The Buddhist canon at Chang’an’s Ximing Monastery played a pivotal role in Tang China. Many of the scriptures comprising the canon were translated at Ximing Monastery. This paper reconstructs the outline of the Ximing Canon by examining Daoxuan’s Catalogue of Buddhist Texts of the Great Tang (Da Tang neidian lu), Daoshi’s Pearl Forest of the Dharma Grove (Fayuan zhulin), and other sources. The large number of scriptures in the canon, most in the format of scrolls, presented difficulties for preservation. In this context, the paper examines the history of scripture platforms and scripture cabinets. Finally, this paper considers the route by which copies of texts from Ximing Monastery made their way to Dunhuang and the activities of monks from Ximing Monastery in Dunhuang and elsewhere.
