382 henrik h. sØrensen
in that there are no contemporary sources with which to substantiate
it. The Long Scroll contains portraits of local Buddhist practitioners,
including that of the Nanzhao King Mahārāja (Longshun; r. 877–897)
depicted as an Indian siddha or yogi, and that of a layman with a red
robe and black hat shown teaching a monk.^10 Could they possibly be
the progenitors of the later achali religion?
What remains of the achali religion today can best be described as a
distant echo of this tradition.^11 The ācāryas of the earlier periods were
evidently ordained monks who transmitted their Esoteric Buddhist
teaching in accordance with the established doctrine.
Esoteric Buddhist Literature from the Nanzhao and Dali
Due to the recovery of many ancient Buddhist books in recent years,
including many manuscripts and an extensive amount of surviving
inscriptions in stone found in various locations in Yunnan, a rela-
tively good understanding of the extent and type of Esoteric Buddhist
literature that was in circulation during the late Nanzhao and Dali
periods can now be had. In addition to many mainstream Esoteric
Buddhist scriptures imported from Tang and Song China as found in
the printed Tripiṭakas, a number of other texts from the Dali king-
dom have been preserved in manuscript form.^12 Among the recovered
material, mention can be made of the Huguo cinan chao
(Documents on Protecting the Country and Controlling the South)^13
(^10) For these portraits, see Li Kunsheng 1999, 210 pl. 236 [far right], 213 pl. 237
[far right].
(^11) This description is not intended as having a moral signification. It simply denotes
that the way modern-day practitioners of the achali religion perform their rituals is a
faint after-glow of the type of Esoteric Buddhism the Bai originally followed in past
centuries. One indication of this is the inability of the majority of the present-day
practitioners to read the original texts, including the liturgy and how it relates to
Buddhist iconography. Today, most of this is being passed on orally, and has been
so for quite some time, perhaps for longer than a century, with the resultant loss of
meaning and ritual signification. For a discussion of the contemporary practices of
the followers of the achali religion, see the overview in Yang 1999, 19–24. See also
the short research note by McRae 1995. Note that in McRae’s view the achali were
originally married priests. 12
For a survey of these manuscripts, including some epigraphical material, not all
of which relates directly to Esoteric Buddhism, see Wang 2001, 221–225. 13
Dated 894 C.E. (cf. Lan 1991, 296–297), It is kept in the Provincial Library of
Yunnan. It has been suggested that the important Renwang jing banruoboluomi jing
(Scripture of the Benevolent Kings), T. 246, Amogha-