. central divinities 119
Mārīcī, Goddess of War.^86 During the Tang this goddess appears in
two major forms: as a standing, multi-armed martial form, and as a
seated, peaceful form holding a fan. The importance of her cult is also
reflected in paintings at Dunhuang from the ninth–tenth centuries
and in stone sculptures from Sichuan dating to the early Southern
Song (figure 13).^87
During the Ming dynasty the figure of Mārīcī became merged with
the Daoist astral divinity Doumu , while in the Sino-Tibetan tra-
dition of Buddhist art she is depicted as a wrathful divinity, usually as
one of the pañcaraksạ.^88
Hārītī, Mother of Demon Children. The cult of this important
female demon (yakṣāsi) as a distinct figure in the Mahāyāna Bud-
dhist pantheon predates the formation of Esoteric Buddhism as such.
She is depicted as a full-figured woman surrounded by several small
children. Hārītī occurs with increasingly frequency in the context of
Esoteric Buddhism from the early Tang onward. Her chief scriptures
are the Foshuo Guizimu jing (Scripture on the Mother
of Demon Children),^89 the Helidimu zhenyan jing
(Scripture on the Hārītī Mantras),^90 and the ritual text Da yao-
cha nu huanxi mu bing aizi chengjiu fa
(Methods for Accomplishing Siddhi of the Great Yaks āsi, Happy ̣
Mother Who Loves Her Children).^91 The former is a basic dhāraṇī
sūtra recounting the story of the Buddha’s conversion of the child-
devouring ogress Hārītī, while the latter two texts belong to Amoghav-
jara’s dispensation of mature Zhenyan-type texts. The last is a purely
ritual work. Textual material relating to the Hārītī cult has also been
found at Dunhuang. Sculptural examples from the late Tang and Song
can be found in Dazu in Sichuan, testifying to the widespread popular-
ity of her cult in medieval China.^92
(^86) Hall 1989. For the Indian side of this deity, see Shaw 2006, 203–223.
(^87) See Suchan 2003, 311–325.
(^88) For a discussion of Daoist adaptations, including of Mārīcī, see Capitanio, “Eso-
teric Buddhist Elements in Daoist Ritual Manuals of the Song, Yuan, and Ming,” in
this volume. 89
T. 1262.
(^90) T. 1261.
(^91) T. 1260.
(^92) See Suchan 2003, 325–336.