262 martin lehnertthat depended largely on his person and operated on ritual modules
which he applied according to religious as well as political demands.
His career as con dant of the imperial family was also a consequence
of his loyalty during the military revolt of general An Lushan
(703–757) and the subsequent crisis between 756 and 763.^54 While
emperor Xuanzong had to ee the rebels and to abdicate, the heir
apparent Li Heng (i.e., Suzong , r. 756–762) entered into
an alliance with Tibetan and Uighur forces in order to recapture the
lost imperial authority of his family. Though Amoghavajra had been
detained in the occupied capital he was able to secretly communicate
strategically sensitive information to Li Heng. Besides, Amoghavajra
performed rituals evoking the vidyrja Acala in order to support the
Tang loyalists.^55 In 759, after the rule of the Tang had been restored,
Amoghavajra was regarded as a powerful protector of imperial order
and assigned to consecrate emperor Suzong as cakravartin.
As far as Amoghavajra’s aim was state protection, he introduced
sumptuous rituals for a Buddhist liturgy of state and established the
bodhisattva Mañjur as of cial tutelary deity of the empire.^56 He received
imperial permission to erect an altar for Tantric consecrations at the
Daxingshan monastery (Daxingshan si ),^57 where ritual per-
formances for the bene t of the empire took place four times a year.
Thus he became responsible for the ceremonial sacralisation of impe-
rial order in a state of crisis: outside the walls of the imperial court
poverty and famine spread across the empire that had been devastated
by the rebellion.^58
In the summer of the year 765, when Amoghavajra was commis-
sioned by emperor Daizong to prepare an actualised version of the Ren-
wang boreboluomi jing (Scripture on Perfect Insight for(^54) On the An Lushan rebellion, see Dalby 1979, pp. 561–571.
(^55) T.2120.52.827c24–828a24, 849a1–5; cf. Chou 1945, pp. 294–295; Orzech 1998,
pp. 141–142, 201. 56
Sen 2003, pp. 82–86. Likewise, the ritual manual Mañjurmlakalpa (ca. 7th cen-
tury) presents the youthful bodhisattva Mañjur as a mediator of divine empowerment
in ritual context; cf. Wallis 2002, pp. 76–86.
(^57) The Daxingshan si was erected around 557–559 and meant to be a state monastery
(Chin. guosi ); following a hiatus, its importance grew rapidly under Amoghavajra’s
auspices. See Wang 1986, pp. 6–12, 32–42. 58
Peterson 1979, pp. 482–486. On Daizong’s reign, see Dalby 1979, pp. 571–580;
on Amoghavajra’s services for Daizong, see Weinstein 1987, pp. 77–89.
HEIRMAN_f9_247-276.indd 262 3/13/2007 6:40:08 PM