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half of the fu as a guarantee of their agreement (Kaltenmark 1960; des
Rotours 1952; Lagerwey 1987). One of the early uses of a talisman was
for a ruler to authorize the conduct and scope of authority of a general
(i.e., how many troops he could command; Lewis 1999; Seidel 1983).
The military context of talismans was later carried over into the spiri-
tual realm and permitted their possessors to summon and control a
variety of deities that could be drawn on in battles with malicious spir-
its (Seidel 1983). Talismans written in an esoteric script are found on
Han tomb objects where, as Anna Seidel has noted (1987b, 27), they
“figure at the end of several ordinance and contract texts. They also
occur separately or combined with short demon-subduing spells on
wooden tablets or on jars.” Based on the available evidence, the earliest
uses of these talismans were for healing, exorcism, and protection.
One of the distinctive features of esoteric Chinese talismans is the
uncanny resemblance they have to writing. Some talismans are illeg-
ible to the human eye, while others have discernible graphic elements,
what I refer to as imbricated graphs. Scholars of Chinese script have
long noted how the earliest forms of writing in China were essentially
signs that reflected the hidden powers of the universe and were used to
“communicate with the spirits” (Lagerwey 1987; Vandermeersch 1980;
Schipper 1974).^3 Written traces were essentially “patterns” (wen )
originating in nature and were originally considered to have a spiritual
or divine power that could be harnessed to control or influence that
which was represented in writing (Kern 2001; Chaves 1977). Given
their unique position between the “legible” and “illegible,” written tal-
ismans have been perceived to be capable of serving as mediums for
communication with (or control of) the realm of demons and deities.
There are many Buddhist texts found in standard collections, such
as the Taishō canon and the Dai Nippon zokuzōkyō
(Nakano and Maeda, 1902–1905), and in extracanonical sources—
such as Dunhuang manuscript collections—that incorporate talismans,
talismanic writing, or talismans on seals (see figure 1).
The applications of Buddhist talismans are quite varied, but they
generally include those that are to be ingested; those to be burned and
the ashes used to empower water for washing the eyes or for drinking;
(^3) This view of the origins of Chinese script as preceding the oral is not a return to
the fallacious view of early Chinese script as ideographic. See Boltz 2003.