of the Taixzle National University at Luoyang During Sengchous

stay at the National University in Luoyang he may have been familiar with the Confucian stone

classics there These engravings of the Five Classics described as having been carved on tall stone

slabs measuring 8 by 4 chi (Chinese feet) stood in a row 300 chi long in front the Lecture all^ First envisioned by the Han scholar Cai Yong the official project to carve a standard version of the

Confucian canon in stone was begun in 175 AD but was interrupted because of opposition from a

rival faction of scholars Work was resumed under the Cao Wei Dynasty in the third century during

which time the three-character stone classics written in three styles of script - ancient seal and

clerical - are believed to have been produced71 It is recorded in the History ofthe Northern Wei under

the Biography of Emperor Xiaojing that in the the fourth year of Wuding (546) the Han-Wei

stone classics were transported from Luoyang to These stone engravings are also recorded in the

Lzloydng qielmzji Though damaged they were still standing in front of what was then called the

Academy for Gentle and Noble Men of the Han until 546 when they were moved to ~ e ~ ~ T h e

stones are mentioned as well in the Bei Qi shzl [Northern Qi History] under the Biography of

Emperor Wenxuan

In the eighth month of the first year of Tianbao [55o]the nation re-established the Academy to study the

rites and canons The emperor proclaimed that the fifty-two stones inscribed with classics by Cai Yong which

had been transported by the departed Emperor Wenxiang [posthumous title of Gao Deng] should fittingly be

moved to the Hall of Learning repaired and set up in order74

The importance accorded to these stones is demonstrated by the tremendous efforts made to move

them I t is evident that they were associated not only with the maintenance of the tradition of

scholarship of the National University but with the legitimization of Northern Qi rule The histories

of later dynasties record the moving of these stones back to Luoyang in 579 after the Northern Zhou

Taishd no 2060 j0jj4 and Soper 1966 260 I t has been proposed that the Shlku Dasi referred to the caves at Xiaonanhal where

the inscription was engraved Ding ~Mingyi Beichao fojiaoshi d i zhongyao buzheng Wenumu 19884 17 Liu Dongguang however refutes this in a recent article asserting that it refers instead to the Northern Group ofcaves Liu Dongguang You guan Anyang liangchu s l~ iku di jige wenti ji buchong IVenuu 1991878

70 Li Daoyuan Shuijingzhu Gushuitinojuun 626-28 in Siku qunnsbu Zhenhen jteji (Taibei Shangwu yinshuguan 197j) 71 Lu Zhenduan Wei sunti shijing cnrnzijizheng (Taibei Xuehai chubanshe 1981)1-6 The stone classics have been the subject of many

studies of which Lus is only one ofthe more recent 72 Wei Shou (joj-72) Weisbu (Beijing Xinhua shuju 1974)juun 121308 73 Gao Deng is named as being responsible for moving the stone classics but it seems more likely to have been ordered by his father

and then regent Gao Huan Yang Xuanzhi Luojang qielunji in WJFJenner trans len~oriesqf Lojang Ynrng Hs2un-cbih und the Lost Cnrpitnrl (493-534) (Oxford Clarendon Press 1981) 212-13 and Wang Yi-t ung trans A Record ofBuddhist ~lfonaste~les 0 f1~o-yung (Princeton Princeton University Press 1984)136-38

74 Li Baiyao (j6j-648) Bei Qi sbu jidan 4 (Beijlng Zhonghua shuju 1972)1j3

conquest of Qi and to Changan in the sixth year of Kaihuang (586) in the early Sui Dynasty

Afterward there is no further mention of them75

That Sengchou saw the stone classics again at Ye or at least was aware of their presence is

certainly possible and they may have been a factor in his interest in szttfpacarving Sengchou was not

the only eminent monk of the time who might have promoted szitru carving based on the inspiration

of the stone classics Others of his contemporaries are also known to have been engaged in the study

of Confucian thought before they entered the monastery The exegete Huishun a younger brother of

the Northern Qi palace attendant Cui Guang was engaged in classical studies until he entered the

order at age twenty-four76 The monk Daochong was an accomplished Confucian scholar named

Zhang Bin with a following of pupils until he suddenly withdrew from the world without

explanation and joined the Buddhist order77 Sengfan too was an accomplished scholar who joined

the order at age twenty-nine began to study the szttrus and became a famous Buddhist teacher at the

capital until his death in 555 78~anzun was still another gifted young scholar who turned away from

worldly pursuits to become a monk79 These scholarly men might have approached the recitation and

study of the szttras in much the same way as they had the Confucian texts In their past study of the

classics and histories these monks were almost certain to have been aware of the stone classics and

their significance Their interest in Buddhist scholarship and desire to give the Buddhist scriptures

the authority and permanence of the stone Confucian classics may have been a factor that inspired the

engraving of szttras

The carving of Buddhist szttras in stone could not directly transfer the significance of the

Confucian classics to Buddhist scriptures but it would have invoked the authority of the stone

classics The stone classics stood in the capital and were associated with the maintenance of the

social order and of the political authority of the state The teachings of the Buddha were deemed

equally worthy of being made into monuments The Tang Yong stele dedicating the szttra engravings

at the South Cave contains expressions of wishes for strengthening Emperor Houzhus reign I t

invokes the authority of the scriptures for the preservation of the dynasty

Although scholarly concerns and perhaps the desire to promote particular texts or versions of texts

over others may have been important reasons for the selection of individual szttrus the carving of

szitras on the whole seems not to have been motivated by specifically academic concerns or by the

promotion of sectarian interests While individual eminent monks had their followers among whom

loyalties and rivalries must certainly have existed these groups did not represent distinct sects of

Buddhism like those that emerged later in China

The Preservation of Texts

At both the Xiaonanhai and Northern Xiangtangshan caves the dedicatory inscriptions mention a

desire to make a permanent copy of the szttrus in stone For this reason some scholars believe the

primary motivation for the szttru engravings was concern for the survival of Buddhism and fear that

7 Lu 1981 6 A few fragments ofthese stones survive today Extensive studies have been made on the subject of the stone classics a number ofwhich are listed in the notes to W a n g Yi-tungs translation o f the L ~ A O J ~ I Z ~qielunliW a n g 1984138

76 Tnriihino 2060 50484 77 Ibtd 482 78 lbid 483 lbid 484

the period of mob the End of the Dharma had arrived80 A number of scriptures known and studied during the Northern Qi period such as the Lotus Dianzo~zd iZfahZpurilzirvZza and Candragarbhu Szttras predict that some day Buddhism would decline They contain different timetables of the deterioration of Buddhism but do not foresee the complete triumph of evil and extinction of the dharma that nzofa implies81 The term mofa came into use in the second half of the

sixth century It first appears in a work attributed to the monk Nanyue Huisi (515-77) which sets forth a progression of three periods after the death of the Buddha a five-hundred-year period of the True Dharma a thousand-year period of the Imitation Dharma and a very long ten-thousand-year period of the End of the Dharma By Huisis calculation the latter age had already begun in 434 AD

and within 9852 years of that date all sacred scriptures would be extinct82 Formulated in southern China in 558 this theory was probably not widely influential in the North until after the defeat of Northern Qi and persecution of Buddhism under Northern Zhou In any case it does not appear to have inspired the making of stone szttras as the conception of szttra engravings predates the fomula- tion of the nzofu doctrine by Nanyue Huisi

Fear about the extermination of Buddhist szttras was confirmed with the proscription imposed by the conquering Northern Zhou ruler Emperor W u and gave rise in the Sui Dynasty to the Three Stages Sect founded by Xinxing which was based on the idea that the final period of the three periods of Buddhism had arrived In the Sui Dynasty a plan was formulated to preserve the entire Buddhist canon by carving it in stone At the Yunjusi (Temple of Dwelling in the Clouds) at Fangshan south of Beijing the monk Jingwan with the support of the Sui empress began this project that occupied the next thirty years of his life Although Jingwan realized only a small part of his dream before he died in 639 the project was continued after his death over a span of five centuries about thirty million characters of the Tripitaku were systematically carved When texts were completed the stone slabs on which they were cut were either placed inside caves that were then

sealed or buried in the ground83 It may be said that this later tradition of sitru engraving carried on what began in a random and

fragmentary way in Northern Qi During that early phase there was no attempt to achieve a systematic recording and preserving of the complete body of scriptures Few texts were carved in their entirety and the placement of many of them on the faces of cliffs where they were exposed to the elements demonstrates a desire to exalt rather than to preserve Nevertheless the Northern Qi stone szzttras may be seen as the precursor of the comprehensive stone Tripitaka project at the Yunjusi

Texts and Stztpas

Many of the Northern Qi Buddhist caves were designed as stztpus or pagodas of single or two- storied type with a domed roof In addition to those examples at the Northern and Southern Xiangtangshan caves and Shuiyusi the caves at Zhonghuangshan and Tianlongshan may also have been intended to be understood structurally as stztpas an architectural form deriving from an Indian

80 Sofukawa I-Iiroshi Kyodozan sekkutsu ko TfhJ Gakuho 62 (1990) 202 Wang Sili and Lai Fei Zhongguo Beichao fojiao tnoya kejing and Pan Liangzhen Beichao moya kejing yu miefo both in Zhongguo shufajia xiehui Shandong fenhui I99119 and 7jff

81 For a systematic study of the texts and their predictions see Jan Nattier Once Cpon a Future Time S tud~a tn a Buddhiit Pvophecj oj

DecIine (Berkeley Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture 1991)27-64 also David Wellington Chappell Early Forebodings of the Death of Buddhism Nutizen (1980) 27114j

82 The work f injue Si dachanshi li shiyuan wen was completed in 558 Tnrishi no I93346786Nattier 110-11 and Chappell 144

83 Zhongguo fojiao xiehui 1-15

funerary monument In early Buddhist observance stzqas were erected to enshrine relics of the

Buddha and to mark important sites in the Buddhas life Thus they became a sign of the presence of

the Buddha and of his Buddhahood

The association of texts with stzipas is not without precedent in Chinese Buddhism nor is the

carving of passages from Buddhist scriptures in stone Although large scale s2tm engravings are not

known before Northern Qi szttra inscriptions carved on miniature stone stGpas also called st2pa

pillars were made during the Northern Liang Dynasty Miniature stone st2pa pillars have been

found in western China and Central Asia Examples discovered in Gansu Province are preserved in

the Gansu Provincial Museum Lanzhou in the Dunhuang Municipal Museum the Dunhuang

Research Institute Dunhuang and the Jiuquan City Museum (fig I ~ ) ~ ~ Two other miniature stipa

pillars discovered by Albert von Le Coq in Qotcho are now in the Museum fur Indische Kunst

Staatliche Museen Berlin Some of these early examples have dedicatory inscriptions dating them in

the period 428-36 A D ~ ~They are mostly rather small carved stone posts to be distinguished from

the tall d h ~ r a n i pillars of later periods Though they are now mostly broken as a group these

miniature stztpa pillars can be seen to have been originally designed with a domed roof which was

surmounted by multiple chattras or umbrellas O n the main body of the stipa just below the dome is

a row sometimes two rows of eight niches that contain carved relief figures representing the Seven

Buddhas of the Past and the bodhisattva Maitreya On the lower section which is usually octagonal

are engraved linear representations of deities associated with the eight trigrams In the middle

section there is usually a dedicatory inscription and an excerpt from a Buddhist text The content of

the known inscriptions is closely related if not actually from the same text as has been suggested

Several sources of these inscriptions have been proposed by scholars One is the forty-ninth chapter of

the Zelzgyi ahan jing or Ekottardgama S2tra Other possible sources are the Ju dzloshuxia shier j~inyuan

jing or the Pratityasamzltp~da Sgtm and the Yzlanqi jirzg or the AlidZrza ~ i t l a ~ ~ While some of the

engraved excerpts do not agree precisely with these texts they all deal with the doctrine that is basic

to Buddhist thought the principle of dependent origination and the twelve nidznas or links to the

chain of existence This doctrine teaches that an individual has no self in the endless cycle of existence

and delineates the twelve causes for ones attachment to this existence As the Buddhas life and

teachings demonstrated one can remove ones ties to the world through self-awareness and discipline

and be freed from attachment to this life of craving and suffering

These miniature stipas which appear to be votive in inspiration have been found at the sites of

former temples87 Stgpa pillars are not known in metropolitan north-central China They appear to

have been introduced from regions to the west and closely resemble the st2pa-like wooden posts that

have been found in Central Asia for example one in the British Museum from Loulan a site

abandoned in the early fourth century88 Faxian the Chinese monk who traveled to India in jqq and

Wang Yi Bei Llang shita Venenliu zzlino congkan 19771179-88 and Hubert Durt Krlshna Riboud and Lai Tung-I-Iung A propos de stfipa miniatures votifs d u V siecle decouverts a Tourfan et au Gansu Arts Asidtiyues 40 (198j) 92-106 See also Alexander C Soper Northern Liang and Northern Wei in Kansu Artibus Asine 21 no 2 (1958)131-48

The reading of some ofthese dates 1s controversial Wang 186-87 86 ~ a i s h fnos 125 713and 124 See also Wang Yi 179and Durt 93 WangY118j

Wladimir Zwalf Budd5tst71 Art and Fnith (London British Museum 1985) no 273 and M Aurel Stein Serzndzn Detutled Report of Explorutions in Central Asia und YIesternmoit Chinn (Oxford 1921)pl 32

returned to China in 414 records an extensive cult of stzipus in Central Asia where in Khotan the houses of the people stand apart like (separate) stars and each family has a small stzipamp reared in front of its Faxian also mentions that in Mathurii s t ~ p mwere erected in honor of scriptures

Where a community of monks resides they erect stz7pus to ~ a r i ~ u t t r a to Mahamaudgalyiiyana and to

Ananda and also srz2jur (in honour) of the Abhidharma the Vinaya and the Sgtws The professors of the

Abhidharma make their offerings to it [the Abhidharma] those of the Vinaya to it [the Vinaya] 90

The association of Buddhist texts with s t z$~~~s implying that texts were treated as relics is highly relevant to the Xiangtangshan engravings and their association with stamp caves Building and worship of stzipas originated with reverence for the physical remains of the Buddha after his death At the same time the Buddhas teachings were also regarded as worthy of veneration Scriptures came to be regarded as relics and were also placed in stipas

A stone reliquary from the base of the Xiudingsi stipa near Anyang bears the inscription ~iikyamuni Buddha JCdvTvu [relic] stipu MuhZprujndpdra~7zitd mother of all Buddhas most profound source of all Dharma in its true aspect MahZpparinirvdnathe ultimate complete emptiness The fifth year of Tianbao [554] donated by the Emperor of the Great Qi and the Imperial Secretary and Prince of Pingyang Gao Yan and other^^ This is followed by a later inscription that reads In the seventh year of Wuping the twentieth day of the first month Emperor W u of the Zhou destroyed the Buddha Dharma In the tenth year of Kaihuang of the Great Sui Kingdom the Dharma was restored and the monastery in this place was repaired and rebuilt92 The inscription seems to indicate that the stipa of the Xiudingsi was erected in the Northern Qi for relics of the Buddhas Dharma and that texts were originally placed in the stone reliquary The reverence for the Pvajfidpardmitd and the metaphor that this scripture is the mother of Buddhas gave rise in later times to the worship of the goddess Prajfiiipiiramitii in China India and southeast Asia In the Northern Qi however there is no indication that the text was so personified93

The Xiudingsi was formerly known as the Heshuisi It was here in the last years of his life that Fashang the reknowned exegete who served as Buddhist Controller-in-Chief in the Eastern Wei and Northern Qi received support to build a monastery in the hillsThe Xiudingsi pagoda itself is not

89 From James Legge trans A Record ofBuddhistic Kzngdo~~ (New York Dover Publications 196j)16-17 O 16zd Later the Tang dynasty monks Yijing and Xuatlzatlg observed the practice in seventh century India of placing verses

of scripture inside small votive ittjpas Samuel Beal trans Sz-ju-hi Buddhzst Recordi of the Veitern World [by Xuanzang] (London Trubner and Co 1884) ~146-47and Takakusu Jutljiro trans A Record qithe Buddhist Relzgion [by Yijing] (Oxford 1896) 150-51

This practice of enshrining scriptures is still observed in the construction and consecration of Tibetan stzipas Yael Bentor Stjtra-style Collsecratiotl in Tibet and its Importance for Understanding the Historical Developments of the Indo-T~betan Consecration Ritual for Stupas and Images Tibetan Studies - Proceedi~zgs ofthe )-th Senzinar ofthe International Association for Tihetan

Studies Narztu 1989 (Marita Naritasatl Shlnshoji 1992) Henan sheng Wenwu yanjiusuo Atlyang dlqu wetlwu guanli welyuanhui and Anyangxian wetlwu guatlli weiyuanhui Aqaizg Xi~dfPZgiZta (Beijing Wenwu chubanshe 1983)pls142 and 160This Tang dynasty single-storey pagoda is believed to have been built first in the Northern Qi

[bid PIS 142-41 This metaphor can be traced to thepraj i~pdrunzit texts I t appears in the Ai[asahasrihu praji2pZraiizt2 From her have the

Tathigatas come forth For she has begotten and shown that cognition of the all-knowing she has shown them the world for what it really is Edward Conze 1973 172The earliest known images of this goddess are from the eighth or ninth century in India though there is textual evldence that earlier representations were made A discussion of this topic is included in an unpublished paper by Jacob Kinnard Rethinking the Representation of PrajRapiramiti From the Mother of All Buddhas to the Buddhas Bodies 10-12

4 Taishd no 2060 j0484

recorded to have been associated with Fashang but it seems possible that he may have played a part in the enshrinement of sitras there under imperial sponsorship

For Bernard Faure the devotion to relics (physical relics) and to scriptures (metaphsical relics) is a matter of two aspects of the same cult He cites sutvas in which it is stated that veneration of texts is at the same time veneration of relics of the B ~ d d h a ~ In Korea relics of the Buddha are reserved at the Tongdo Temple in Yangsan District Kycngsang Province known as the Temple of the Jewel of the Buddha while the printing blocks of the Korean Buddhist canon are preserved in the Haein Temple Hycpch6n District also KyGngsang Province called the Temple of the Jewel of the ~ h a r m a ~ ~The practice in Japan of burying sgtvd scrolls in stZpa-like earthen mounds while attributed to the desire to preserve the scriptures until the future coming of Maitreya is also related to this treatment of sgtvas as relics97

Text as Object of Worship

Gregory Schopen has used these developments as evidence for the existence of a cult of the book which he argues rivalled the cult of stZpas and relics in India by the early centuries of our era The locus of the cult of texts as stated in numerous sitvas was simply any place at which a text was recited written or kept eg that spot of earth where one has taken from this discourse on dharma but one stanza of four lines taught it or illumined it that spot of earth would be like a shrine for the whole world (Vqracchedikd ~rajlEdpdanlitZ) 98

Thus the inscription of texts at the caves in addition to bestowing glory dissemination and preservation on the sitras brings to the caves the blessing of the Buddhas teachings and enhances their numinosity In the case of the polished cliff engravings the texts themselves are sufficient to render sacred the places where they are written At Taishan the Eastern Peak a place already sacred in native Chinese religious cosmology and state ritual the engraving of the Vajracchedikd PrajEZpardvzitd SZtva proclaimed the site a Buddhist shrine as well The motivation for carving sitvas in stone thus would seem to have been to create cultic centers to give permanent localities to the cult of texts just as there existed centers of relic and image worship

The Northern Dynasties was an age of great concern and enthusiasm for the translation study and interpretation of Buddhist scriptures a fervor that extended into the realm of popular devotion The existence of a Buddhist cult of text in China provides a broader framework within which the

9 I n the Astusah2srikd PrajEZpZranzztd SZTtru ~ a k r achooses one scroll of the PrajiZp2rdizitZ over all the relics of the Buddha explaining that when one venerates the Perfection of Wisdom one venerates at the same time the relics of the Tathagata Tazshino 223 8290 and Edward Conze The Pe$eitzon oJ Wisdoiz ii7 Eight Thousand Lziza (San Francisco Four Seasons Foundation 1973) 116The Lotus Sitru also equates the preaching readlng reciting writing or keeping the text with havltlg the whole body of the

Tathngata See Schopen 164 Bmrard Faure kindly commutlicated through personal correspotldetlce and an excerpt from an unpublished paper See also Ytjnghoon Shin Kukpo vol 9 Sauamp kkDj2i-t~k [National Treasures of Korea Architecture of Buddhist Temples] (Seoul Yekyong Publications 1983)pls 30-31 and 123-29 A copy of the Lotus Stjtrd written in gold ink and dated 998 AD excavated at Kimbusen Yoshitlo-gun Nara-ken is one of many finds of kjozuka or sitra moutlds Kurata Osamu Ky6zuka parts I and 11 Aluseunz (1963) no 147 2-9 and 148 19-26 and Yabuta Kaichiro Kjizuka no kzgen (Ky6to Sogeisha 1976)Chinese accounts of miracles related to the efticacy of reciting carrying or dlsplaylng of Buddhist scriptures demonstrate devotional uses of Buddhist texts in the pre-Tang period See Robert F Campany Notes on the Devotional Uses and Symbollc Functions of Stjtra Texts as Depicted in Early Chinese Buddhist Miracle Tales and Hagiographies J o u m l of the Internatlona Associatioi~ of Buddhist Studies 14(1991)1z8-71

98 Gregory Schopetl The Phrase sa prthiviprude~us caitjabhuto bhavet in che Vajrdichediia Notes on the Cult of the Book in Mahayana lizdo-lranianJot~ri7aI(1975) 17149

above discussions of sz2tra engravings from various perpectives ( i e texts as aids to visualization emulation of the carving of Confucian classics in stone need for preservation in the face of the decline of the Dharma) may all be included and better understood The Buddhist cult of text could coexist or even coincide with the cult of images as at Xiangtangshan or as at Shandong sites i t could flourish independently This aspect of Chinese Buddhism has not been adequately explored in the past perhaps because veneration of text in China has long been taken for granted

SZitra engraving on a monumental scale appears to have originated in China where there was a long tradition of reverence for the written word The documentation of history and the references to classical learning in stone stelae funerary shrines and tomb epitaphs left its traces throughout the Chinese countryside by the time Buddhism was established Northern Liang miniature stz7pas with engraved texts can be seen to have developed as an expression of this veneration of texts that must also have been an important aspect of early Buddhism in China In this light it seems surprising that the miniature stgpas were such isolated phenomena and that other s g t ~ aengravings did not appear until the second half of the sixth century It is likely that stone engravings were not the only mani- festation of the worship of Buddhist texts in China but that this aspect of Buddhist observance also took other forms

In India the engraving of canonical texts is not known at Buddhist caves though dedicatory inscriptions frequently occur in association with carved stone images caves and stgpas The lack of sfltra engravings in India does not exclude the existence of a cult of text at these sites however In India where traditional literature and learning were preserved largely through oral transmission text implies not only the written word but perhaps more importantly recitation performance and pictorial representation as well In China where reverence for the Buddhas teachings could also have been expressed in these non-written forms that tradition has equally far-reaching implications Sfltra

engravings sktra recitations and lectures and the depiction of narrative or paradise scenes on the walls of caves and temple buildings may all be examined from this perspective

The transformation of sz2tras into monumental stone inscriptions emerged as a particularly Chi- nese expression of an established aspect of Buddhist observance The preservation of specific sitras or passages of scripture on a monumental scale indicates that an important process of selection and editing of texts had been undertaken by this time Further study of the texts and engravings and their content and identification of translations or editions from which they were drawn should shed more light on Chinese Buddhist thought of the early medieval period

C O N C L U S I O N

The engraving of sf l t~ason a monumental scale in the Northern Qi dynasty is a significant and innovative achievement in the history of Buddhist art Its sudden appearance is attributable to a combination of factors religious and sociopolitical Popular reverence for Buddhist texts and the translation and study of scriptures promoted in the Northern Wei through Eastern Wei and Northern Qi periods form the background for this emergence Official support for the collection and translation of sflt~asat Luoyang and at Ye gave added prestige to Buddhist scholarship and created an elite group of scholar-monks that was closely affiliated with the court State-sponsored Buddhism was an important feature of the political rhetoric of the Northern Qi Emperor Wenxuan is recorded to have sought personal instruction from important monks of the time including Chief Buddhist

Controller Fashang and State Perceptor Sengchou The Confucian training of Sengchou and other

prominent members of the order is a formative element in their backgrounds both in their approach

to scholarship and in their eventual social and political influence I t may be said that as scholarly

monks they attained the same prestige that Confucian scholars traditionally enjoyed at court and

they were regularly consulted on a wide variety of matters

The close relationship between eminent monks and the court provided the means for the execu-

tion of large-scale s i t ~ a engravings These projects would have appealed to a variety of concerns

among both monks and officials The emulation of the stone Confucian classics and anxiety about the

decline of the dharma were possible motivating considerations as was belief in the beneficial

influences of sitvas and their association with miraculous occurrences Merit accrued to those who

kept or made new copies of s i t ~ a s Making permanent copies that would not suffer the effects of time

or accident would create permanent shrines and ensure lasting benefits for society At the same time

they provided evidence of the power and wealth of the Buddhist establishment and its patrons

Many of the stone sitras were located at places known to have been visited by the Northern Qi

court The royal resting stations along the frequently travelled route between Ye and Jinyang which

include both the Northern and Southern Xiangtangshan caves and Zhonghuangshan were important

sites of engraved sfltras The carving of stone scriptures in the Northern Qi can thus be seen as an

integral part of official sponsored Buddhist projects that were believed to be effective for the protec-

tion and perpetuation of the dynasty In this sense they may be considered as monuments not only in

the conventional sense (as large and enduring structures or objects often made for a memorial

purpose) but in terms of their social and political significance Wu Hung defines monuments in

early China as ritual objects referring to their role in the expression or enactment of social prin-

~ i ~ l e s ~ ~The stone Confucian classics like the nine tripods before them came to be regarded as

objects that conferred status and confirmed the legitimate succession of power Within the context of

official sponsored Buddhist projects and particularly that of the Xiangtangshan caves the stone

S Z ~ ~ Y ~ S too can be understood in terms of their role in the expression of the authority of the Northern

Qi state

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You have printed the following article

Monumentalization of Buddhist Texts in the Northern Qi Dynasty The Engraving of Strasin Stone at the Xiangtangshan Caves and Other Sites in the Sixth CenturyKatherine R TsiangArtibus Asiae Vol 56 No 34 (1996) pp 233-261Stable URL


This article references the following linked citations If you are trying to access articles from anoff-campus location you may be required to first logon via your library web site to access JSTOR Pleasevisit your librarys website or contact a librarian to learn about options for remote access to JSTOR

[Footnotes]

14 Imperial Cave-Chapels of the Northern Dynasties Donors Beneficiaries DatesAlexander Coburn SoperArtibus Asiae Vol 28 No 4 (1966) pp 241-270Stable URL

httplinksjstororgsicisici=0004-364828196629283A43C2413AICOTND3E20CO3B2-3

81 Early Forebodings of the Death of BuddhismDavid Wellington ChappellNumen Vol 27 Fasc 1 (Jun 1980) pp 122-154Stable URL

httplinksjstororgsicisici=0029-59732819800629273A13C1223AEFOTDO3E20CO3B2-R



84 Northern Liang and Northern Wei in KansuAlexander C SoperArtibus Asiae Vol 21 No 2 (1958) pp 131-164Stable URL

httplinksjstororgsicisici=0004-364828195829213A23C1313ANLANWI3E20CO3B2-O

httpwwwjstororg

LINKED CITATIONS- of 1 -

NOTE The reference numbering from the original has been maintained in this citation list

K A T H E R I N E R T S I A N G

MONUMENTALIZATION OF BUDDHIST TEXTS IN THE NORTHERN QI DYNASTY THE ENGRAVING OF

Sl fTRAS IN STONE AT THE XIANGTANGSHAN CAVES AND OTHER SITES IN THE SIXTH CENTURY

I N T R O D U C T I O N

n the Northern Q i Dynasty (550-77) the engraving of Buddhist szitras in stone on a monumental scale was undertaken at cave temples and other sites in Northern China Among these sz2tra

inscriptions the group at Xiangtangshan in Handan Municipality Hebei province is probably best-known because it has been most extensively published Along with the sittra-engravings at other sites in the area controlled by the Northern Qi they demonstrate that this practice was rather widespread beginning in the second half of the sixth century The existence of a body of inscriptions that can be dated to the Northern Qi and the seeming lack of precedence for this type of activity in earlier periods most notably in the Northern Wei Dynasty make it a particularly interesting topic for exploration with respect to Northern Qi Buddhism and Buddhist art

The texts are painstakingly engraved into the monumental faces of cliffs and cave walls after preparation of the stone surface by cutting and grinding Some of the inscriptions seem to be related to cave construction and sculpted images others are not At several of the caves in Hebei province passages from Buddhist scriptures appear inside caves engraved on the smoothly finished interior stone walls Other inscriptions at various sites are written outside the caves or have no association with the caves The characters are cut in intaglio into the surface of the stone in a variety of styles of script that may be seen as transitional between lishu (clerical script) and kaishu (standard script)

Previous studies of the Xiangtangshan inscriptions particularly by Mizuno Seiichi and Nagahiro Toshio have recorded some of the sz7ttrd passages and largely identified their textual sources Recently more studies have been made on this group In addition sitra engravings at numerous other sites in Hebei Henan and Shandong provinces have also been identified and catalogued and they have been the subject of a broader study of szitm engraving in the Northern Dynasties They have been examined from various perspectives including those of the history of Buddhism the art of calligraphy environmental art and conservation A number of fundamental questions about these inscriptions

however remain to be satisfactorily answered What factors might have led to the emergence of s~ttra engraving activity in the Northern Qi period For what reasons were the texts written at these sites

This article is adapted from a chapter of my dissertation on the Xiangtangshan Caves written under the name Katherine Tsiang Mino Bodies of Buddhas and Princes at the Xiangtangshan Caves Image Text and Stz7pa in Buddhist Art of the Northern Qi Dynasty (550-577) (University of Chicago 1996) I am very grateful to Harrie Vanderstappen Thomas Lawcon and W u Hung my advisers and to SLI Bai Koichi Shinohara Ma Zhongli Amy McNair Lothar Ledderose and Bernard Faure for their advice and encouragement during various stages of this exploration

See Mizuno Seiichi and Nagahiro Toshio KjJdJzan iek-kimu [The Buddhlst Cave-Temples of Hsiang-tang-ssu] (Kyoto Tohd bunka gakuen Kyoto kenkyusho 1937) and Zhongguo shufajia xiehui Shandong fenhui and Shandong shike yishu bowuguan Beidao Ilola kejinfi lan j i i~ (Jinan Qllu shushe 1991)

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A at Siang Buddhist Text Northern Qi 1996

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