唐長安大安國寺白石造像與《仁王護國般若波羅蜜多經》=The Marble Sculptures Excavated from the Great Anguo Monastery in the Tang Dynasty Capital of Chang’an and the Scripture for Humane Kings
A group of elaborate stone sculptures with traces of pigment and gilt gold were found in a pit 500 meters northeast of the city walls of Xi’an, Shaanxi in 1959, the discovery represents among the most important excavations of sculptures in China after 1949 and the group as a whole offers a glimpse at activities of Esoteric Buddhism in Tang China. This location was identified as the Tang dynasty site of the Da Anguosi 大安國寺 (Great Monastery of Protecting the State) in capital Chang’an 長安.
This paper focuses on six of the delicate marble sculptures, through the formal analysis indicated this group dated around 760s, arguably were once part of a maṇḍala expounded in the Chinese apocryphon, Renwang huguo banruo boluomiduo jing 仁王護國般若波羅蜜多經 (Prajñāpāramitā scripture for humane kings who wish to protect the state ; often named as Renwang jing 仁王經; J. Ninnōkyō) and the exegeses retranslated by Amoghavajra and his circle that promised greater success in pacifying foreign assaults by responding to the need of the emperor and court elites.
This set of maṇḍala statues testifies to the rise of vernacular Esoteric Buddhism, under Amoghavajra’s vigorous promotion, the transmission of Esoteric Buddhism reached its apogee as one of the dominant religious forces in the court during the reign of Emperor Daizong 代宗 (r. 762-779).
The most celebrated remains of Renwangjing maṇḍala is the early ninth- century Ninnogyō maṇḍala at the Lecture Hall of Tō-ji 東寺, Kyoto, which was supervised by the founder of the Japanese Shingon 真言 Esoteric Buddhist sect, Kūkai 空海 (774-835), who studied under one of Amogavajra’s disciples in Chang’an during early ninth century. The legacy of Chinese apocryphon Renwangjing, i.e., the state-protecting doctrine ensured that Esoteric Buddhism continued until the late Tang dynasty in China and was also proselytized in Japan. This group of sculptures was arguably one of the earliest such pieces of evidence.
