726 pamela d. winfield
Chinese courtyard dwellings were usually oriented to the south (not
to the east as the Womb World is), but they too usually had a double
entranceway. Upon entry, one first encountered the Ancestral Hall,
which was associated with the woman’s role in giving birth to the fam-
ily lineage (akin to Butsumo’s role in giving birth to enlightened beings
of wisdom and compassion in the mandala). Its flanking side halls fac-
ing the central courtyard were usually reserved for children’s quarters
(akin to Kannon and Vajrapāṇi’s retinues in the flanking Lotus and
Diamond Courts). The large hall at the back was usually reserved for
the men’s quarters (akin to the Mantra-Holders Hall where five wis-
dom kings wrathfully but compassionately burn away defilements).
In this regard the Womb World Mandala and the everyday world of
Chinese family living seem to converge and situate a spatial logic that
would resonate with Chinese mikkyō adepts.
In addition, Butsumo’s flaming triangle in the Hall of Universal
Knowledge (figure 4) is also distinctive of Chinese ornamentation for
palace architecture. This abstract symbol is usually discussed in terms
of its feminine associations and yoni symbolism,^7 but seen in the light
of Chinese architectural models, it also closely resembles a shanze ban
gable board, “a triangular board which crowns the end wall of
small buildings” (Guo 2002, 69–70).
This popular roof finial seems to have been well established as early
as the Northern Wei dynasty (465–494 C.E.). Rock-cut cave temples
such as Yungang cave no. 12 (figure 5, figure 6) in Datong, Shanxi
province, for example, include similar triangles in scenes of Maitreya’s
celestial palace.
Another bas relief scene at Yungang cave no. 6 (figure 7) depicts the
Buddha’s great renunciation from his royal palace in India, though the
distinctive triangle at the center of the roofline evokes the then-current
Northern Wei ideal for palace architecture. The contemporary Tomb
of the Wrestling Scene (Kakjŏch’ong) in Ji’anxian, Jilin province,
(^7) Manabe Shinshō and Shashibala (personal communication, 2001) agree that after
passing through the two entrance gates above, the meditator would encounter this tri-
angle head-on, its tip pointing down. Viewed from this perspective, such an inverted
triangle would resemble the yoni of the Hindu yantras and reinforce the feminine
associations of Butsumo. It is not known to what extent ninth-century mikkyō adepts
may have visualized “entering” into the Womb World Mandala. At least in the con-
temporary context, Sharf 2001, 167–68, has argued that the mikkyō practitioner never
actively “enters” into the mandala during ritual visualizations, and Yoritomi agrees
(personal communication, 2001).