. dunhuang and central asia 371
S.5534, S.5444, S.5451, and S.5669, the latter two in ink mixed with
his blood.^20 Rather than being written for liturgical use as with the
“chain scriptures,” these manuscripts were explicitly penned in an act
of devotion for merit and transmission of the Dharma.
Among the variety of dhāraṇī texts, the most popular by far
is the Sūtra of the Superlative Dhāraṇī of the Buddha’s Crown
(Usṇ̣īṣavijayādhāraṇī sūtra, Foding zunsheng tuoluoni jing
), and notably in the translation by Buddhapālita (Fotuoboli
, fl. late seventh century).^21 The success of this dhāraṇī can
be attributed in part to its salvific powers and promise of rebirth in
Pure Lands. Accordingly, it is integrated in the pictorial programs as
a sūtra or transformation tableau (jingbian , bianxiang ) of
caves, on par with major scriptures such as the Lotus Sūtra and the
Amitābha Sūtra that depict Pure Lands.^22 A cave such as Mogao 148,
on the other hand, offers a comprehensive collection of doctrines and
images, including esoteric, which is representative of Tang-period
Buddhism.^23
Like other dhāraṇī, the Uṣṇīsavijayādhāraṇ ̣ī calls for the creation of
maṇḍalas in order to establish a ritual space. Dunhuang provides rare
examples of such preparatory drawings used as ritual diagrams in the
construction of altars.^24 Drawings on S.2498 (figure 1), Bei 7682, and
Stein painting 174 all show a highly similar design for such an altar,
(^20) See Giles 1940, 319–21 for this manuscript and another copy of the Diamond
Sūtra, S.5534, written in the same hand. All of these manuscripts have “butterfly”
bindings, a form commonly used for liturgical texts. See Drège 1996 and Teiser 1992.
Teiser 1994, 121–28 examines the same person and his copying of the Scripture of the
Ten Kings at the age of eighty-five.
(^21) For an analysis of this scripture and its contexts of use, see Copp, unpublished
manuscript. Citing the text’s ubiquity medieval religious life, Liu Shufen 1996, 189,
calls this scripture the most popular sūtra of the Tang period. 22
Caves that contain the Usṇ̣īṣavijayādhāraṇī sūtra are 217, 103, and 23 from the
first half the of the eighth century, cave 31 from the second half of the eighth century,
and caves 55 and 454 from the second half of the tenth century. For a discussion of
these caves, see Shimono 2004, Wang Huimin 1991, Kuo 2006, and Schmid 2010. 23
Lee 2010.
(^24) Stein painting 174 and S.2498 are examples of such images related specifically to
the Uṣṇīṣavijayādhāraṇī. Fraser 2004, 149–58, discusses preparatory drawings. Copp
(unpublished manuscript, chapter four,) demonstrates how such diagrams also serve as
the basis for amulets that in effect contain the power of the ritual space and its enact-
ment. For an overview of esoteric ink on paper drawings, see Sha 2006, 398–432.