Author Affiliations: Heidelberg Academy of Science and Humanities, Germany.
摘要
A significant number of stone Buddhist icons and carved sutras are found at Wofo Yuan 臥佛院 in a small valley in Anyue 安岳, Sichuan. Beginning in the 8th century in the Tang dynasty, Buddhist sculptures and sutras were carved into rock. The author surveys the content which includes icons, and passages from the following categories: Nirvāṇa sūtra, Lotus sūtra, Prajñāpāramitā sūtras, dhāraṇīs, texts relating to the Buddha, texts relating to the Saṅgha, to lay Buddhism, and rituals. There is a strong emphasis on practice and ritual, including a carved sutra catalogue which Stefano Zacchetti argues was used as an object of worship. The author cites Richard Salomon’s distinction between comprehensive canons and practical canons.1 The former represents an ideal collection, while the latter is a specific collection of texts actually used for practice and ritual. The author argues that the Sichuan inscriptions represent the latter, a practical or ritual canon.
