. astrology and the worship of the planets 237
the field were the result of a highly functional cross-breeding between
Chinese and Indian scientific traditions.^26
The Cult of the Great Dipper in Esoteric Buddhism
Great Dipper worship in the Buddhist context would appear to date
from the early Tang dynasty, and the practices, as seen in the earli-
est related texts, bear witness to considerable influence from Daoism.^27
The earliest Buddhist source is the Beidou qixing yanming jing
(Scripture on the Seven Stars of the Northern Dipper
Extending Life).^28 As far as we can tell, both the names and iconog-
raphy of the gods of the Great Dipper, as well as the ritual associated
with their worship, were borrowed more or less directly from Dao-
ism.^29 Only later, during the Tang, did the Esoteric Buddhist tradi-
tion modify Great Dipper worship to make it conform with its overall
practices and doctrines. At that time a series of seven buddhas was
placed in charge of each of the gods of the Great Dipper. In other
words, Buddhist divinities were grafted on top of the old Daoist gods,
and Buddhist ritual behavior supplanted the original Daoist forms.
Nevertheless, the core of the ritual remained the same. We may even
observe how in time the Taishang xuanling beidou benming yansheng
zhen jing (True Scripture on the High-
est, Abstruse Spiritual, Northern Dipper’s Fundamental Extension of
Life),^30 a purely Daoist text, reappeared in the Buddhist context as an
authoritative text on Great Dipper worship.^31
While the cult of the Great Dipper existed in its own right as an
aspect of Tang Buddhism, in the same period it was absorbed into
the Esoteric Buddhist cults of Tejaprabha, Sudṛsti, Cintāmaṇ ̣icakra-
Avalokiteśvara and Mañjuśrī (see below).
(^26) Most of this material is discussed at length in Xiao 1991.
(^27) Cf. Xiao 1994, 347–51. See also Sørensen 1995c, 72–79.
(^28) T. 1307.
(^29) Incidently, this Daoist prototype has not been located, which makes the Buddhist
Great Dipper Scripture the oldest. However, given its many and unambiguously Daoist
features, it is clear that an original Daoist composition served as its template. The fact
that no early Daoist work has been found has led to some confusion and misunder-
standing in regard to its dating and origin. As an example of this, see Franke 1990. A
refutation of his views can be found in Sørensen 1995c, 72–74. 30
DZ 622.
(^31) This development may be observed in popular Buddhist materials from the Ming
where the Taishang xuanling beidou benming yansheng zhen jing often replaced the
Beidou qixing yanming jing.