From Esoteric to Pure Land and Huayan Buddhism: Usnīsavijayā Dhāranī Mandala in Liao Buddhism

This paper examined three representative Usnīsavijayā Dhāranī Mandalas in Liao pagodas. In the mid-eleventh century, as exemplified in the mandalas from Chaoyang North Pagoda and Yingxian Timber Pagoda, the Usnīsavijayā Dhāranī Mandala were designed based on the Tang dynasty ritual manual and sutra translated by Amoghavajra. At the same time, these mandalas, as well as the Usnīsavijayā Dhāranī Mandala at the Daming Pagoda from the late 11^th century, share details not bound to the Tang scriptures. Their mostly matching arm positions suggest that they shared a visual model for the Usnīsavijayā Dhāranī Mandala that was developed and circulated in Liao. In addition, it is notable that these Usnīsavijayā Dhāranī Mandalas from Liao were all made in different formats. Chaoyang North Pagoda’s was made in two-dimensional form on gold plate, Yingxian Timber Pagoda’s in three-dimensional form using wood and clay, and Daming Pagoda’s in relief on the pagoda’s exterior. Their locations also varied, ranging from Liaoning and Shanxi Provinces to Inner Mongolia. Despite such differences of medium and region, they shared the same model and show similarities even in such details as the bodhisattvas’ arm positions. By the late eleventh century, however, the Usnīsavijayā Dhāranī Mandala had evolved into a more complicated form in Liao, combining more deities not only from esoteric Buddhism but also from Huayan and even Pure Land Buddhism. The textual mandala engraved on the ceiling of Baitayu Pagoda aptly exemplifies Liao modification of the Usnīsavijayā Dhāranī Mandala. Since Baitayu Pagoda was built for the rebirth of the eminent Liao monk Sixiao, the contents of its Usnīsavijayā Dhāranī Mandala help us infer, though only partially, the contents of Sixiao’s lost commentary and exegesis in which he probably discussed the Usnīsavijayā DhāranīMandalas (i.e., Eight Great Bodhisattvas Mandala with Viarocana Buddha in the center). As Sixiao was one of the most erudite monks in Liao, whose writings were circulated in neighboring lands, including the Koryŏ, it is difficult to imagine that his writings on the mandala had no influence on the mandala prepare for his afterlife at Baitayu Pagoda. This modified Usnīsavijayā DhāranīMandala appears to have circulated widely in late-eleventh-century Liao as the deities newly added in this mandala were also featured in Daming Pagoda’s mandala. All of these factors suggest that the Usnīsavijayā Dhāranī played an important role in Liao Buddhism and contributed to the development of mandalas and pagoda architecture unique to the Liao empire.