192 henrik h. sørensen
be traced back to the late Western Han (206 BCE–24 CE). The rise
to prominence of the Lingbao tradition of Daoism during the
fourth–fifth centuries may have served as a stimulating factor.^43
Buddhist talismans and seals are not direct replicas of those used in
Daoism, or at least are rarely so; they are more like copies, similar in
form, concept, and mode of composition. Their ritual and medicinal
uses were by and large identical with how they were used by Daoists,
discounting the elements that hinge on points of doctrine (such as
a talisman for rebirth in Amitābha’s Pure Land) and type of divin-
ity (e.g., a talisman of Ucchusma, and so on).̣^44 Unless there are clear
distinguishing factors, such as an iconic or identifying name accom-
panying a given talisman, the context in which they were used can
primarily determine their actual religious affiliation.
Although Daoist influence on Esoteric Buddhist apocrypha consti-
tuted a persuasive current discernible throughout the medieval period,
it is most pronounced in ritual texts, in particular works connected
with the worship of the planets and constellations.^45 Moreover, it
would appear that Daoist influence, in particular that pertaining to
the use of talismans and talismanic seals, found its widest and most
extensive expression in the popular cults that developed around the
various forms of the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara.
Although the cult of more than one form of Avalokiteśvara became
popular in connection with the use of talismans, it is Cintāmaṇicakra
who most often appears in the apocrypha. Several manuscripts found
at Dunhuang document this relationship, including the Guanshiyin
Ruyilun tuoluoni huaxiang fa bing biexing wen
(Method of Avalokiteśvara Cintāman ̣icakra Dhāraṇī
for for Transforming Forms with the Text of Alternative Practice),^46 as
well as similar texts devoted to this form of Avalokiteśvara that also
contain talismans.^47
Exactly when talismans first started to be linked with Cintāmaṇicakra
is difficult to determine with any degree of precision. The extant man-
(^43) This development is discussed in Ōfuchi 1997, 73–219. See also Kobayashi 1990,
95–185. 44
For the seals of Ucchusma, see Strickmann 2002, 156–61.̣
(^45) Cf. Sørensen, “Astrology and the Worship of the Planets in Esoteric Buddhism
during the Tang,” in this volume.
(^46) Cf. P. 2153 (2).
(^47) Important among these are P. 3835V° (11), which is largely analogous to P. 2153
(2), and the unidentified text of P. 3874 (1).