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exact meaning behind this practice is unclear, it may be interpreted
as an additional way of empowering a given scripture. Moreover, the
actual origin of this type of practice may well have its antecedence in
Chinese Daoism, where the use of talismanic script in double layers
is well known.^27
This list of Esoteric Buddhist scriptures, most of which are ritual
texts—many apparently non-canonical—indicates that the Bai of the
Dali period also followed practices that were used by the Chinese of
the contemporary Song. However, there are also many differences and
anomalies special to the Buddhists of Dali. This indicates the existence
of a flourishing local form of Esoteric Buddhism that was only partly
under the influence of Chinese culture.
Of Spells and Dhāraṇī
In addition to the various Esoteric Buddhist texts discussed above we
know that the Buddhists of Nanzhao and Dali cherished spells and
mantras of any sort and for any purpose. Many were engraved on
stone slates and impressed on clay (figure 2).
Characteristic of most of these engraved spells is the consistent use
of Sanskrit, although in some cases they also have their titles written
in Chinese.
The Uṣṇīṣavijayā-dhāraṇī was a spell of major importance to the
Buddhists of Dali, just as it was in the entirety of East Asia during the
medieval period and later.^28 This practice probably entered Nanzhao
during the ninth century, where it quickly caught on among the Bai
people. Although the chief use of the Uṣṇīṣavijayā-dhāraṇī was for
engraving on pillars, only one significant example from the Dali period
has come down to us today. This is the pillar from the Dizang Temple
, actually a stūpa-pillar, that features an elaborate and extended
iconographical program far beyond the relatively simple message and
use of the Uṣṇīṣavijayā-dhāraṇī itself.^29
(^27) For a discussion of this practice, see the ground-breaking work by Drexler
1994.
(^28) The use of the dhāraṇī-pillars and stone slabs engraved with the Uṣṇīṣavijayā-
dhāraṇī placed in tombs, or in the vicinity of them, is a practice that can be found in
all of China from the mid-Tang to the Ming. For an excellent study of this spell and
its socio-religious context, see Copp 2005.
(^29) See the lengthy study by Howard 1997, 33–72.