Buddhist Stone Sutras in China. Sichuan Province, Volume 5: Wofoyuan Section E-F ed. by Manuel Sassmann and Sun Hua

Abstract

Reviewed by: Buddhist Stone Sutras in China. Sichuan Province, Volume 5: Wofoyuan Section E-F ed. by Manuel Sassmann and Sun Hua Bart Dessein (bio) Manuel Sassmann and Sun Hua, editors. Buddhist Stone Sutras in China. Sichuan Province, Volume 5: Wofoyuan Section E-F. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag and Hangzhou: China Academy of Art Press, 2022. xi, 557 pp. Hardcover, €184,78, isbn 978-3-447-11268-0. This volume in the magnificent series on Buddhist Stone Sutras in China is the fifth and final dealing with the Grove of the Reclining Buddha (Wofoyuan) in Sichuan Province. This grove is "hidden away in a small valley among the gently rolling, tree-studded hills at the heart of the Sichuan basin,"1 and with its some 341,000 characters chiseled into rock walls, the largest cave site in China. Volume 1 on Sichuan, published in 2014 (reviewed in CRI 20(3-4)) dealt with "Section G," the northernmost part of the complex; Volume 2,also published in 2014 (reviewed in CRI 20(3-4)), dealt with "Section A" and "Section B" to the southwest of the complex; Volume 3,published in 2016 (reviewed in CRI 22(2)), dealt with the central "Section C" of the complex; and Volume 4,published in 2018 (reviewed in CRI 25(2)), dealt with "Section D" to the north of "Section C." The present fifth volume on the Grove of the Reclining Buddha deals with the last two sections—"Section E" and "Section F" to the northeast of "Section D" and on the southern side of the Grove. Although the two sections, E and F, that are the subject of the current volume have more caves—seven and nine respectively—than any of the preceding sections, they each only have a total of four walls that are engraved with sutra texts. The texts that are engraved are (parts of) the "Diamond Perfection of Wisdom Sutra" (Vajracchedikāprajnāpāramitā-sūtra; Jingang banre boluomi jing) and the "Heart of the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra" (*Mahāprajnāpāramitāhrdaya-sūtra; Banre boluomiduo xinjing) on two walls of cave 71 in "Section E," the "Synoptic Golden Light Sutra" (Hebu jin guangming jing) on two walls of cave 73 in "Section E," a continuation of the "Great ParinirvānaSutra" (Mahāparinirvāna-sūtra; Da banniepan jing) that was partly engraved in a cave of "Section D" on one wall of cave 83 of "Section F," and the "Sutra Spoken by Vimalakīrti" (Weimojie suo shuo jing) on three walls of cave 85 of "Section F." Of all these texts, the "Synoptic Golden Light Sutra," asynthetic version of the *Suvarṇa(pra)bhāsottama-sūtra, is unique in sutra caves in China. On the walls in both Sections E and F are engraved colophons referring to the *Suvarna(pra)bhāsottama-sūtra. One of these colophons is dated 727 C.E., and the other one is dated 733 C.E. Sections E and F further contain a colophon that most likely has to be dated to the Tang dynasty, and a colophon dated to the Guangzheng era (938-965) of the Later Shu dynasty. This means [End Page 141] that the colophons found in the two sections discussed in the present volume date to the period in which the carving of the Wofoyuan project began in the Tang dynasty (618-907), the Later Shu dynasty (934-965) when repairs and additions were undertaken, and the Northern Song dynasty (960-1127). They, as such, are a testament to the major periods of activity of this cave complex (pp. 26-27). The sutra texts, called colophons, Buddhas carved in relief, among which are the Thousand Buddha pattern and the "Synoptic Golden Light Sutra" might be of particular significance (p. 40). Michael Radich states that "the space is thus hemmed about with Dharma and Buddhas in alternation, even implying an identity or complementarity between the two" (p. 89). Other carvings and dhāranīs, possibly date back to the tenth century (p. 38). Furthermore, engravings that resemble the paintings on silk banners from Dunhuang of the late ninth and tenth century can also be observed (p. 40). A stele...