332 charles d. orzech
Many of these texts are variants of those ascribed to Amoghavajra.
A sizable body of texts involves the use of “abhisekạ ” to ease the kar-
mic burden and eliminate transgressions.^88 Texts to prolong life and
to distribute food to beings in hell are also present.^89 A few mandalas
are found, mostly as sketches in manuscripts (Sørensen 1991–1992b,
291) and even one possible late-Tang Garbha Mandala (Sørensen
1991–1992b, 294).
There are numerous esoteric ritual manuals among the Dunhuang
documents ( yigui, vidhi, kalpa), some of them compilations of
local provenance, some canonical, such as Atikūta’s ̣ Tuoluoni ji jing
(T. 901, Beijing 7456). Like Atikūta’s collection, many of these manu-̣
als bring together a variety of esoteric texts and trappings. A prom-
inent concern is repentance and one’s fate in the afterlife, and not
surprisingly ghost-feeding rituals, which were growing in popularity in
the late Tang and early Song dynasties.^90 For instance, the Qianyuan
si qiqing wen (S. 2685) from the ninth or tenth centu-
ries contains the Shi egui shibing shui zhenyan yin fa
, and the hybrid Sino-Tibetan manual (P. 3861) dating to
the end of the eighth century during the period of Tibetan occupation
(780–848), has embedded in it a Sanshi fa ; both are closely
related to the Shi zhu egui yinshi ji shui fa
(T. 1315) attributed to Amoghavajra.^91 It is unlikely that these manuals
are the product of the lineage heirs of Huiguo.
The Qianyuan si qiqing wen is the most tightly focused on repen-
tance and ghost feeding, and includes the invocation of a series of dei-
ties, including the four Celestial Kings, Lord Yama, the Great Spirits of
the Five Paths, and the Lord of Mt. Tai, and ends with an invocation
of Vairocana. The Sino-Tibetan manual is more overtly esoteric. It
includes the mantras and mudrās drawn from the Great Compassion
dhāraṇī (T. 1060), as well as a ritual program involving the invocation
(^88) Fo shuo guanding bachu guozui shengsi de du jing
, Beijing 7470, S. 2515, etc. This usage is distinct from forms of abhis ̣eka used to
transmit the teaching and create cosmic overlords. For a discussion, see Davidson,
“Abhiṣeka,” in this volume.
(^89) Foshuo jiuba yankou egui tuoluoni jing , P. 3920.
(^90) For a discussion of these rites and their role in the broader world of Chinese
religion, see Lye, “Song Tiantai Ghost-feeding Rituals,” and “Yuqie Yankou in the
Ming-Qing,” in this volume; and Orzech 2002.
(^91) Henrik H. Sørensen discusses these manuals in, “ On the Esoteric Buddhist Man-
uals from Dunhuang,” unpublished paper presented at the 34th ICANAS Conference
in Hong Kong, 1993b.