The Dunhuang version of Regulations for Forty-Nine Esoteric Mandalas is a text on esoteric mandala rituals that is unique to the Dunhuang region. Both the document P. 2012, and manuscript P. 4009, Master Drawings of Mandalas, provide drawings to be used in conjunction with the text, and were thus very useful for setting up different mandalas in combination with statues of various Buddhist deities during important rituals. Textual analysis has further discovered that both the texts and the line drawings in the manuscripts are identical. These documents are precious materials for understanding the esoteric mandala rituals of ancient Dunhuang, especially when referenced in combination with one another.
