Chinese Esoteric Buddhism: Amoghavajra, the Ruling Elite, and the Emergence of a Tradition

334 Pages·2019·3.526 MB·English

by  Geoffrey C Goble, Jimmy Yu, Daniel Stevenson

Chinese Esoteric Buddhism
AMOGHAVAJRA, THE RULING ELITE,
AND THE EMERGENCE OF A TRADITION
GEOFFREY C. GOBLE
Chinese Esoteric Buddhism
THE SHENG YEN SERIES IN CHINESE BUDDHIST STUDIES
THE SHENG YEN SERIES IN CHINESE BUDDHIST STUDIES
Jimmy Yu and Dan Stevenson, series editors
Following the endowment of the Sheng Yen Professorship in Chinese Buddhist Studies,
the Sheng Yen Education Foundation and the Chung Hua Institute of Buddhist Studies in
Taiwan jointly endowed a publication series, the Sheng Yen Series in Chinese Buddhist
Studies, at Columbia University Press. Its purpose is to publish monographs containing
new scholarship and English translations of classical texts in Chinese Buddhism.
Scholars of Chinese Buddhism have traditionally approached the subject through phi-
lology, philosophy, and history. In recent decades, however, they have increasingly
adopted an interdisciplinary approach, drawing on anthropology, archaeology, art his-
tory, religious studies, and gender studies, among other disciplines. This series aims to
provide a home for such pioneering studies in the field of Chinese Buddhism.
Michael J. Walsh, Sacred Economies: Buddhist Business and Religiosity in Medieval China
Koichi Shinohara, Spells, Images, and Maṇḍalas: Tracing the Evolution
of Esoteric Buddhist Rituals
Beverley Foulks McGuire, Living Karma: The Religious Practices of Ouyi Zhixu (1599– 1655)
Paul Copp, The Body Incantatory: Spells and the Ritual Imagination
in Medieval Chinese Buddhism
N. Harry Rothschild, Emperor Wu Zhao and Her Pantheon of Devis,
Divinities, and Dynastic Mothers
Erik J. Hammerstrom, The Science of Chinese Buddhism:
Early Twentieth- Century Engagements
Jiang Wu and Lucille Chia, editors, Spreading Buddha’s Word in East Asia:
The Formation and Transformation of the Chinese Buddhist Canon
Jan Kiely and J. Brooks Jessup, editors, Recovering Buddhism in Modern China
CHINESE ESOTERIC
BUDDHISM
Amoghavajra, the Ruling Elite, and
the Emergence of a Tradition
GEOFFREY C. GOBLE
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS NEW YORK
Columbia University Press
Publishers Since 1893
New York Chichester, West Sussex
cup . columbia . edu
Copyright © 2019 Columbia University Press
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Goble, Geoffrey C. author.
Title: Chinese esoteric Buddhism : Amoghavajra, the ruling elite, and
the emergence of a tradition / Geoffrey C. Goble.
Description: New York : Columbia University Press, 2019. | Series: The Sheng Yen series
in Chinese Buddhist studies | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019006611 (print) | LCCN 2019021801 (ebook) | ISBN 9780231550642
(electronic) | ISBN 9780231194082 (cloth : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Tantric Buddhism— China— History. | Amoghavajra, 705–774.
Classification: LCC BQ8912.9.C5 (ebook) | LCC BQ8912.9.C5 G63 2019 (print) |
DDC 294.3/920951— dc23
LC record available at https:// lccn . loc . gov / 2019006611
Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent and durable acid- free paper.
Printed in the United States of America
Cover design: Milenda Nan Ok Lee
Cover photo: Geoffrey C. Goble
This book is dedicated to my mother, whose love and
support have made all things possible, and to the memory
of my father, who taught me more than he knew.

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
List of Conventions and Abbreviations xi
Introduction 1
one The Three Great Masters of Kaiyuan and the Teaching
of the Five Divisions 15
two Esoteric Buddhism in Context:
Tang Imperial Religion 59
three Esoteric Buddhism in Context: The An Lushan Rebellions
and Tang War Religion 95
four Amoghavajra and the Ruling Elite 134
five The Institutional Establishment of Esoteric Buddhism 174
six The Consolidation of Amoghavajra’s Legacy 211
[ vii ]
Contents
Notes 247
Bibliography 295
Index 309
[ viii ]
Acknowledgments
This work took shape over many years, during which time it has been influ-
enced and I have been aided by a number of people. I am grateful to Stephen
Bokenkamp for his unflagging guidance and friendship. Charles Orzech’s
advice and support from an early stage in this project have been critical,
and he has my deepest thanks. Aaron Stalnaker equally has my gratitude for
shepherding this project and its author for many years. This work origi-
nated in a graduate seminar at the University of Virginia led by Paul Groner
and David Germano, and it developed through the influence of many others
at UVA and at Indiana University. The guidance and instruction of Con-
stance Furey, Richard Nance, John McRae, Robert Campany, Stephen
Weitzman, Karen Lang, Larry Bouchard, Jeffrey Hopkins, Benjamin Ray, and
Jeffrey Lidke have all been formative. I would also like to express my thanks
to those who have aided and supported me in various ways over the past sev-
eral years: Yifa, Beata Grant, Robert Hegel, Rebecca Copeland, Valerie
Ziegler, Leslie James, Hiroko Chiba, Sherry Mou, Pauline Ota, 张骏, Brad, Pat-
ton, Erik, Jonathon, Brian, and Korey- san. Special thanks go to Thủy Nguyễn
for the love and support that were instrumental in seeing this project to
completion. Elements of this book were researched and completed with the
financial support of the Office of the Vice President for Research, Univer-
sity of Oklahoma.
[ ix ]