Wénshūshīlì púsà wúxiàng shílǐ 文殊師利菩薩無相十禮
The Ten Markless Worship-Salutations to Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva anonymous (Dunhuang manuscript)
About the work
A single-juan anonymous Dunhuang Buddhist devotional-liturgical text, preserved at T85 no. 2844. The text is structured as ten lǐ salutations (worship-formula bows) addressed to Mañjuśrī of Mount Wǔ-tái (清涼山中大聖文殊師利菩薩), framed within a prajñā / śūnyatā meditative context — each salutation realizing the markless (wú-xiàng 無相) nature of the bodhisattva and of the worshipper himself.
Prefaces
The text has no auto-preface or byline. It opens immediately with the meditative framing: “The great-sage Mañjuśrī of Mount Qīng-liáng [Wǔ-tái], seated upright governing-and-viewing the heart — the heart also is unobtainable. With ultimate heart, taking refuge and reverently saluting…” Then the ten salutations unfold as a series of Bhūtatathatā, dharma-body, formless, motionless meditations on Mañjuśrī as identical with the dharma-dhātu.
Abstract
Authorship and date are unrecoverable. The work belongs to the Mount Wǔ-tái Mañjuśrī cult — the late-Tang devotional tradition centered on the Wǔ-tái sacred mountain as Mañjuśrī’s manifestation site. notBefore = 700, notAfter = 1000.
The “markless ten salutations” structure is doctrinally distinctive: while traditional lǐ-bài (worship-bows) are concrete acts directed at a buddha-image or sacred object, the wú-xiàng form transposes them into a prajñā-meditative framework in which both worshipper and worshipped are realized as empty of essence. This makes the text a witness to the Mahāyāna meditative integration of devotional ritual within śūnyatā doctrine — characteristic of late-Táng Chán-influenced devotional practice.
Translations and research
No substantial dedicated Western-language secondary literature located. See:
- Raoul Birnbaum, Studies on the Mysteries of Mañjuśrī (Boulder, 1983) — context for Wǔ-tái Mañjuśrī devotion.
- General Dunhuang-manuscript references at KR6s0026.
Other points of interest
The integration of devotional and meditative practice — bowing in salutation while simultaneously realizing the marklessness of the act — is a characteristic late-Tang Mahāyāna practical-doctrinal synthesis, paralleled in the Chán zuòchán and bàichàn traditions.