storytelling session, rope together those in attendance,
and march them off to the front.
The affinity between Buddhism and storytelling also
obtained in Japan, where many of the greatest collec-
tions of tales (the so-called setsuwa bungakuor tale
literature), such as Sangoku denki (Stories of Three
Kingdoms; i.e., India, China, and Japan) and Konjaku
monogatari(Stories of Yesterday and Today) were per-
meated with Buddhist themes and concepts. In certain
temples, there were monks (hoshi) who specialized in
narrating legends with the aid of picture scrolls, and
along the roads nuns (bikuni), some of whom were
nuns in name only, engaged in similar activities. In Ti-
bet, the itinerant manipaperformer, with her thang ka
(thanka) hanging on a wall beside her, likewise used to
be a common sight.
Some of the grandest representations of Buddhist
performance are to be found in the paradise scenes on
the wall-paintings at DUNHUANG in northwestern
China. There one can see full orchestras depicted, of-
ten with a virtuoso lute player whirling on a small cir-
cular rug in the center. It would seem that to the
Buddhist, pageantry and performance were as much a
part of the celestial realm as they were of the sublu-
nary world.
See also:Festivals and Calendrical Rituals; Folk Reli-
gion: An Overview; Languages
Bibliography
Idema, Wilt I. “Traditional Dramatic Literature.” In The Co-
lumbia History of Chinese Literature,ed. Victor H. Mair. New
York: Columbia University Press, 2001.
Mair, Victor H. “The Buddhist Tradition of Prosimetric Oral
Narrative in Chinese Literature.” Oral Tradition3, nos. 1–2
(1988): 106–121.
Mair, Victor H. Painting and Performance: Chinese Picture
Recitation and Its Indian Genesis.Honolulu: University of
Hawaii Press, 1988.
Mair, Victor H. “The Contributions of T’ang and Five Dynas-
ties Transformation Texts (pien-wen) to Later Chinese Pop-
ular Literature.” Sino-Platonic Papers12 (August 1989):
1–71.
Mair, Victor H. “The Prosimetric Form in the Chinese Literary
Tradition.” In Prosimetrum: Crosscultural Perspectives on
Narrative in Prose and Verse,ed. Joseph Harris and Karl Re-
ichl. Cambridge, UK: Brewer, 1997.
McLaren, Anne E. Chinese Popular Culture and Ming Chantefa-
bles.Leiden, Netherlands: Brill, 1998.
McLaren, Anne E. “The Oral-Formulaic Tradition.” In The Co-
lumbia History of Chinese Literature,ed. Victor H. Mair. New
York: Columbia University Press, 2001.
Pellowski, Anne. The World of Storytelling(1977). Revised edi-
tion, New York: Wilson, 1990.VICTORH. MAIRESOTERIC ART, EAST ASIAThis entry considers the esoteric art forms of China,
Korea, and Japan. The terms esoteric artand esoteric
material culture are modern designations, whereas
terms such as icon, image,MANDALA, ritual implement,
painting, symbol,and initiation hall—used in associa-
tion with esoteric practices—have a long history within
the tradition. Esoteric and Tantric Buddhist traditions
alike deploy images and objects for efficacious, deco-
rative, and ritual purposes. Esoteric art may refer to
painted, sculpted, printed, or textile media represen-
tations of esoteric divinities or esoteric symbols, ritual
implements and furnishings, and halls or pagodas used
for esoteric rites.
The definition of esoteric art,like that of esoteric
Buddhism,may be broad or narrow. Art forms con-
sidered here include not only those associated with the
systematized Esoteric school of Japanese Shingon and
its Chinese inspiration, Zhenyan, but also imagery
used in syncretic religious rituals that incorporate es-
oteric elements. Imagery may be the primary indica-
tion of the esoteric content of a rite. Esoteric icons and
other types of visual and material representation are
recognized as necessary to spiritual and worldly goals,
which are understood as interconnected. Esoteric art
objects are often crafted of valuable materials and en-
visaged according to iconographic specifications and
stylistic or artistic norms that help render them sacred.
In this way, ornamentation, icons, and all types of vi-
sual and material goods lend authority and meaning
to an esoteric rite. Conversely, esoteric ritual is essen-
tial to the perceived efficacy of the image. Esoteric art
and ritual are mutually constituting.Overview of studies and regional histories
There is scant literature on East Asian esoteric art in
English, and most of it concerns Japanese Shingon
objects. Copious scholarship exists in Japanese on
mandala paintings, statues and paintings of Maha-
vairocana (Dainichi Nyorai) and the Radiant KingsESOTERICART, EASTASIA