. after amoghavajra 323
Hall (Dong ta yuan ) with an altar for abhis ekạ in the Qinglong
monastery and appointed Huiguo its abbot (295a20–21). He was sum-
moned to attend the emperor shortly before his death in 779. The new
Emperor Dezong continued support for Huiguo, who was summoned
for the welcoming to the inner palace of the relic of the Famen temple,
and also to the inner chapel in 791 to pray for the state (295c3–4).
During the last decade of the eighth century he is said to have taught
some fifty students (295c11) and along with Tanzhen’s Jingfo yuan
the Qinglong monastery had become a major center for eso-
teric Buddhism. Like his predecessors, his ritual services were called
for in times of drought (295c12–15). Huiguo died in 806. As was the
case with Vajrabodhi and Amoghavajra, his relics were enshrined in
a stūpa, though his disciples shifted and re-interred them in a newly
constructed stūpa twenty years later in 826 (Lü Jianfu 1995, 297).
Most of Huiguo’s many disciples were initiated into either the STTS
or the MVS. Only Yiming and Kūkai were instructed in both. A few
ritual manuals ascribed to Huiguo circulated in Japan, but they are not
attested in Tang sources or the records of Japanese pilgrims (Lü Jianfu
1995, 297).^39 Our more complete knowledge of this line is a result of the
reports of Ennin (794–864), Enchin (814–891), and other
ninth-century Japanese pilgrims who studied with Huiguo’s descen-
dents. A look at three of Huiguo’s important descendants illustrates
the difficulty faced by researchers of late Tang esoteric lineages.
Yicao (Aluota’nailitu , ?–830)
A student of Huiguo, friend of Kūkai,^40 and apparently of non-Chinese
origin, Yicao mastered the MVS, the STTS, and the Susiddhi, and also
studied and was proficient in Siddham.^41 Following Huiguo, he resided
at the Eastern Pagoda court of the Qinglong monastery. Also like his
master, he served under several emperors, received the title Guoshi
(National Master), and served in the inner palace chapel. A promi-
nent teacher, Yicao is credited with compiling in 812 the Jintai jin’gang
(^39) These include Dari rulai jian yin , T. 864A; Shiba chi yin
, 40 T. 900.
The poem “Betsu Seiryūji Gisō ajari shi” was given by
Kūkai before he returned to Japan. 41 Shūi zashū, KZ 3: 615.
This is the Brāhmī-derived script used throughout East Asia to transcribe
mantras.