Research On The Chinese Translation Of Esoteric Guanyin Scriptures In The Western Xia, Yuan, Ming And Qing Dynasties

During the Xi'Xia,Yuan,Ming,and Qing dynasties,the development of Tantra Buddhism entered a new historical stage,and the integration of Buddhism of Chinese,Tibetan,and Indian paralleled and showed a diverse characteristics.Since the beginning of Xi'xia Dynasty,large amount of newly-translated yoga and highest yoga tantra teachings have been spreading widely,which shows a solid foundation for the development of Tibetan Buddhism in Yuan,Ming and Qing dynasties.In Xi'xia Dynasty,yoga tantra sutras,such as Vajrav?r?h?,Usnisa-sitapatra,Mahakala were newly translated,also this kind of sutras were once again respected by the emperor in Yuan Dynasty,and this form of belief continued to Ming and Qing Dynasties.The most distinctive newly translated sutras of those time were the Avalokitesvara sutras,especially Xiuxi Famen and Guanyin Miji Xuanwen,the two scroll of manuscripts including 27 tanric Avalokitesvara sutras collected by the Chinese National Library nowadays,which are tantric practice compilations copied in Ming Dynasty,according to the content,some of the sutras were actually spreading from Xi'xia period,which can basically reflect the form and characteristics of Avalokitesvara belief in Xi'Xia,Yuan and Ming dynasties.According to the two scroll of sutra's content,the practice and teaching actually lasting through Xia,Yuan and Ming dynasties,and based on the lineage pedigrees listed in the literature,except some sutras that didn't given the author,the rest of the sutras can be sure that it was first spreading in the Kashmir region of North India,and the sutras have the lineage of master and disciple orthodox.It's mainly inherited by the Tibetan buddhism of Khro-phu Kagyu school and Sakya school.Khro-phu Kagyu school's original master is Mitrayogin pandita from Kashmir.The Sakya school is taught by the Indian master jingangzuo master/Jayananda.In these two schools,the two master Tropu Lots?wa and Bari lots?wa each have their own collections of Mizha Baifa" and Bari Baifa."according to Blue Annals,these two collection's master lineage originally have the same preroot,from the perspective of these two divisions,the Mitrayoin school mainly inherited by Khro-phu,Kagyu and Zhalu schoo,Bari school mainly inherited by Sakya school,and because the lineage masters listed in the relevant sutra are often not list all lineage masters,I believed that although the Avalokitesvara sutra were inherited by different Tibetan Buddhism schools,and the two Kashmir master have also inherited a variety of Avalokitesvara teachings,and the number of teaching have very similar content,so it is likely that most of the Avalokitesvara Sutras in the two scroll manuscripts were orginally and directly taught by the great Kashmir pandita Mitrayogin.From the content of the two scroll,the main features are meditating Avalokitesvara,the "six characters" and the recitation of the six-character mantra.The content is extremely rich,and its teaching method covers various s?dhana,such as the"utkr?nti teaching","mandala","meditating","offering "and"abhiseka teaching",according to the content of these sutra,which belongs to yoga tantra and highest yoga tantra system.This article mainly discusses the 27 sutras of the two scrolls,study on the interpreter,inheritance system,the tantric sadhana of Avalokitesvara teaching,also try to find Tibetan and Sanskrit version and made comparision between different sutras.In S?dhanam?l? and Sa skya pa' i bka '' bum collected by b Sod nams rgys mtsho,based on this material,I made transliteration and newly translation,and made comparsion between different language versions.Avalokitesvara sutras and the Tantra Avalokitesvara beliefs and its sutras spreading shows new features compared with the Tang and Song Dynasties.Thousand arms and eyes Avalokitesvara and eleven-headed Avalokitesvara were still very popular in Xi'xia,Yuan,Ming and Qing dynasties,at the same time,these kind of Avalokitesvara feature were reflected in the cave statues also.The Avalokitesvara were fond by every classes in the society,this was mostly influenced by the Song Dynasty's newly translation Sutra Guna-k?randavyuha(Avalokitesvara-gunaKarandavyuha),the most famous six character mantra was originated from this sutra,this mantra's population appeared to exceed the Guna-k?randavyuha itself.Six-character mantra's recitation,teaching and practicing were widely cited or copied in all kinds of Avalokitesvara's sutra in Xia,Yuan,Ming and Qing dynasties.The main contents of these sutra are "six characters",although the two scroll of manuscripts collections were written and copied in Ming Dynasty,including Xi'xia,Yuan,and Ming dynasties,which means that the two Avalokitesvara scroll have been continuing heritaged throughout the three dynasties.Judging from the manuscripts of the Xi'xia Heishuicheng and the two scrolls of Avalokitesvara's collections,the six-character sutra is a based on the Avalokitesvara Tantra's belief.According to the type of sutra,it can be divided into the Dharani,the yoga and the higest yoga type.The six-character sutra of the Dharani type are represented by the Dharani sutra recompiled,printed and spreading in the Xi'xia dynasty.Because of the easy way of reciting feature and universality in all classes,they were mainly disseminated among all kinds of people.The Yoga and highest yoga of Avalokitesvara sutras in Xia,Yuan,Ming,and Qing Dynasties which belongs to Indian and Tibetan school.The main feature of these kind of sutra are,they have very strict lineage system.This kind of sutras pays much more attention to the meditation of Avalokitesvara and the six-character mantra,through meditate and recite practice over and over again to achieve goals(sadhana).The teaching and practice of the Dharma is more complicated and also needs master's heritage,presumably spreading mainly in the upper class and within the sect.This article believes that although the six-character dharani in the Guna-k?randavyuha is the same source as the dharani in the six-character sutra circulated during the Xi'xia,Yuan,Ming,and Qing dynasties,which was originally came from Kashmir,North India,but the spreading lines were originated from two independent systems.That is to say,the sixcharacter Dharani trajectory should be bidirectionally spread in Han and Tibetan.The first was spread according to the Chinese translation of the Guna-k?randavy?ha by Tian Xizai who comes from Kashmir too.And the separate circulation of the six-character mantra,mainly spreading in common citizens,which belongs to the type of combination of Mahayana Buddhism and dharani.The second is belongs to the Indian and Tibetan school,which has strict master and disciple lineage system.The 27 tantric Avalokitesvara manuscripts discussed in this article may be part of the Tantric Avalokitesvara sutras spreading during the Xi'xia,Yuan,and Ming dynasties,and there can be more scattered Tibetan sutras that have not been found so far,but the 27 Avalokitesvara sutras are compilation of tantra Avalokitesvara practice which basically can reflect the general condition of the interpretation and spreading of tantra Avalokitesvara belief from Xi'xia to Qing Dynasties.