. esoteric buddhism and monastic institutions 287
According to the ninth-century Chinese esoteric master Haiyun
(active 822–874), a fourth- and fifth-generation disciple of Bukong
and Śubhākarasiṃha, respectively,^3 consecration arenas (guanding
daochang ; abhiṣeka bodhimaṇḍa [?]; i.e., ritual arenas for
esoteric initiation) were erected on an annual basis at different tem-
ples, including six of the abovementioned monasteries in Chang’an.^4
Nothing specific is known about these consecration arenas, most of
which seemed to be no more than ad hoc structures set up for cer-
tain ritual occasions. However, the consecration arenas at two of these
temples, Daxingshansi and Qinglongsi, must be considered as formal
esoteric institutions.
Although only one consecration arena was constructed at Qinglongsi
(within one of its cloisters, called Dongtayuan or Cloister of
the Eastern Pagoda), Daxingshansi alone housed two such arenas, one
at its Translation Cloister (Fanjingyuan ) and the other either
beside or within its Mañjuśrī Pavilion (Dasheng Wenshuge
) (Daizong chao zeng sikong dabian zhengguang zhi sanzangheshang
biaozhi ji also referred to
as the Bukong biaozhi ji 2120.52:845b27–c22). The two arenas within
Daxingshansi were erected in 763 and 774 (the year Bukong died),
(^3) A short esoteric manual, Xifang tuoluoni zang zhong jin’gangzu amiliduo junzhali
fa ( T. 1212), was also attributed to this
obscure monk. Dated January 26, 822, it was dictated by an unnamed ācārya who was
very likely Haiyun’s teacher Yicao (?–822+; a foreign monk with the Sanskrit
name Aluota’nailitu , which could be reconstructed as Arthadṛd ̣ha), a
major disciple of Huiguo (746–806) and a mentor to several Japanese pilgrim-
monks, two of the best known being Ennin and Engyō (799–852). Haiyun seems
to have been versed in Sanskrit and was successively affiliated with several cosmopoli-
tan monasteries in Chang’an, including Jingzhusi and Qinglongsi. He was very
likely the monk whose name was carved on a monk’s staff (xizhang ; khakharak)
that was cast in 873 as a monastic artifact dedicated to the event—occurring at the
beginning of the following year—of re-enshrining what was believed to be a piece of
the Buddha’s finger bone within the underground chamber of the renowned Famensi
Pagoda (see below). He, however, should not be confused with a homonymous monk
residing on Mt. Wutai who is accorded a short biographical note in Song gaoseng
zhuan ( T. 50: 27.882c3–20), which turns out to be a truncated and distorted
version of a biography about a Sui-dynasty monk that finds its way into several ear-
lier hagiographical collections (Gu Qingliang zhuan , T. 51: 2.1097a27–b29;
quoted in Hongzan Fahua zhuan , T. 2067.51:34c29–35b2; and Fahua
zhuanji , T. 2067.51: 71a26–b27). For a more detailed discussion of this
monk and his lineage accounts, see Chen (2010, 85–87).
(^4) They are Baoshousi, Xingtangsi, Xuanfasi, Chongfusi, and Liquansi, in addition
to Daxingshansi and Qinglongsi. See Liangbu dafa xiangcheng shizi fufa ji
, T. 2081.51:785b23–26.