Esoteric Buddhism and the Tantras in East Asia

(Ben Green) #1

. after amoghavajra 329


by Enchin in 882 provides further biographical information.^66 Accord-
ing to Zanning, he was from the “Western Regions” and appears to
have resided at the Xingshan monastery from the 850s through the
870s. He held official position as “Registrar of the Sangha for the Left
Street of the Capital,” received the title Guoshi under Xizong (r.
874–889) and was granted the title Bianjue dashi. Zanning
says he practiced the method of the Mahāmaṇḍala. It is notable that
he fabricated a number of ornate offerings, gold and silver boxes, an
arghya ewer, etc., which were found in the crypt of the Famen pagoda
when it was excavated in 1987.^67 There he is described as an “Ācārya
[who gives] consecration into the Great Teaching.”
Jinhua Chen has uncovered another source for Zhihuilun. An inscrip-
tion by Zhang Tong (?–877+) and Cui Hou (?–877+) is ded-
icated to the “Great Master Puzhao of the Tang Xingshan monastery.”^68
According to the inscription, Zhihuilun was from Chang’an, had the
Chinese surname Ding , and resided in the Great Teaching Abhis ̣eka
Cloister, where he specialized in dhāraṇī transmitted from the west-
ern regions. He was granted the posthumous title Puzhao Dashi, and
his stūpa was titled Zhanghua. The stele was erected sometime in 877
or early 878.^69 The inventory of the items submitted to be re-interred
with the relic in the Famen pagoda list Zhihuilun’s gifts separately and
there is strong evidence that he was a key architect of the relic transla-
tion and re-internment.^70 Zhihuilun’s translation of the “Heart Sūtra”
is still extant (Boreboluomiduo xin jing , T. 254) as
well as the Ming fofa genben (bei) ( ) (T. 1954).^71 Two
ritual manuals are ascribed to him: the first, Mohe feishiluomonaye tipo
heluoshe tuoluoni yigui


(^66) The letter,“Jō Chierin sanzō sho” , can be found in BZ 72:
218a–219b. 67
See Han and Wu 1998, 255–56, 432–36.
(^68) Tang Xingshansi Puzhao dashi bei. For a discussion see
Chen forthcoming, 5. My citations to Chen’s essay correspond to the electronic copy
available at http://philosophy.sysu.edu.cn/buddhist/showPaper.asp?id=33, quoted by
permission of the author.
(^69) Chen forthcoming, 5.
(^70) Chen forthcoming, 8–10.
(^71) Shūei mentions another text, the Zui shangsheng yujia mimi sanmodi xiu ben-
zun xidi jianli mantuluo yigui
, which is known through surviving quotations in another Japanese text, Dainichi
kyō sho en’ō shō , T. 2216 59: 45a28–c3, 65a14–66b17, 66b18–67b15,
68a7–70a13, 90b9–90c20, 91a9–91b29. See Chen forthcoming, 3.

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