. the apocrypha and esoteric buddhism in china 183
not pass the test of authenticity. Even so, a considerable number of
these texts became both influential and culturally important in China,
sometimes even surpassing authentic Indian scriptures in popularity.
In this regard, it is important to remember that while the majority
of the apocryphal Buddhist scriptures in China were composed by
independent Buddhist groups and individuals to further particular
agendas, the Chinese government was also in some cases behind the
production of forgeries. As an example of this tendency, we see how
Empress Wu (r. 685–704) tried to suppress apocryphal Buddhist texts,
especially those containing spells and talismanic charts, while at the
same time having monks tamper with authentic Buddhist translations
in order to further her own political ambitions.^5
Not all the Esoteric Buddhist apocryphal scriptures in China were
disguised as Indian scriptures, i.e. sūtras or śāstras. Some forged texts
that have been passed off as translations bear attributions to a famous
monk-author without having actually been written by that person. The
logic behind such attributions is essentially the same as when a given
apocryphal scripture was being assigned to a fictitious translator of
importance. It is all a matter of borrowing prominence and authentic-
ity in order to provide textual and spiritual authority to one’s forgery.
There is also a type of Esoteric Buddhist scripture that can best
be termed borderline cases. These texts are neither complete forger-
ies nor fully authentic scriptures. Scriptures of this type often consist
of a “core” or parts that are authentic, i.e., that may have an Indian
(or at least a foreign) origin, embedded into an otherwise fabricated
text, or vice versa. Through this process we have an apocryphal sūtra
that is actually “molded” around authentic textual parts. In some cases
a given scripture may consist of more or less authentic parts, some-
times even to the point of being a compendium of excerpted Esoteric
Buddhist material lifted from a variety of original scriptures. In other
cases, they barely transmit the imprint of an authentic text via a few
lines or even through rewriting.
An example of this is the Guanding jing ( Consecration
Scripture),^6 a composite text consisting of several, individual scrip-
tures, that features many elements of Indian Mahāyāna Buddhist prac-
(^5) See Forte 1976.
(^6) T. 1331. Cf. Strickmann 1990.