264 sØrensen
monastic populations, which was a concern shared by both Chinese and
Tibetan authorities in the late medieval period, I remain unconvinced that
Buddhist orthodoxy in more than a very loose form was ever imposed by
either. On the contrary, virtually all the sources I have worked with indicate
that the opposite was actually the case. Moreover, as far as the period under
Tibetan rule is concerned, it would appear that both the Tibetan and Chinese
Buddhist communities worked actively towards mutual accommodation. It is
not the place here to dwell on this issue at length, but for good measure let
me present a few examples reflecting the Esoteric Buddhist perspective which
unmistakaby point to this.
A great many ritual texts and ritual manuals reflecting both Chinese
Esoteric Buddhism and Tibetan Tantric Buddhism can be found among the
manuscripts, revealing that such practices enjoyed considerable popularity at
Dunhuang. Since ritual practices and ritual concerns are almost synonymous
with Esoteric Buddhism, broadly speaking, it is perhaps not so surprising that
we find these texts and scriptures in such abundance. Given the central place
of ritual in Esoteric Buddhism, a full study of the ritual texts and manuals
found at Dunhuang would require a book-length manuscript. Obviously, here
it must suffice to discuss a few examples from the vast repository. Let us there-
fore concentrate on two examples, which—each in its own way—allows us an
insight into those special features characterising Esoteric Buddhist practice in
Dunhuang during the latter half of the Tang. The first is a text in which Chinese
and Tibetan cultural and religious aspects have been combined.
P. 3861 is a ritual manual consisting of several, individual works in the form
of a folding booklet. While there are indications that this manuscript is not
unique, it is the most comprehensive yet discovered among the Dunhuang
material.34 As a ritual manual it provides us with an interesting example of
edicts and regulations from the period of occupation rendered in modern bi-lingual
Tibetan and Chinese, see Wang Yao 王尧, and Chen Jian 陈践, comp. Dunhuang Tubowen
shulun wenji 敦煌吐蕃文书论文集 [Collection of Texts of Clerical Writings in Ancient
Tibetan from Dunhuang] (Chengdu: Sichuan minshu chubanshe, 1988). For a study of
the monastic codices at Dunhuang during the Tang, see Zhanru 湛如, Dunhuang fojiao
luyi zhidu yanjiu 敦煌佛教律儀制度研究 [A Study of Vinaya and Ritual Regulations in
Dunhuang Buddhism] (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2003).
34 That the manual may not be unique is corroborated by another manuscript, Beijing dan
北京 淡 4, which features both The Twenty-eight Vajra Precepts (Chin. Jingang ershiba jie
金剛二十八戒) and the Method for Dispensing Food (Chin. Sanshi fa 散食法) as seen in
P. 3861. This indicates that the format of this Esoteric Buddhist manual could have existed
in a more or less fixed form and possibly in several copies.