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Box 1346 Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vi INTRODUCTION The Yuqie yankou – Present and Past, Imagined and Performed 1 The Performed Yuqie yankou Rite 4 The Historical and Contemporary Contexts of the Yuqie yankou 7 The Yuqie yankou at Puti Cloister, Malaysia 11 Controlling the Present, Negotiating the Future 16 Textual and Ethnographical Research 19 Layout of Dissertation and Chapter Synopses 26 CHAPTER ONE Theory and Practice, Impressions and Realities 37 Literature Review: Contemporary Scholarly Treatments of the Yuqie yankou Rite 39 Western Impressions, Asian Realities 61 CHAPTER TWO Material Yuqie yankou – Its Cast, Vocals, Instrumentation and Production 83 The Cast and Costume of the Yuqie yankou 85 Percussive and Vocal Music in the Yuqie yankou 94 The Production Cost and Politics of the Yuqie yankou 107 Ritual Setting, Staging, Accoutrements and Timing of the Yuqie yankou 111 CHAPTER THREE The Liturgy of the Yuqie yankou in Performance 129 A Descriptive Analysis of the Yuqie yankou Rite and Liturgy 131 Opening 131 The Two Classes of Guests 141 The Internal Structure of the Huashan Yankou Liturgy 143 1a) Ascending the Seat 144 1b) Entering Samādhi 149 1c) Purification 153 1d) Taking Refuge 158 ii 1e) Visualizing the Daochang 163 1f) Presenting the Maṇḍala 166 1g) Universal Offering 174 2a) Entering Samādhi 179 2b) Inviting and Summoning 182 2c) Exoteric Bestowal of Food 191 2d) Eliminating Impediments 199 2e) Esoteric Bestowal 205 2f) Transference of Merit 211 Finale 220 Conclusion 221 CHAPTER FOUR The Origins of Chinese Buddhist Ghost-Feeding Rites in the Tang and Song Dynasties 224 Translations of the Two Recensions in Chinese 226 Ānanda and Mulian, Spells and Sangha 235 The Broader Ritual Field – A Consideration of Tibetan Ritualizations of the Flaming-Mouth Sūtra/Tōh646 239 The Beginnings of a Tradition – the Creation of a Ghost-Feeding Liturgy 244 The Appearance of a Second Dhāraṇī in Ghost-Feeding Texts 248 The Case of the Buddhas in the Method of Bestowing Drink and Food 251 An Analysis of the Ritual Structure of the Method of Bestowing Drink and Food 253 Seeds of the Yuqie yankou Ritual Tradition – Sūtra of the Flaming- Mouth Liturgy, the Collected Essentials of the Yoga of the Dhāraṇī that Saved Ānanda (Flaming-Mouth Liturgy Sūtra) 257 An Analysis of the Origins and Contents of the Flaming-Mouth Liturgy Sūtra 259 Conversion of Ghosts through the Transmission of Precepts 275 Tiantai Ghost-Feeding Texts – An Alternative Tradition 280 Conclusion 297 CHAPTER FIVE Post-Song Ghost-Feeding Rites and the Production and Dissemination of Yuqie yankou in Late Imperial China 299 The Appearance of the Exoteric-Esoteric Rubric in Liao Dynasty Texts 301 Ghost-Feeding Related Traditions and Texts in the Jin Dynasty 312 The Xixia State and the Confluence of Tangut, Chinese and iii Tibetan Traditions 315 The Mengshan Food-Bestowal Rite (Mengshan shishi yi 蒙山施食儀) – A Tangut Text? 322 Ghost-Feeding Liturgies in Yuan Monastic Codes 331 The Collected Essentials of the Yoga of Flaming-Mouth Food-Bestowal Rite (Yuqie jiyao yankou shishi yi 瑜伽集要焰口施食儀) and its Yuan Origins 337 Early Ming and Buddhism: the Hongwu Emperor’s Jiao Monastics 350 Yunqi Zhuhong and the Redaction of the Collected Essentials of the Yoga of Food-Bestowal Rite (Yuqie yankou shishi yi 瑜伽集要施食儀) 358 A Comparative Analysis of the Flaming-Mouth Food-Bestowal Rite and Zhuhong’s Collected Essentials of the Yoga of Food- Bestowal Rite 367 The Baohua Transformation and Dissemination of Zhuhong’s Redaction 377 Liturgical Hegemony and Resistance in the Early Qing 386 CONCLUSION Concluding Reflections and Future Directions 400 Future Directions 410 APPENDICES 417 Appendix 1: Translation of the Burning-Face Sūtra (T1314) and the Flaming-Mouth Sūtra (T1313) 417 Appendix 2: Translation of the Method of Bestowing Drink and Food (1315) 426 Appendix 3: Comparative Chart of the Lists of Buddhas in Five Ghost-Feeding Liturgies 432 Appendix 4: A Descriptive Analysis of Zhongfeng Mingben’s Kai ganlu men 433 FIGURES 435 BIBLIOGRAPHY 447 iv ABSTRACT In the year 1382, the founding-emperor of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) issued a decree through the Ministry of Rites formally recognizing a category of Buddhist ritual-specialists known as jiao敎or yuqie monastics 瑜伽僧. This decree marks a significant shift in the history of Chinese Buddhism, occurring at a juncture in Chinese Buddhist history that saw an explosion in the production of liturgies meant for public performances and tailored to appeal to the laity. Chief among these rites is the Yuqie yankou 瑜伽燄口 (Yoga-Rite of the Flaming-Mouth). Inspired by translations of an Indian text in the seventh century, Chinese Buddhists have weaved together a historically and culturally diverse collection of liturgies, oral traditions, meditative techniques and operatic styles over a period of almost a millennium to produce this Yuqie yankou rite. Apart from its ancient Indian roots and unmistakable Chinese heritage, the Yuqie yankou also evinces Tibetan influences from the thirteenth and seventeenth centuries. This rite is one of the most colorful and complex Chinese Buddhist rites still performed today and it is regarded by Chinese Buddhists as an advanced “esoteric” rite. The stated aim of this rite is the liberation of hungry ghosts from their suffering by providing them physical and spiritual nourishment through the power of visualizations, spells and mudrās. Successful performance of the rite promises not only the liberation of these ghosts but also the increasing of the lifespan and merit of the sponsors. Methodologically speaking, this dissertation weaves together the two hitherto discrete bodies of material and distinctive perspectives of history and anthropology. In reconstructing a history for the Yuqie yankou and its liturgical development, this dissertation also attends to the rite’s present-day lived and performed realities. While v issues such as the creation and negotiation of identity through ritual, the tensions between text and performance and between ritual fixity and creative adaptation are fore-grounded in the earlier chapters, issues like the production and dissemination of liturgical texts and ritual traditions, esotericization, construction and control of ritual power and liturgical hegemony and resistance dominate in the final two chapters of this dissertation. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS …ye dharmā hetu prabhavā hetuṃ teṣāṃ tathāgato hyavadat…. 諸法從緣起，如來説是因 As Buddhist scriptures often remind us, all phenomena exist due to the coming together of causes and conditions. Likewise, this dissertation would not have been possible without the confluence of a collection of causes and conditions in which I was but one factor. To my family – especially my parents – I owe the un-repayable debt of my very existence and my everything. Without their love, understanding, encouragement and support (even when they are probably still asking “you’re studying what?”), this would not have been possible. My grandmother – undoubtedly the bodhisattva who planted the seeds of this dissertation in me – has been a beacon all these years with her devotion, example and life. Adrian, Elaine, Mou-yu and Cindy have indulged me far beyond all reasonable expectations by bearing my family responsibilities in my absence from home. And to my family, I dedicate this dissertation. Even if someone was one’s “teacher for only a day,” she is to be regarded as “a parent for life” – so goes a Chinese adage (一日為師終生為父). It has been my blessing to have many such teachers/parents. Demerie Faitler was the first to introduce me to the wonders and challenges of scholarship and to recognize my potential and passion for it. Without her encouragement and her confidence in me, graduate school would have only been something that other people did. At The University of Virginia, I have the privilege of being a student of David Germano, Karen Lang and John Shepherd – each of them has greatly enriched my education as an aspiring scholar and a teacher. They have also kindly served as readers of my dissertation and generously given their time and attention to my project. My gratitude also goes to Jeffrey Hopkins, Anne Monius, Benjamin Ray and Abdul Aziz Sachedina for ever expanding my intellectual horizons. I have also learned much from Li Kwok-fu of Chilin Buddhist Institute, Hong Kong who graciously interrupted his summer vacation to help me with my research in Hong Kong. To quote Śāntideva, “Just as lightning illuminates the darkness of a cloudy night for an instant,” so has Dan Stevenson clarified my understanding of Chinese Buddhism but on instances equal to the proverbial number of “sands of Ganges River.” I am continuously humbled by the breadth and depth of Dan’s knowledge of and passion for Chinese Buddhism and in particular Chinese Buddhist ritual and liturgy. His mastery of the material can only be matched by his kindness and magnanimity. Although the Yuqie yankou fell squarely under Dan’s research interests and was clearly a topic that he was personally very attracted to, Dan did not for a moment claimed “proprietorship” of the subject but instead strongly supported my decision to write my dissertation on the Yuqie vii yankou.