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Esoteric Buddhism in East Asia: Texts and Rituals
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Esoteric Buddhism in East Asia: Texts and Rituals

A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444). This special issue belongs to the section "Religions and Theologies".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2023) | Viewed by 5881

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Peiying Lin

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Graduate Institute of Religious Studies, National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan
Interests: East Asian Buddhism; esoteric Buddhism; manuscript culture; Zen Buddhism

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We would like to draw your attention to this Special Issue, "Esoteric Buddhism in East Asia: Texts and Rituals”, to be published by Religions (https://www.mdpi.com/journal/religions/special_issues/east_asian_religions). This Special Issue aims to explore how Esoteric Buddhism influenced the indigenous religions and cultures in East Asian countries through various disciplines. Esoteric Buddhism developed in India from the fourth to the twelfth centuries, which was a period that lasted from the establishment of the Gupta dynasty to the domination of Islam in northern and northeastern India. Particularly during the eighth through tenth centuries, Esoteric Buddhism became a movement that influenced the southern, eastern, and southeastern regions of Asia and permeated the religions as well as cultures of these regions. This Special Issue explores how Esoteric Buddhism has affected local religions and cultures in different parts of Asia, and re-examines the influences of Esoteric Buddhist movements from the aspects of material culture, scriptures, and rituals in order to think more broadly about the religious impacts of cross-cultural Buddhist movements across borders between East Asian countries.

Contributors are invited to add to the topic by presenting case studies addressing any form of Esoteric Buddhism in China, Japan, Korea, or India and Tibet while relevant, between the medieval period and the present day. Research papers may focus on, but are not limited to, the following topics:

  • Textual analysis of Esoteric Buddhist manuals;
  • Rituals and performances in Esoteric Buddhism;
  • Images and paintings related to Esoteric Buddhism;
  • The relationship between iconography and textuality in Esoteric Buddhist culture;
  • Monastic practices derived from Esoteric rituals or texts;
  • Material culture and objects harnessed by Esoteric Buddhism;
  • Doctrinal evolution in Esoteric Buddhism;
  • Historical analysis of the trajectories of Esoteric Buddhist traditions;
  • Local and transnational transmission and transformation of Esoteric Buddhism.

We welcome contributions in English with a recommended length of 8,000–10,000 words. The deadline for articles is 15 December 2022. Proposals must include a title, an abstract of up to 500 words, and a short biography of approx. 200 words, and should be submitted to the Guest Editor, Dr. Pei-ying Lin (bibo825@gmail.com), by 15 August 2022. All manuscripts should be submitted and formatted according to the Religions Instructions for Authors for peer review.

I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Peiying Lin
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • esoteric Buddhism
  • esoteric rituals
  • Buddhist iconography
  • Buddhist manuscripts
  • East Asian Buddhism

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 4104 KiB  
Article
The Chinshō Yasha-hō 鎮將夜叉法 and the Adaptation of Tendai Esoteric Ritual
by Pei-ying Lin
Religions 2023, 14(8), 1060; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14081060 - 18 Aug 2023
Viewed by 1015
Abstract
This study aims to investigate the ritual of a peculiar scripture entitled Chinshō yasha-hō 鎮將夜叉法 (Ch. Zhenjiang yecha fa. “Tantric Ritual of Chinshō Yakṣa”). The Japanese deity Chinshō Yakṣa is a Tendai variation of Vaiśravaṇa (Ch. Pishamen/Jp. Bishamon 毘沙門), a heavenly king who [...] Read more.
This study aims to investigate the ritual of a peculiar scripture entitled Chinshō yasha-hō 鎮將夜叉法 (Ch. Zhenjiang yecha fa. “Tantric Ritual of Chinshō Yakṣa”). The Japanese deity Chinshō Yakṣa is a Tendai variation of Vaiśravaṇa (Ch. Pishamen/Jp. Bishamon 毘沙門), a heavenly king who vowed to protect Buddhism. The ritual of Chinshō Yakṣa is a major ritual in Tendai Esotericism. It has been traditionally accepted that this scripture was transmitted from China. Modern scholarship, however, suspects that this ritual is Saichō’s 最澄 (767–822) invention. This study examines the contents and characters involved in this ritual manual by comparing other ritual manuals of Vaiśravaṇa. In analysing its liturgical aspect, as well as its textual relationship with other ritual manuals, this paper illustrates how the Chinshō yasha-hō deviates from the other ritual manuals and evaluates the possible sources or origins regarding the formation of this ritual. Similar mudrās and mantras that appear in both the Chinshō yasha-hō and other texts were identified, implying that the Chinshō yasha-hō might have drawn from multiple sources. Moreover, judging from its similarity with Chinese Tiantai ritual manuals and other texts that were forged in the Tang dynasty, it is possible that Tang China and Japan saw a period of active ritual invention. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Esoteric Buddhism in East Asia: Texts and Rituals)
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30 pages, 25259 KiB  
Article
The Dhāraṇī Coffin from the Nongso Tomb and the Cult of Shattering Hell during the Koryŏ Dynasty
by Seunghye Lee
Religions 2023, 14(1), 121; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14010121 - 16 Jan 2023
Viewed by 1877
Abstract
Inscriptions of Buddhist mantras and dhāraṇīs were interred in Chinese tombs on behalf of the deceased from the Tang dynasty onward as the fear of postmortem judgment and punishment in the ten courts of hell became firmly rooted. This notion of the afterlife [...] Read more.
Inscriptions of Buddhist mantras and dhāraṇīs were interred in Chinese tombs on behalf of the deceased from the Tang dynasty onward as the fear of postmortem judgment and punishment in the ten courts of hell became firmly rooted. This notion of the afterlife and the practice of enclosing dhāraṇī inscriptions in tombs seem to have been received by Korean Buddhists by the beginning of the Koryŏ (918–1392). This paper, through a close examination of a wooden inner coffin excavated in 2014 from a tomb in Nongso-myŏn, Ullim-ri, Sunch’ang-gun, North Chŏlla Province of Korea, sheds new light on the use of dhāraṇī on funerary objects and structures during the Koryŏ. The coffin bears, on its lacquered exterior walls, inscriptions of the Mantra of the Six-Syllable King of Great Clarities (Oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ) and the Mantra for Shattering Hell (Oṃ karadeya svāhā). While defining the dhāraṇī coffin from Nongso Tomb as one form of funerary dhāraṇī, this paper situates it in the historical trajectory of such practice by comparing it with Liao (916–1125) precedents. The dhāraṇī coffins from Koryŏ and Liao tombs attest that the Buddhists made use of mantras and dhāraṇīs promising salvation of the deceased from hell during their lifetime and beyond. This study shows that two different kinds of dhāraṇīs, which are similarly named and believed to have the power of shattering hell, were practiced by Chinese and Korean Buddhists. It also proposes that the Mantra for Shattering Hell (Oṃ karadeya svāhā) may have been transmitted to the Korean peninsula as part of the food bestowal ritual before its incorporation into the funerary context. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Esoteric Buddhism in East Asia: Texts and Rituals)
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31 pages, 2949 KiB  
Article
The Odae chinŏn (Five Great Mantras) and Dhāraṇī Collections in Premodern Korea
by Richard D. McBride II
Religions 2023, 14(1), 8; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14010008 - 21 Dec 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2239
Abstract
The Five Great Mantras (Odae chinŏn) is one of the most widely circulated collections of Buddhist dhāraṇīs in premodern Korea, having been published or existing in several variant editions during the Chosŏn period (1392–1910). The title refers to the following [...] Read more.
The Five Great Mantras (Odae chinŏn) is one of the most widely circulated collections of Buddhist dhāraṇīs in premodern Korea, having been published or existing in several variant editions during the Chosŏn period (1392–1910). The title refers to the following dhāraṇīs: (1) “The Forty-Two Mantras of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara,” (2) Nīlakaṇṭha-dhāraṇī, (3) Mahāpratisarā-dhāraṇī, (4) Buddhoṣṇīṣa-dhāraṇī, and (5) Uṣṇīṣavijaya-dhāraṇī. Another spell, “The Basic Dhāraṇī of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara,” was also added, so there are a total of six dhāraṇīs contained in the book. Although most scholarship has hitherto understood the Five Great Mantras to date from the late fifteenth century, when editions with transcriptions of the dhāraṇīs in the Korean script appeared in trilingual format along with Siddhaṃ and Sinitic transliterations, due to the patronage of Queen Insu (1437–1508) and the linguistic ability of the monk Hakcho (fl. 1464–1520), some evidence has come to light suggesting that the Five Great Mantras was initially published as early as the mid-fourteenth century in the late Koryŏ period (918–1392). This essay provides a detailed analysis of the components that appear in the Five Great Mantras by analyzing six variant editions of the text dating from the Chosŏn period, including Brief Transcriptions of Efficacious Resonance (Yŏnghŏm yakch’o) in Sinitic and Korean vernacular translation. The Five Great Mantras demonstrates the significance of non-canonical materials in the Korean Buddhist tradition and suggests a fruitful avenue for study of similar woodblock prints and manuscripts in the Sinitic Buddhist tradition. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Esoteric Buddhism in East Asia: Texts and Rituals)
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