Throughout the one hundred years of the Tibetan Occupation from 781 to 848, belief in the Lotus sutra remained popular. In addition to manuscripts of the Lotus Sutra written during the occupation and preserved among the Dunhuang documents, six Lotus sutra illustrations were preserved in Dunhuang caves, including an ornate lotus-shaped pagoda in Mogao cave 361. This evidence suggests that Lotus sutra belief was very popular in Dunhuang in the Middle Tang period and inherited the social functions of Buddhism during the High Tang while also exhibiting characteristics of esoteric Buddhism, which indicates the further development and lasting influence of Lotus sutra faith at the time. By examining relevant materials from Dunhuang documents and murals of the same period, this paper summarizes the development and characteristics of Lotus sutra belief during the Tibetan Occupation.
