56 henrik h. sørensen
manuscripts as a textual corpus reflect a more than five hundred year-
long history means that the same timeframe applies to most of the
Esoteric Buddhist texts and scriptures contained among them. Never-
theless, the great majority of the Esoteric Buddhist texts from Dun-
huang dates from between the second half of the eighth century to the
late tenth century, a span of roughly two and a half centuries.
Fo jin’gang tan guangda qingjing tuoluoni jing
(Scripture on the Extensive and Greatly Pure Dhāran ̣ī of the
Buddha Vajra Altar),^104 translated by Tanqing (fl. late eighth cen-
tury) in Anxi during the Tang. An authentic Esoteric Buddhist scrip-
ture featuring a ritual with the use of a powerful spell. Mañjuśrī is one
of the main characters in the narrative.
Da foding rulai dingji bojie tuoluoni shenzhou jing
(Great Buddhos ṇ̣īsa Tathāgata Usṇ̣īsa White ̣
Umbrella Dhāraṇī Spiritual Mantra Sūtra).^105 This is an earlier text
than those represented in T. 975–977.
Foding xin Guanshiyin jing (Buddhos ṇ̣īsa Heart of
Avalokiteśvara Sutra).^106 A popular apocryphal scripture with spells in
three chapters, probably dating from the mid-Tang. It also exists in a
number of printed and illustrated editions dating from the Ming.
Foshuo jiaju lingyan foding zunsheng tuoluoni shenmiao zhangju
zhenyan (Buddha Dis-
courses on the Augmenting and Efficacious Buddhosṇ̣īsa Dhāraṇī,
Spiritual and Wonderful Section of Mantras),^107 compiler unknown.
Mantras associated with the Buddhosṇ̣īsa.
Foshuo jie baisheng yuanjia tuoluoni jing
(Scripture on the Dhāraṇī for Liberating the Hundred Hateful
(^104) A brief study of this fascinating text together with a complete edition based on
several different manuscripts can be found in Ueyama 1990, 460–69, 630–43. See also
DMWJ, pp. 557–73.
(^105) P. 3916 (8).
(^106) P. 3916 (5).
(^107) P. 3939 B (5). Manuscript dated to the tenth century.