esoteric buddhism at the crossroads 253
spells for added-on efficacy. We may refer to this later developed class of scrip-
tures as representing early Esoteric Buddhism. These scriptures place exclusive
emphasis on ritual practices and the workings of magic, in other words their
primary discourses center on ritual magic.
Developed Esoteric Buddhism is based on scriptures, which feature elabo-
rate ritual programs and techniques. It is also in this material that comprehen-
sive ritual programmes occur in which mantras, mudrās, maṇḍalas and homa
are used together. This formation of Esoteric Buddhism starts to be evident in
China during the Sui and early Tang Dynasties (late 6th/early 7th centuries).
The scriptures representative of this phase show consistent Indian Buddhist
influence, even in those scriptures which were composed or compiled in China.
Mature Esoteric Buddhism in China is synonymous with the middle and
late Tang, i.e. the 8th–9th centuries. Like ‘developed Esoteric Buddhism,’ the
related scriptural material is heavily influenced by Indian Buddhist norms,
although salient features from Daoism and Chinese culture are also evident.
Normally this formation is associated with the activities and translations of the
three Ācāryas from India, Śubhākarasimha (善無畏, 673–735), Vajrabodhi (金
剛智, 671–741) and Amoghavajra (不空, 705–774). It was this form of Esoteric
Buddhism which in Heian Japan (平安 (794–1185) became known as the
Shingon School ( Jap. 真言宗).
Tantric Buddhism is a tradition which developed in India during the late
Gupta period, c. 6th century. It represents a highly developed form of Esoteric
Buddhism (early forms of which are discernible in mature Esoteric Buddhism).7
As far as China goes, one may argue, and with good reason, that some Tantric
Buddhist aspects are already present in the Mature Esoteric Buddhism of
the Tang, however only in incipient form. Full-blown Tantric Buddhism only
arrived in the Chinese heartlands during the early Northern Song (960–1127,
北宋) and Liao (907–1125, 遼) Dynasties and was later re-introduced by the
Mongols under the Yuan (1206–1368, 元). However, in Dunhuang as well as
in the nearby oasis of Anxi (安西), Tantric Buddhism was introduced to the
Chinese Buddhist communities during the Tibetan rule over Eastern Central
Asia of the late 8th and first half of the 9th centuries.
The Esoteric Buddhist material from Dunhuang consists of manuscripts,
wall paintings, votive paintings, designs, etc., most of which reflect trends
prevalent in the Central provinces during the Tang Dynasty, of course with the
7 For an attempt at addressing the various problems surrounding the use of ‘Esoteric
Buddhism’ and its limitations, see Sørensen, Henrik H., “On Esoteric Buddhism in China:
A Working Definition,” in Esoteric Buddhism and the Tantras in East Asia, ed. Charles D.
Orzech, Henrik H. Sørensen, Richard K. Payne (Leiden: Brill, 2011), 155–175.