The Spread of Buddhism

tantric threads between india and china 273

The adaptation of Tantric policy, doctrine and praxis to local condi-

tions, its promulgators’ readiness to serve as means for political ends, was

neither principally a Chinese indigenous development nor exclusively

a concomitant of the Chinese appropriation of Buddhism. Moreover,

the insistence on a distinct set of Tantric pragmatics as applied under

different socio-political conditions did not obstruct its spread through-

out East Asia until a local alternative such as the “true way learning”

was conceived. Universalist ef ciency promises and maybe also the

occult appeal of Tantric ritual performance helped to re t imperial

and social order into the religious sphere of unconditional legitimacy.

These factors—among many others—proved to be bene cial for the

development and adaptation of Tantric Buddhism to different socio-

historical circumstances: ritualistic formations of Buddhism that con-

ceived sovereignty in technical as well as political terms.

Bibliography

Primary Sources

Taish shinsh daiz ky

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Junjir , Kaigyoku Watanabe and Gemmy Ono. 100 vols. T ky : Taish issaiky

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T.220 Liqu fen (Prajñpramitnayaatapañcatik). Translated by Xuanzang

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T.245 Renwang boreboluomi jing. Translation attributed to

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T.246 Renwang huguo boreboluomiduo jing. Translated by

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T.848 Da Piluzhena chengfo shenbian jiachi jing (Mahvairocanbhisa bodhistra)

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T.895 Supohu tongzi qingwen jing (Subhuparip cchstra). Translated
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T.902 Zongshi tuoluoni yizan , Amoghavajra.
T.1796 Da Piluzhena chengfo jing shu , Yixing.
T.1798 Jingangding jing da yujia bimi xindi famen yijue.
Translated by Amoghavajra.
T.2035 Fozu tongji , Zhipan.

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