Wénshū zhǐ nán tú zàn 文殊指南圖讚
Pictorial Eulogy on Mañjuśrī’s Pointing the Way South by 惟白 (Wéibái, 述)
About the work
The Wénshū zhǐ nán tú zàn in 1 fascicle is 惟白 Wéibái’s devotional pictorial-and-verse compilation on the Sudhana pilgrimage of the [[KR6e0041|Gaṇḍavyūha]] / Pǔxián xíng-yuàn pǐn (chapter 39 of the 80-fascicle Avataṃsaka). The pilgrimage begins with Mañjuśrī’s command to Sudhana to “go south” — zhǐ nán 指南, the title-phrase — and unfolds through Sudhana’s encounters with 53 successive teachers. Wéibái’s work pairs verse-eulogies (zàn 讚) with diagrammatic-illustrative figures (tú 圖) for each of the 53 episodes.
Prefaces
No formal preface.
Abstract
The work is conventionally datable to 惟白 Wéibái’s mature period at the Fǎyúnsì in Northern Sòng Kāifēng, c. 1090 – 1130 CE. The bracket adopted here reflects this window. The tú zàn genre — combining verse and illustrative diagram — was widely used in Sòng-period Buddhist devotional and educational literature; Wéibái’s Tú zàn on the Sudhana pilgrimage is one of the most accomplished of these compilations.
The work circulated extensively in late-imperial East Asian Buddhist devotional practice, particularly in monastic instruction on the Sudhana narrative. The pictorial materials of similar works informed the East Asian Buddhist iconographic tradition of Sudhana cycles in temple murals and scroll paintings.
The Taishō text (T1891) is established on the standard apparatus.
Translations and research
- Cleary, Thomas, tr. Entry into the Realm of Reality: The Text. Boston: Shambhala, 1989 — for the Sudhana pilgrimage in general.
- Osto, Douglas. Power, Wealth and Women in Indian Mahāyāna Buddhism: The Gaṇḍavyūha-sūtra. Routledge, 2008.
- Steinkellner, Ernst. Sudhana’s Miraculous Journey in the Temple of the Avataṃsaka. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1995 — discusses the Tú zàn tradition and its relation to Buddhist visual culture.
Other points of interest
- The Tú zàn — pairing verse and illustrative diagram — established a Sòng-period model for devotional Buddhist publishing that combined accessible literature and visual imagery, anticipating the much more elaborate YuánMíngQīng Buddhist illustrated literature.