Yúnnán Āzhālìjiào jīngdiǎn jí qí zài Zhōngguó fójiào yánjiū zhōng de jiàzhí 雲南阿吒力教經典及其在中國佛教研究中的價值
The Scriptures of the Yúnnán Āzhālì School and Their Value for Chinese Buddhist Studies by 侯沖 (Hóu Chōng)
About the work
A scholarly article by Hóu Chōng surveying the textual corpus of the Āzhālì 阿吒力 school of Yúnnán Buddhism. Included as item No. 057 in Zàngwài fójiào wénxiàn vol. 6 (1998). The paper provides the first comprehensive jiǎnmù 簡目 (“brief catalog”) of the Āzhālì scriptures and assesses their importance for the study of Chinese Buddhism more broadly.
Abstract
The Āzhālìjiào 阿吒力教 is the regional esoteric Buddhist tradition of Yúnnán, particularly in the Dàlǐ 大理 / Bái 白 ethnic-Bai region. Hóu Chōng surveys the four conventional theories about its origin: (a) directly transmitted from India to Yúnnán; (b) transmitted from Tibet; (c) Indian Buddhism transmitted to Yúnnán and there developed into a regionally-specific Diānmì 滇密 (“Yúnnán esoteric”); (d) a fusion of Indian Buddhism transmitted directly to Dàlǐ with Han-Chinese esoteric Buddhism transmitted from the central plain — the last being Hóu’s own view before the Āzhālì texts became accessible.
The article catalogues the major surviving Āzhālì texts: (1) Chóngguǎng shuǐlù fǎshī wúzhē dàzhāi yí 重廣水陸法施無遮大齋儀; (2) Léngyán jiěyuān shìjié dàochǎng yí 楞嚴解冤釋結道場儀 (KR6v0063); (3) Dìzàng cíbēi jiùkǔ jiànfú lìshēng dàochǎng yí (KR6v0064); (4) Rúlái guǎngxiào shízhǒng bàoēn dàochǎng yí (KR6v0088); (5) Xiāoshì Jīngāng kē (KR6v0065); (6) Tiāngōng kē 天宮科 (Late-Sòng SìchuānYúnnán esoteric, partly attributed to Zǔjué chánshī 祖覺禪師); and many others. Most exist only in regional Yúnnán manuscript copies — Bei-tang-tian 北湯天 (1956 discovery), Jiànchuān 劍川, Dàlǐ Fèngyí 鳳儀, and Lìjiāng Dàyánlǐ 麗江大研裡 traditions. The corpus’ value for Chinese Buddhist studies, Hóu argues, lies in (a) preserving Sòng-and-earlier ritual literature that has otherwise been lost, (b) preserving a distinct Dàlǐguó esoteric tradition (cf. KR6v0066 Guǎngshī wúzhē dàochǎng yí and KR6v0067 Dàhēitiān shén dàochǎng yí), and (c) providing a “living-transmission” comparison-class for the institutional ritual culture of medieval Chinese Buddhism, which in the central-plain has been studied almost entirely through textual remnants.
Translations and research
- Hou Chong 侯沖, Yúnnán Āzhālì jiào-pài jí qí jīngdiǎn yán-jiū 雲南阿吒力教派及其經典研究 (Beijing: Zhōngguó shū-jí, 2008) — monograph-length development of the present article.
- Yáng Xuézhèng 楊學政, Yúnnán mìjiào yán-jiū 雲南密教研究 (Kunming: Yúnnán mínzú, 1989).
- Howard, Angela F., “The Dali Kingdom ‘Long Painting’ and Buddhist Iconography in Yunnan,” Artibus Asiae 56 (1996).
- Bryson, Megan, Goddess on the Frontier: Religion, Ethnicity, and Gender in Southwest China (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2017) — recent monograph on Yúnnán ethnic-frontier Buddhism.
Other points of interest
This article is effectively the editorial introduction to the Āzhālì texts collected in Zàngwài fójiào wénxiàn vols 6–8. As such, reading the article is essentially a prerequisite for cataloguing or evaluating any of the individual Āzhālì ritual manuals in those volumes.