Maṇḍalas in the Making

The Visual Culture of Esoteric Buddhism at Dunhuang
Erscheinungsjahr 2018
ISBN: 978-90-04-35765-5
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Band 139, 318 Seiten, Format (B × H): 160 mm x 239 mm, Gewicht: 771 g

Reihe: Sinica Leidensia

The first scholarly monograph on Buddhist mandalas in China, this book examines the Mandala of Eight Great Bodhisattvas. This iconographic template, in which a central Buddha is flanked by eight attendants, flourished during the Tibetan (786–848) and post-Tibetan Guiyijun (848–1036) periods at Dunhuang. A rare motif that appears in only four cave shrines at the Mogao and Yulin sites, the mandala bore associations with political authority and received patronage from local rulers. Attending to the historical and cultural contexts surrounding this iconography, this book demonstrates that transcultural communication over the Silk Routes during this period, and the religious dialogue between the Chinese and Tibetan communities, were defining characteristics of the visual language of Buddhist mandalas at Dunhuang.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Wang, Michelle C

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Kunst Kunststile Asiatische Kunst
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Buddhismus

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Contents

Acknowledgements
List of Illustrations
Abbreviations and Conventions

Introduction
Recentering Buddhism at Dunhuang
The Shingon Impact
Mandalas in the Making
Overview of Chapters

1 From Dharani to Mandala
Dharani Pillars in Medieval China
Mandalas and Altars
Visualizing the Mandala

2 The Crowned Buddha and Narratives of Enlightenment
The Cult of Vairocana in Early Tibet
The Crowned Buddha
Networks of Transmission
Stylistic Bilingualism in Images of Vairocana
The Eight Bodhisattvas

3 Mandalas and Historical Memory
Mogao Cave 156 and the Victory of Zhang Yichao
The Cult of Avalokitesvara at Dunhuang
The Mandala of Eight Great Bodhisattvas in the Guiyijun Period
Amoghavajra and the Vajradhatu Mandala
Mandalas and Ritual Space

4 Mandalas, Repentance, and Vision
The Vajra Realm in Ritual Manuals from Dunhuang
The Five Buddhas and Repentance Altars

5 Beyond the Mandala
Bodhisattvas and Repentance
The Kalyanamitras as Embodied Experience
The Vows of Samantabhadra
The Ascent to the Dharma Realm

Epilogue

Bibliography
Index

Über Autor(innen)

Michelle C. Wang, Ph.D. (Harvard, 2008), is Assistant Professor in the Department of Art and Art History at Georgetown University. A specialist in medieval Chinese art, her publications have addressed Buddhist mandalas, Dunhuang painting, and art of the Silk Road.