This volume advocates a trans-regional, and maritime-focused, approach to studying the genesis, development and circulation of Esoteric (or Tantric) Buddhism across Maritime Asia from the seventh to the thirteenth centuries CE. The book lays emphasis on the mobile networks of human agents ('Masters'), textual sources ('Texts') and images ('Icons') through which Esoteric Buddhist traditions spread. Capitalising on recent research and making use of both disciplinary and area-focused perspectives, this book highlights the role played by Esoteric Buddhist maritime networks in shaping intra-Asian connectivity. In doing so, it reveals the limits of a historiography that is premised on land-based transmission of Buddhism from a South Asian 'homeland', and advances an alternative historical narrative that overturns the popular perception regarding Southeast Asia as a 'periphery' that passively received overseas influences. Thus, a strong point is made for the appreciation of the region as both a crossroads and rightful terminus of Buddhist cults, and for the re-evaluation of the creative and transformative force of Southeast Asian agents in the transmission of Esoteric Buddhism across mediaeval Asia.
Author(s): Andrea Acri
Series: Nalanda-Sriwijaya Research Series
Publisher: ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
Year: 2016
Language: English
Pages: 468
01.0_pp_i_iv_Frontmatter
02.0_pp_v_vi_Dedication
03.0_pp_vii_viii_Contents
04.0_pp_ix_x_Acknowledgements
05.0_pp_xi_xii_List_of_Abbreviations
06.0_pp_xiii_xiv_Conventions
07.0_pp_1_26_Introduction_Esoteric_Buddhist_Networks_along_the_Maritime_Silk_Routes_7th13th_Century_AD
08.0_pp_27_28_MONKS_TEXTS_PATRONS
08.1_pp_29_66_Coronation_and_Liberation_According_to_a_Javanese_Monk_in_China_Bianhongs_Manual_on_the_abhieka_of_a
08.2_pp_67_112_SaHyanKamahyanikan_Borobudur_and_the_Origins_of_Esoteric_Buddhism_in_Indonesia
08.3_pp_113_122_Traces_of_Indonesian_Influences_in_Tibet
08.4_pp_123_140_The_Politics_of_Esoteric_Buddhism_Amoghavajra_and_the_Tang_State
08.5_pp_141_160_Spiritual_Warfare_in_13th-Century_Asia_International_Relations_the_Balance_of_Powers_and_the_Tantric
09.0_pp_161_162_ART_ARCHITECTURE_AND_MATERIAL_CULTURE
09.1_pp_163_190_Images_of_Devotion_and_Power_in_South_and_Southeast_Bengal
09.2_pp_191_210_Borobudurs_Pla_Forebear_A_Field_Note_from_Kesariya_Bihar_India
09.3_pp_211_236_Imagery_Ritual_and_Ideology_Examining_the_Mahvihra_at_Ratnagiri
09.4_pp_237_252_Seeds_of_Vajrabodhi_Buddhist_Ritual_Bronzes_from_Java_and_Khorat
09.5_pp_253_274_Archaeological_Evidence_for_Esoteric_Buddhism_in_Sumatra_7th_to_13th_Century
09.6_pp_275_320_The_Tale_of_Sudhana_and_Manohar_on_Candi_Jago_An_Interpretation_of_a_Series_of_Narrative_Bas-reliefs
10.0_pp_321_322_BAUDDHA-SAIVA_DYNAMICS
10.1_pp_323_348_Once_More_on_the_Ratu_Boko_Mantra_Magic_Realpolitik_and_Bauddha-Saiva_Dynamics_in_Ancient_Nusantara
10.2_pp_349_380_Mid-9th-Century_ADversity_for_Sinhalese_Esoteric_Buddhist_Exemplars_in_Java_Lord_Kumbhayoni_and_the_
10.3_pp_381_388_A_Saiva_Text_in_Chinese_Garb_An_Annotated_Translation_of_the_Suji_liyan_Moxishouluo_tian_shuo_aweish
11.0_pp_389_392_APPENDIX_A_The_Names_of_Ngabuddhi_and_Vajrabuddhi
12.0_pp_393_394_APPENDIX_B_Notes_on_the_Alleged_Reading_vlaputra_on_the_Pikatan_Funeral_Stele
13.0_pp_395_398_The_Contributors
14.0_pp_399_440_Bibliography
15.0_pp_441_466_Index
16.0_pp_467_468_NALANDA-SRIWIJAYA_SERIES
