Sengqie (628-710) was a renowned master monk of the Tang dynasty. Originally from Central Asia, he later arrived in the Western Liang prefecture (Wuwei, Gansu Province) and then traveled through various places in the south of the Yangtze River and near the Huai River. He then resided in Longxing Temple located in the Chuy Province. Monk Sengqie later founded Liuhuai Temple in Sizhou. He gained a venerated reputation for his repeated supernatural manifestations, including the appearance of the Eleven-faced Avalokiteśvara, and he became referred to by people as the incarnation of Avalokiteśvara. He became a state preceptor in the 2nd year of Jinlong(708) reign of Tang Emperor Zhongzong, which further catapulted his reputation. Many miracles and legends about Monk Sengqie were passed down to the later generations. During the period of the Five Dynasties, Emperor Chou Shih-Tsung ordered that a portrait of Sengqie must be displayed in all of the Buddhist hermitages built, with the monk honored as ―The Great Sage Monk Sengqie‖. Lay Buddhism began to gain traction in the Tang and Song dynasties, and unification of the three teachings – Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism-began to rise in popularity. Propelled by this trend, the community of worshippers of the Great Sage Monk Sengqie of Sizhou expanded rapidly, and ruins of pagodas, temples, halls, and portraits of Monk Sengqie have been preserved till this day in various places, with the historical development and evolution with the worshipping of Monk Sengqie thereby observed. The objective of this paper is to focus on the distribution and evolution observed with the worshipping of Monk Sengqie by referencing excerpts from the Dunhuang Manuscripts, including P.3727 (Karma Stories of The Great Sage Monk Sengqie of Sizhou); S.1624 (Veritable Records of The Great Sage Tang Monk Sengqie of Sizhou); and S.2565, S.2754, P.2217 (Monk Sengqie On the Six Paramitas and Attaining Nirvana). The development on the worshipping of The Great Sage Monk Sengqie of Sizhou in the period of the Five Dynasties is studied through academic cross-examination, with images and paintings based on Buddhist scriptures of Monk Sengqie studied. Moreover, research by other senior scholars, and also Dunhuang Manuscripts, historical literatures, Dunhuang Grotto murals, and rock-cave statues in Sichuan are also integrated in the study.
