. dunhuang and central asia 373
complete with a setting for homa offerings as prescribed in Amogha-
vajra’s translation of the Usṇ̣īṣavijayādhāraṇī sūtra.^25
Also of interest is that within mural paintings of the Uṣṇīsavijayā-̣
dhāraṇī jingbian, the mandala is shown in use, providing us with rare
examples illustrating the normative use of such altars.^26
The importance of the Uṣṇīṣavijayādhāraṇī sūtra at Dunhuang
is further underscored by its likely relation to another mandala,
the Mandala of Eight Great Bodhisattvas (Bada pusa mantuluo
) also current at Dunhuang.^27 The salvific powers of the
Uṣṇīṣavijayādhāraṇī sūtra and other dhāraṇīs that offer the possibility
of rebirth in paradisiacal realms no doubt appealed to a wide audience
beyond the initiated.^28 It is not without significance that the earliest
representations of Ksitigarbha are found in conjunction with the eight ̣
bodhisattvas at Ajanta and Ellora.
Evidence from Dunhuang also demonstrates the complex use of
mandalas for overlapping purposes; the rite of repentance (chanhui
), consecration (guanding ), and ordination (jietan ) could
all use the same mandalas, in contrast to later Shingon differentia-
tions between pure and mixed esoteric practices.^29 For example, mul-
tiple images of the Five Jina Buddhas (wuzhi rulai ) point to
the popularity of this iconography at Dunhuang found across media,
i.e., ink drawings: P2012, P4518, Stein Painting 173; portable paint-
ings such as MG.17780, EO.3579, and EO.1148; and mural paintings
(^25) I.e., The Regulations for Reciting the Superlative Dhāraṇī of the Buddha’s Crown
(Foding zunsheng tuoluoni yigui fa , T. 972.19:364b. For
a discussion of how this text differs with Sūbhakarasiṃha’s (Shanwuwei , 637–
735) Rite for the Yoga Ritual of the Superlative Buddha’s Crown (Zunsheng Foding xiu
yujia fa guiyi , T. 973), see Kuo 2006.
(^26) Mogao caves 31 and 55 show the mandala in use. This feature along with the
illustration of dhāraṇī lecterns that support the text become signature characteristics
of the Uṣṇīṣavijayādhāraṇī jingbian, and permit the additional discovery of a hitherto
misidentified painting of the scripture in cave 449 on the east wall. See Schmid 2010.
(^27) For a discussion of this mandala, see Michelle Wang 2008 and Zhiru 2007.
Michelle Wang 2008, 82–101, examines at length this mandala in Mogao and dis-
cusses its association with the Usṇ̣īṣavijayādhāraṇī through its insertion into the ritual
manual ascribed to Amoghavajra, the Rite for the Recitation of the Superlative Dhāraṇī
of the Buddha’s Crown (Foding zunsheng tuoluoni niansong yigui fa
, T. 972). For a discussion of the Eight Bodhisattvas in Yulin cave 25, see
Kapstein 2009. 28
For a range of these paradisiacal realms in medieval China, see Schmid 2008.
(^29) Kuo 1994.