The Fodingxin Dharani Scripture and its Audience: Healing, Talisman Culture, and Women in Popular Buddhist Print Culture=《佛頂心陀羅尼經》及其觀眾：通俗佛教印刷文化中的醫療、符文化、與女性
This study examines the book art contained within the Fodingxin Dharani Scripture (Fodingxin tuoluoni jing 佛頂心陀羅尼經; hereafter also called the dharani text), with the broader concerns of how popular Buddhist print culture addresses healing, talisman culture, and women. The primary sources it investigates include a ninthto-tenth century Dunhuang manuscript (Figs. 1a-b) and other illustrated printed counterparts dated from the twelfth (Figs. 2a, 3a) to the fifteenth centuries (Figs. 4a, 5). The Fodingxin Dharani Scripture, an indigenous Chinese Buddhist text traceable to medieval Dunhuang manuscript culture, synthesizes miscellaneous beliefs, turning a Buddhist scripture into a form of magical medicine. The twelfth century marks fresh illustrative and talismanic traditions in the print age. The printed text is accompanied by a frontispiece at the beginning, and three talismanic scripts at the end. The book art of the Fodingxin Dharani Scripture reached its peak in the first half of the fifteenth century. In addition to the frontispiece and talismanic scripts, the text is fully illustrated throughout, with its new illustrated repertoire highlighting the healing power of the scripture and the dharani charms, as well as the challenges women faced in childbirth. Numerous extant specimens offer valuable documentations of its donors, most of whom were residents in Ming (1368-1644) Beijing (Figs. 1a, 2). Accompanied by lively narrative pictures and containing Daoist-inspired talismanic writs that promise to save women from birth complications, it was often printed on demand. Women and their families, preoccupied with childbirth complications or ardently desiring a baby boy, were its main donors.
I. The Tripartite Fodingxin Dharani Scripture 255 A. The First Fascicle 255 B. The Second Fascicle 256 C. The Third Fascicle 257 II. Esoteric Script Seals as Daoist-inspired Talisman Culture 260 III. The Beginning of an Illustrated Tradition 265 A. Fully Illustrated Versions Circa 1450 267 B. Donors' Colophons 269 C. The Refined vs. the Coarse 273 IV. Popular Motifs 275 A. Picturing Hell 275 B. Demons Attacking the Household 278 C. A Woman in Labor 279 D. Text as Devotional Object and Magical Medicine 282 Conclusion 285 References 286 List of Illustrations 296
