In Chinese culture, the use of seals (yinzhang) to mark one's identity, convey authority, or give verification or approval is an ancient and time-honored practice, and its adaptation for ritual by the religious systems of the medieval period, in particular Daoism and Buddhism, is well-documented in the primary sources. Evidence of the ritual use of sealing and talismanic seals (fuyin) in China can be traced back at least to the Qin and Han periods in association with shamans (ww) and "occult masters" (fang-shi). In these antecedents of Daoist ritual practices, talismanic seals became one of the primary features in exorcism and healing, as well as in appropriating the gods believed to dwell in the asterisms. Both the seal itself and its imprint were important ritual tools - objects of power and spiritual authority symbolizing the will and presence of the divine. Buddhists transferred similar meanings to the use of seals and applied them for the same ends in controlling demons, averting illness and calamities, and providing blessings. Even today the imprints of talismanic seals are still popular apotropaic devotional objects and widely available at Buddhist and Daoist temples, where they are often distributed for free in small cloth or plastic pouches to be worn around the neck or dangled from the rearview mirrors of motorized vehicles.
目次
Introduction 403 1. History of the Talismanic Seal in Ritual and Art 404 2. On the Possible Origin of the Seal-Bearing Bodhisattva 407 3. Sculptural Images of Seal-Bearing Bodhisattvas in Dazu 415 4. Talismanic Seals in the Esoteric Buddhist Pantheon 437 Conclusion 440 Acknowledgements 441 Glossary 442
