Esoteric Sect in Han Buddhism
The Esoteric sect of Buddhism, known in China as the Zhenyan (True Word) sect, was founded during the Kaiyuan reign (713-741) of the Tang Dynasty. Its founders were three Indian monks in China, Subhakarasimha, Vajrabodhi, Amoghavajra, who were collectively known as the "Three Major Scholars of Kaiyuan."
Subhakarasimha (637-735), a scion of an Indian royal became clan, a military commander when he was only ten years old, and he ascended the throne when he was 13. After he quelled an armed rebellion launched by his younger brother who was jealous of him, he abdicated the throne and went on the road to pursue a religious life. He first studied Buddhism at a temple in a coastal area of South India, then he traveled to Magadha where he was recruited to the Nalanda Monastery to study Tantrism. In 716 Subhakarasimha arrived in Chang'an, where Emperor Xuanzong revered him and made him a "Patriarch." A year later he began translating Buddhist scriptures. Upon learning that the Huayan Monastery in Chang'an held some Sanskrit versions of the Buddhist sutras brought back by Chinese monks from studies in India, he received the blessing of the emperor and went to the monastery with his disciples to return with a number of such books. In 724, he followed the emperor to Luoyang where he resumed his translation work at the Xianfu Temple. The four sutras he translated there were all Tantric classics, one of which was the Mahavairocana-sutra, the fundamental canon of the Esoteric sect. Because of this Subhakarasimha was regarded as the father of the Esoteric sect of Chinese Buddhism.
Vajrabodhi (669-741), a south Indian born into the Brahman caste, was a child prodigy able to recite ten thousand words a day. He began his religious life as a student at the Nalanda Monastery. Later, he traveled to Simhala (Present-day Sri Lanka), where he boarded a ship to Pulau Sumatera in present-day Indonesia. His journey eventually brought him to Guangzhou in 719. Emperor Xuanzong received word of his arrival and summoned him to Chang'an. A major Tantric master, Vajrabodhi acquired many followers and presided over the abhisekana ritual (consecration by pouring water on the heads of followers). The books he translated on Tantric methodology and rituals laid a solid foundation for the introduction of Tantrism into China.
Amoghavajra (705-774), a northern Indian (another theory says he was from Simhala) born of the Brahman caste, arrived in China as a young child with his uncle. He became a disciple of the Indian preacher Vajrabodhi at 13, achieved his monkhood at 15, and was awarded the Mendicant Commandments at 20. For his high intelligence and photographic memory, he won the favor of his mentor, Vajrabodhi, who died in 741. A year later (1st year of the Tianbao reign, Tang Dynasty), Amoghavajra carried out his mentor's will by leading a 37-member Chinese delegation on a pilgrimage to Simhala, where his studies covered both the open and Esoteric sects of Buddhism. At the end of the journey, which brought him to India, he returned to Chang'an, put together a workshop to translate large numbers of Sanskrit Buddhist scriptures and treatises into Chinese, most of them Tantric classics, and emerged as one of the four major translators in Chinese Buddhism history. He then established his own domain for the Esoteric sect of Chinese Buddhism.
A salient feature of the Esoteric sect is the establishment of an altar on which to practice austerities and to recite the Honored One's spell (mantra). Chinese versions of the Tantric mantra and classics had become available as early as the Three Kingdoms Period (220-265), when some monks from India or the West Territories, well-versed in the mantra, were already spreading Tantrism in China. Among them were Fu Tucheng (232-348) and Bodhiruci (5th-6th century), who were masters of the mantra. A legend about Bodhiruci's mantra-reciting power has it that one day, when he went to fetch water from a well without bringing a pail, he found the water level in the well was so low that it was impossible to draw water from it. He tossed a tiny poplar tree twig into the well and recited the mantra for some time. Before long the water began to rise until it reached the brim of the well, allowing him to ladle out the water with his hands. The Chinese monks who were watching were surprised, and called him a sage. Bodhiruci hastened to explain that he was no sage at all, and that things like this were not uncommon in India. He declined to pass on the secret to the Chinese for fear that odd things like this would have a pernicious influence on society.
At that time Buddhism was still a novelty to the Chinese, the number of esoteric scriptures translated into Chinese was few and far between, and no monks were working to introduce this sect of Buddhism into China. That was why Tantrism failed to become a sect in its own right during Bodhiruci's time. The situation changed during the Kaiyuan reign with the arrival of the three Tantric masters – Subhakarasimha, Vajrabodhi, Amoghavajra. Thanks to the work of this trio, Esotericism emerged as one of the sects of Chinese Buddhism.
The Esoteric sect in the Han-inhabited regions of China falls into two categories, the vajradhatu (diamond element) and the garbhahatu (womb treasury). Vajra, or diamond, means solidity, which is a property to be utilized; while the womb denotes sustainability and concealment. The profound meanings of both categories are too complicated to be described in a tourist book such as this – they call for meticulous studies provided by esoteric masters.
The Esoteric sect of the Chinese tradition, like other Buddhist sects, was subjected to suppression under Emperor Wuzong of the Tang Dynasty. The crackdown was followed by the war and turmoil of the Five Dynasties (907-960), and as a result the once prosperous Exoteric sect gradually disappeared from the Chinese landscape. The Chinese Esoteric sect, however, had spread to Japan, where it is as thriving today as before. In modern times, Ven. Chisong (1894-1972) devoted himself to rejuvenating the Esoteric sect in China. He made two trips to Japan to learn the secrets with the intention of bringing the sect back to China. His efforts, however, failed.
The Esoteric sect being followed in China today is actually borrowed from Tibet and is therefore different in both tradition and content from the original Esoteric sect introduced into China by the aforementioned Indian monks.
The Esoteric sect was introduced into Tibet from India during the 7th century. After Tibet became part of China during the Yuan (1271-1368) Dynasty, the Yuan emperors all became pious followers of this sect. Tantrism, however, was placed under government control during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), but by the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), for political purposes, the imperial court held this school of Buddhism, followed by the Tibetans, in high esteem. During the Republican years, the Tibetan school of Esoteric Buddhism was able to spread far and wide through the interior of China.
