Weituo: A Protective in Chinese

Buddhism and

韋馱——中國佛教與佛教藝術中一位護法神

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree

of Master of Arts at the University of Macau.

Author: LI Xinjie (李昕潔)

Student I. D.: MB041046

Supervisor: Dr. Tianshu ZHU

Department of History Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities

University of Macau

July 2012

Copyright 2012 by

LI Xinjie

University of Macau

DECLARATION

I declare that the thesis represents my own work, except where the acknowledgement is made, and it has not been previously included in a thesis, dissertation or report submitted to this university or to any other institution for a degree, diploma or other qualification.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

My sincere gratitude to Dr. Tianshu Zhu for her intelligent advice and supervision. And also for patiently listening to me rambling on about Weitup and my ideas over and over. Many thanks to my family and friends for their support. Especially to Professor Liao Yang for sharing with me her ideas about protective on murals.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOKWEDGEMENT ...... Ⅱ

LIST OF FIGURES ...... Ⅴ

ABSTRACT ...... VII

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION ...... 1

1.1 LITERATURE REVIEW…………………………………………………………….6

1.2 SOURCES AND METHODOLOGY ………………………………………………9

1.3 EXPECTED CONTRIBUTION…………………………………………………….10

CHAPTER TWO THE FORMATION OF WEI: FROM THE LEGENDARY

ENCOUNTER OF DAOXUAN……...... 11

CHAPTER THREE THE ICONOGRAPHY OF WEITUO...... 32

CHAPTER FOUR THE WORSHIP OF WEITUO...... 42

4.1 WORSHIP BY THE SAṄGHA ………………………………………..……………43

4.2 WEITUO WORSHIP IN SECULAR SOCIETY ………....………….……..……..57

4.3 CONCLUSION ………………………………………………..…………………...60

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CHAPTER FIVE THE VISUAL REPRESENTATIONS OF WEITUO...... 62

5.1 WEITUO IN TEMPLES ……………………………….……………………………62

5.2 WEITUO AT THE SIDE OF …………………………..………………65

5.3 WEITUO IN SŪTRAS ……………………………………………………………….69

5.4 CONCLUSION ……………………………………………………………………..70

CHAPTER SIX CONCLUSION ...... 72

BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 76

FIGURES ...... 84

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LIST OF FIGURE

Figure Page

Fig. 1.1 Weituo. East Hall, Foguang Temple, Shanxi Province, . Tang Dynasty. 857 C.E.

Painted clay …….……………………………………………………...... 84

Fig. 1.2 Skanda on Peacock. West Wall. Corridor East to the Main Hall, Yungang Cave No. 8, Shanxi

Province, China. Northern Wei Dynasty (385- ca.534 or 550 C. E) Schist ………………….85

Fig. 1.3 Mahāsena in coins. British Museum. Huvishka, Kushan Kingdom. 140–180 C.E. Gold……86

Fig. 3.1 Chinese Helmet. Northern Song Dynasty (1043-1047 C.E.)...... 87

Fig. 3.2 Weituo. Heavenly Kings Hall, . Zhejiang. China. The Southern Song Dynasty

(1127–1279 C.E.). Painted clay...... 88

Fig. 3.3 Twenty four protective deities (part). West Wall. Wanfoge, Baoen Temple, Sichuan Province,

1446 C.E. Wall painting ...... 89

Fig. 3.4 Weituo Hall. Upper Guangsheng Temple, Shanxi, . 1499-1521 C.E……...... 90

Fig 3.5. Weituo. Upper Guangshengsi, Shanxi, Ming Dynasty. 1499-1521 C.E. Painted clay...... 91

Fig 3.6 Weituo and Vajrapāṇi in the “Indra Brahma map”. Fahaisi. . Ming Dynasty, 1439-

1448 C.E. Wall painting...... 92

Fig 3.7 (a) Vajrapāṇi. Front Wall, Kizil Cave No. 175, Xinjiang. Seventh century Wall painting...93

Fig. 3.7 (b) Line drawing copy of Fig 3.7 (a)...... 93

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Fig. 3.8 Mallets. The Northern Song Dynasties (1043-1047 C.E.)...... 94

Fig. 3.9 Weituo. Heavenly Kings Hall, Baimasi. Henan, (1271-1368 C.E.)……….… 95

Fig. 3.10 Weituo. Thousand Buddha Hall. Shuanglinsi. Shanxi. Ming Dynasty...... 96

Fig. 5.1 Guanyin and Weituo. By Su Shengpu. Contemporary…………………………………………..97

Fig. 5.2 Weituo and Guanyin. Cave No. 35, Feilaifeng, Zhejiang, Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368 C.E.). 98

Fig. 5.3 Five forms of Guanyin. By Ding Yunpeng. Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Handscroll.

Painting, ink, color and gold on paper. Ming Dynasty, 1547- ca.1629C.E……………….99

Fig. 5. 4 Guanyin, Weituo and yakṣa. Thousand Buddha Hall. Shuanglinsi. Shanxi. Ming Dynasty...99

Fig. 5.5 Weituo at the side of Water and Moon Guanyin. Fahai Temple, Beijing. 1439-1443 C.E. Wall

Painting……………………………………………………………………….…………100

Fig 5.6 Portrait of Weituo. Silk scroll of Lotus Sūtra. Embroidery. 1366 C. E……………….…..101

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Abstract

Weituo 韋馱 is a protective deity in Chinese . He is derived from the Indian war god Skanda with significant shift of the characteristics, iconography and functions. In the transformation of Skanda in the twelfth century, the master Daoxuan‘s legendary encounter help to shape Weituo. As a result, Weituo was tightly connected with the saṅgha.

He is very special to the saṅgha because his statue is usually the only one facing inside in a temple and he is the only Buddhist protector supposed to take care of monks‘ daily life.

Meanwhile, Daoxuan‘s story determined the iconography of Weituo. After the formation of

Weituo, the deity has been enjoying tremendous popularity in China. He was mentioned in popular novels and various records on Buddhist rituals. And he has been a very common figure in Buddhist art. In these records, he was supposed to play diversified roles according to different occasions. In this paper, through studying the formation of Weituo, I attempt to show how Weituo who comes from an Indian origin was absorbed by .

The worship and visual representations not only proved the popularity of Weituo, but also showed how the functions of Weituo were adapted to the needs of the saṅgha and the secular people.

This thesis aims to examine the legend, iconography, worship and visual representations of Weituo comprehensively in order to provide a fuller portrait of Weituo‘s history in China.

Key Words: Weituo, Skanda, protective deity, Chinese Buddhist art.

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