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31 pages, 13309 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Exploring Four Block-Printed Indic Script Mahāpratisarā Dhāraṇī (Chinese: 大隨求陀羅尼) Amulets Discovered in China

by Yuling Wu

Religions 2025, 16(5), 635; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16050635 - 16 May 2025

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This article examines four block-printed Mahāpratisarā dhāraṇī amulets from late Tang to early Song China, highlighting how Sanskrit-script texts circulated in everyday religious life. Through a philological and visual analysis, it reveals a decentralised dhāraṇī culture shaped by variant bījākṣara (seed syllable) arrangements, [...] Read more.

This article examines four block-printed Mahāpratisarā dhāraṇī amulets from late Tang to early Song China, highlighting how Sanskrit-script texts circulated in everyday religious life. Through a philological and visual analysis, it reveals a decentralised dhāraṇī culture shaped by variant bījākṣara (seed syllable) arrangements, divergent textual recensions, and diverse ritual uses—from burial and temple consecration to daily wear and cave enshrinement. Rather than static texts, these amulets reflect dynamic interactions among sacred sound, material form, and vernacular Buddhist practice, offering rare insight into non-canonical transmission and popular engagement with Indic scripture. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Old Texts, New Insights: Exploring Buddhist Manuscripts)

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28 pages, 10413 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Visible Layouts, Hidden Dynamics: Reading, Reproducing, and Reframing Chinese Buddhist Glossaries

by Ziwei Ye

Religions 2025, 16(5), 629; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16050629 - 16 May 2025

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Abstract

This paper investigates how the layout strategies of Xuanying’s Yiqiejing yinyi (mid-7th c.), the earliest surviving Chinese Buddhist glossary, evolved across manuscripts, Buddhist Canon editions, and Qing-era scholarly reprints from the 7th to 19th centuries. While Xuanying’s work serves as the central case [...] Read more.

This paper investigates how the layout strategies of Xuanying’s Yiqiejing yinyi (mid-7th c.), the earliest surviving Chinese Buddhist glossary, evolved across manuscripts, Buddhist Canon editions, and Qing-era scholarly reprints from the 7th to 19th centuries. While Xuanying’s work serves as the central case due to its breadth of preservation and representativeness, this study also references Huiyuan’s glossary (early-8th c.) to highlight broader patterns of reception and adaptation, particularly in late imperial China. Through a usability–production efficiency framework, the study identifies a continuum from the flexible manuscript layouts to the standardized double-line format used in Buddhist woodblock printing, and later to Qing-era adaptations that integrated Buddhist glossaries into evidential studies. It argues that layout decisions were influenced not merely by practical considerations of use and production but also by changing conceptions of textual function and authority. It also highlights the unintended effects of layout standardization, which at times introduced new interpretive complexities. By demonstrating how layout actively influenced the reproduction and reception of Buddhist glossaries, this study offers a new perspective on the intersection of materiality, textual transmission, and reading practices in pre-modern China. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Old Texts, New Insights: Exploring Buddhist Manuscripts)

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15 pages, 435 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Buddhism’s Oldest History Revisited: A New Text of the Dīpavaṃsa

by Kyungrae Kim and Andrew Skilton

Religions 2025, 16(5), 593; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16050593 - 4 May 2025

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Abstract

The Dīpavaṃsa (Dīp), the first historical account of the Buddhist religion that has survived in Pali, is widely known through Oldenberg’s late-19th century edition (designated hereafter O). The editor himself admitted it was faulty due to the quality of his Sri [...] Read more.

The Dīpavaṃsa (Dīp), the first historical account of the Buddhist religion that has survived in Pali, is widely known through Oldenberg’s late-19th century edition (designated hereafter O). The editor himself admitted it was faulty due to the quality of his Sri Lankan manuscript sources, all of which he thought were derived from a faulty Burmese exemplar. This problematic edition prompted new printed editions of Dīp in Sri Lanka and Myanmar in the 1920s, but Western scholarship established it as a ‘problem’ text, and it was thus generally neglected in favour of the later Mahāvaṃsa. A new edition of Dīp has long been a desideratum, and in 2004 Frasch pointed out the existence of a Burmese manuscript of a different text of the work, which, for the purposes of the present discussion, we designate B1. The present authors identified two further mss. of this version and have begun editing a new edition based on this in comparison to Oldenberg and other Burmese mss. The Burmese sources reveal an occasionally faulty but widely disseminated text, designated B2, that is not dissimilar to O, plus the rather ‘better’ text of B1. In addition, we have also identified the so-called ‘Dīpavaṃsa-ṭīkā’, properly named the Sāsanajotikā, as a commentary on B1 by the major 19th century Burmese scholar Jāgara. The present article will give details of this analysis. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Old Texts, New Insights: Exploring Buddhist Manuscripts)

15 pages, 26486 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Decorating Tibetan Buddhist Manuscripts: A Preliminary Analysis of Ornamental Writing Frames

by Michela Clemente

Religions 2025, 16(5), 582; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16050582 - 1 May 2025

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Abstract

Buddhist books have always played a central role in the lives of Tibetan people. This is evident by looking at the hundreds of thousands of manuscripts and xylographs produced by Tibetans, and then copied, multiplied, worshipped, spread, and transmitted uninterruptedly from religious masters [...] Read more.

Buddhist books have always played a central role in the lives of Tibetan people. This is evident by looking at the hundreds of thousands of manuscripts and xylographs produced by Tibetans, and then copied, multiplied, worshipped, spread, and transmitted uninterruptedly from religious masters to disciples over the centuries. Tibetan manuscripts and xylographs have started to be studied in their entirety only recently, and the interest for their visual aspect, material features, and social life has exponentially grown, becoming crucial to progress in different fields of study, to deeply understand the way in which Tibetan Buddhist people interact with such artefacts but also to preserve a disappearing cultural heritage. This essay will focus on a so far neglected element of Tibetan Buddhist manuscripts, namely, decorations of writing frames. Any element found in a Tibetan scripture is essential from care and conservation viewpoints since it contributes to preservation for as long as possible. This is fundamental to spread Buddha’s word and to accumulate spiritual merits to progress on the path towards Enlightenment. The numerous elements exhibited in manuscripts may help locating their provenance and/or narrowing down their dating. This will also lead to a better understanding of the spread of certain scriptures within the various Tibetan areas. This essay attempts to provide a preliminary analysis of decorated writing frames found in Buddhist manuscripts produced in different periods with the twofold aim of tracing their use and codicological aspects and investigating the type of texts that were mostly chosen to be decorated as such. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Old Texts, New Insights: Exploring Buddhist Manuscripts)

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22 pages, 59621 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Tracing Scribal Variants and Textual Transmission: A Paleographic Approach to the Nanatsu-dera Manuscript of the Dafangguang Rulai Xingqi Weimizang Jing

by Meiling Lin (Jianrong Shi)

Religions 2025, 16(4), 511; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16040511 - 15 Apr 2025

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Abstract

This paper examines the Nanatsu-dera manuscript of the Dafangguang Rulai Xingqi Weimizang Jing (RXWJ) through the lens of scribal practices, with a focus on variant characters (yitizi, 異體字) and textual transmission. As a “separately produced scripture” (bie sheng jing, [...] Read more.

This paper examines the Nanatsu-dera manuscript of the Dafangguang Rulai Xingqi Weimizang Jing (RXWJ) through the lens of scribal practices, with a focus on variant characters (yitizi, 異體字) and textual transmission. As a “separately produced scripture” (bie sheng jing, 別生經), the RXWJ was not included in the woodblock-printed editions of the Chinese Buddhist canon, which limited its circulation and made manuscript copies—such as the Nanatsu-dera manuscript—critical for reconstructing its textual evolution, transmission, and scribal modifications. A detailed paleographic investigation reveals scribal variants, orthographic fluidity, and phonetic substitutions, illustrating both intentional adaptations and unintentional errors in textual transmission. Comparative analysis with Dunhuang fragments and the Taishō Canon further contextualizes these variations, shedding light on the interpretive challenges scribes and readers face. The findings suggest that the Nanatsu-dera manuscript underwent three stages of transmission: (1) it originated from the Fifty-Fascicle edition circulating in China, (2) it was used as a base text (diben, 底本) for manuscript copying in Japan, and (3) it was subsequently re-copied and preliminarily collated by Japanese scribes. By tracing scribal variants and textual transmission through a paleographic approach, this research underscores the critical role of manuscript culture in preserving texts outside the canonical tradition, offering new insights into the mechanisms of Buddhist textual transmission and adaptation in medieval East Asia. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Old Texts, New Insights: Exploring Buddhist Manuscripts)

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16 pages, 304 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Other-Emptiness in the Work of an Unknown Mystic Illuminating the Path to Freedom by Jamyang Sarma Sherab Özer

by Georgios Halkias and Tsering Drukgyel

Religions 2025, 16(4), 435; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16040435 - 28 Mar 2025

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Abstract

In this article, we investigate the previously unstudied life and works of the late-12th/early-13th century Tibetan polymath Jamyang Sarma Sherab Özer (‘Jam dbyang gsar ma shes rab ‘od zer), an important Buddhist master in the Dro lineage of the Kālacakra Tantra. We will [...] Read more.

In this article, we investigate the previously unstudied life and works of the late-12th/early-13th century Tibetan polymath Jamyang Sarma Sherab Özer (‘Jam dbyang gsar ma shes rab ‘od zer), an important Buddhist master in the Dro lineage of the Kālacakra Tantra. We will focus on his unique syncretic work, Illuminating the Path to Freedom (Thar lam sgron me), and provide an overview of his surviving literary output. Jamyang Sarma predates Dölpopa Sherab Gyeltsen (Dol po pa shes rab rgyal mtshan, 1292–1361) in the use of the term ‘other-emptiness’, or ‘extrinsic emptiness’ (gzhan stong), in his writings, as opposed to the well-known view of Madhyamaka on ‘self-emptiness’ (rang stong). While conventional historiography has predominantly attributed the earliest systematic deployment of the technical term gzhan stong to Dölpopa, whose writings indeed represent the most comprehensive theoretical exposition within the Jonang tradition, current philological evidence suggests more complex lines of transmission through earlier Tibetan masters. This essay will shed new light on this issue by looking into Jamyang Sarma’s Illuminating the Path to Freedom. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Old Texts, New Insights: Exploring Buddhist Manuscripts)

21 pages, 540 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Did the Buddha Teach to Be Called ‘Buddha’?―Focusing on the Meaning of Brāhmaṇa and How Buddhist Authors (re)Formulated His Words to Praise Him―

by Efraín Villamor Herrero

Religions 2024, 15(11), 1315; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15111315 - 28 Oct 2024

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Abstract

The attainment of enlightenment by Gautama Buddha is the very beginning of Buddhism as a religious phenomenon. Because of his attainment of enlightenment, he has been remembered as Buddha for centuries, even though it is uncertain whether buddha was the preferred title to [...] Read more.

The attainment of enlightenment by Gautama Buddha is the very beginning of Buddhism as a religious phenomenon. Because of his attainment of enlightenment, he has been remembered as Buddha for centuries, even though it is uncertain whether buddha was the preferred title to remember him by from the earliest times. Previous scholarship has demonstrated that the term buddha was a common noun in the Indian religious context, and it was also employed to refer to his higher disciples. The verses of the Suttanipāta represent a complex corpus rich in many fundamental concepts common to Jain religious thought. Many epithets were introduced by Buddhists to praise their monastic founder as Jains do. Among them, buddha does not seem to be the preferred one among them. Contrarily, by redefining brāhmaṇa, Buddhists participate in the ascetic discourse of praising their master as the one who deserves to be regarded as that ideal. This paper argues that Buddhists advocated their master as a brāhmaṇa, a title that is not only consistent with the teachings of Jains but also one that may have preceded the popularity of Buddha as his most memorable title. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Old Texts, New Insights: Exploring Buddhist Manuscripts)

18 pages, 691 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Preliminary Report on the Sanskrit Manuscript of the Uttaragrantha of the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya

by Hyebin Lee

Religions 2024, 15(6), 669; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15060669 - 29 May 2024

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Abstract

The discovery of the Schøyen–Virginia manuscript of the Uttaragrantha provides significant insights into the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya. This newly identified Sanskrit manuscript offers a fresh perspective on monastic law codes, contributing original Sanskrit terms previously known only through Tibetan and Chinese translations, thereby [...] Read more.

The discovery of the Schøyen–Virginia manuscript of the Uttaragrantha provides significant insights into the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya. This newly identified Sanskrit manuscript offers a fresh perspective on monastic law codes, contributing original Sanskrit terms previously known only through Tibetan and Chinese translations, thereby enhancing our knowledge of Sanskrit–Tibetan–Chinese Vinaya terminologies. Also, by adding itself as a new textual witness to the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya, it demonstrates the complex textual history and underscores the potential multiplicity in the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya traditions or even the “Greater Sarvāstivāda” Vinaya traditions. Variations in chapter sequencing across extant versions of the Uttaragrantha suggest the possibility of the chapters originally existing as independent texts rather than as a collective, the Uttaragrantha. This article presents the latest findings on the Sanskrit manuscript fragments of the Uttaragrantha in the Schøyen Collection and the private collection, Virginia. Furthermore, it attempts to show the role of the S-V manuscript of the Uttaragrantha in improving our textual understanding of the Uttaragrantha and examining the potential multiplicity in the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya traditions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Old Texts, New Insights: Exploring Buddhist Manuscripts)

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