. esoteric buddhism under the jin (–) 485Conclusion
The form of Esoteric Buddhism that existed under the Jin would appear
to have followed the kinds of practices found under the Liao, and there
is evidence of great interest in its scriptures. It is also possible that the
combination of Esoteric Buddhism and Huayan common to the Liao
was taken over by the Jurchen. In short, it makes little sense to discuss
Esoteric Buddhist developments under the Jin as divorced from its
predecessor, the Liao, or apart from a general comparison with Bud-
dhism that flourished in the neighboring Song empire and, of course,
the Koryŏ. However, it is important to note that Esoteric Buddhism
under the Jin most probably did not exist in the form of a sectarian
denomination or school in the institutional sense; rather, its related
scriptures, practices, and beliefs formed part of the mainstream Bud-
dhist tradition.
The Fangshan scriptures carved in stone provide us with informa-
tion on which Esoteric Buddhist scriptures were in vogue under the
Jin. They also document the interest in Esoteric Buddhist teachings
among members of the Buddhist community as well as among those
from the upper levels of Jin society, including important officials and
the nobility. Despite the relatively great importance that Esoteric Bud-
dhist scriptures enjoyed under the Jurchen, so far no works by Jin
authors have been identified.
Esoteric Buddhist existed as an integral part of Buddhism and was
evidently not represented by a school or a sectarian group of practi-
tioners. However, the use of spells, the building of dhāraṇī pillars, and
the importance of stūpas and pagodas as foci of religious worship were
common throughout the Jurchen empire.
Although the information presented here is obviously scattered
and incomplete, it does reveal that a substantial number of Esoteric
Buddhist divinities were worshipped in Northern China under the
Jurchen. We do not have enough material to establish the extent to
which a comprehensive transmission of cultic practices on the basis of
the Esoteric Buddhist scriptures available under the Jin also took place.
However, the indications are that such a comprehensive transmission
was not the case. While Esoteric Buddhist practices were prevalent and
seemingly rather abundant throughout the Jin empire, the evidence we
do have does not reflect the existence of a systematic tradition com-
parable to that of the mid-Tang or of late-Heian Japan. Rather, Eso-
teric Buddhism under the Jin was similar to what had existed under