Virtual Pilgrimage and Virtual Geography: Power of Liao Miniature Pagodas (907-1125)

Youn-Mi Kim

doi:10.3390/rel8100206

Abstract

This paper examines the role of the miniature in Buddhist ritual, through analyses of miniature pagodas from middle-period China. Due to the otherworldly sensations they evoked and their theatrical nature, miniatures were often endowed with magical and performative power in funerary and religious contexts. The miniature pagodas from the Liao empire (907–1125) were replicas of the stupa monuments (the prototype of the pagoda) at the Eight Great Sacred Places in India. Adopting ritual theories and a comparative approach, this paper illuminates how the Liao miniature pagodas were devised to symbolically transfer the sacred places to the Liao empire in northeast China, allowing Liao Buddhists to make a virtual pilgrimage to the Buddha’s homeland by circumambulating the pagoda. The ways in which they functioned in the Buddhist ritual were similar to the small-scale copies of the Holy Sepulcher in medieval Europe. Their power—contrary to common sense—originated from their miniature size and intentional rejection of their sacred prototype. Through these miniatures, the banal ritual of pagoda circumambulation was transformed into an imaginary journey to the distant holy land, which was believed to be more efficacious and meritorious than an actual pilgrimage, and the prairie of northeast China was turned into the most sacred place in the Buddhist world.

Highlights

Before we begin to explore the complex ritual functions of miniature pagodas from the Liao empire, a brief introduction is in order
The miniature pagodas, which were visually emphasized in the design of Liao brick pagodas, played a significant role in reshaping and innovating the ritual practices pertaining to pagoda played a significant role in reshaping and innovating the ritual practices pertaining to pagoda veneration in East Asian Buddhism
With the help of the eight miniature pagodas, the simple ritual action of pagoda circumambulation is transformed into a virtual pilgrimage that allows anyone to travel to faraway India and the original eight sacred sites

Summary

Introduction

The miniature in Buddhist ritual practice has received little scholarly attention. Through an investigation into their ritual function, this paper hopes to offer an opportunity to rethink the power and function of miniatures in religious practice. This paper brings to light the ways in which these miniatures effectively offered a ‘virtual pilgrimage,’ and powerfully shifted the land of Liao from the periphery to the center of the Buddhist sacred geography. Through the power of the miniatures, the banal ritual of pagoda circumambulation was transformed into an imaginary journey to the distant holy land of the Buddha, thereby enabling an imagined pilgrimage for Liao Buddhists, most of whom could not afford such travel to India. The logic of the Liao miniatures in religious practice often defied common sense. The miniatures brought into existence a virtual ritual that was more meritorious than the real pilgrimage, and a virtual holy land more sacred than the real one

Pagodas on the Pagoda

Miniaturizing Pilgrimage through Miniatures

Virtual Geography

58 The copy

Bifold Replica

Ending Remarks