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ABSTRACT
The Yuqi jing [Sūtra of the Yogin] is often listed as one of the most important scriptures of Tantric Buddhism in East Asia, but its content and contribution to the esoteric system have so far been little understood. Traditionally regarded as a translation by Vajrabodhi, it was probably compiled in China in the late eighth century. The role that it played in Chinese Buddhism, however, remains unclear. In medieval Japan on the other hand, the scripture appears to have been rediscovered and enjoyed great fortunes. Medieval interpreters intervened on the text by articulating novel conceptual associations, often expressed through curious imagery. At the same time, a new type of initiatory abhiṣeka informed by the sūtra emerged, which engendered a distinctive discourse on the yogic identities pursued by a tantric practitioner. What spurred such sudden interest in the Yuqi jing in medieval Japan? What did Japanese exegetes read into the text? This article addresses these issues by exploring ‘canonical’ commentaries and unpublished initiatory documents that have recently come to light in temple archives.
Acknowledgments
Research for this article was facilitated by a Senior Research Fellowship from the British Academy/Leverhulme, for whose support I am grateful. I am indebted to Ōkubo Ryōshun 大久保良峻 of Waseda University for the opportunity to present my initial findings at Waseda University, where I benefitted from a learned audience’s comments. I am grateful to Shinpukuji 真福寺, Zentsūji 善通寺 and Ritsumeikan University 立命館大學 for graciously allowing me to publish photos of the material in their holdings.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1. I shall use the term Tantric Buddhism as synonymous of Esoteric Buddhism (Jp. mikkyō 密教). Which of the two terms is more appropriate to designate the Buddhist system that developed from the sixth century onward across Asia has been object of long debates among scholars. (For a summary of different positions see Orzech, Payne, Sørensen, ‘Introduction’.) While I am aware of their terminological differences, I use the adjectives ‘Tantric’ and ‘Esoteric’ interchangeably, but privilege ‘Tantric’ for the wider connections this term affords to similar interpretations and material from other areas of the Buddhist world.
2. Interestingly, the Yuqi jing spurred some interest in Europe in the 1990s: a full, annotated translation of the sūtra in Dutch was the core of the Ph. D dissertation of the late Pol vanden Broucke (vanden Broucke, Yugikyō), who later published three articles in English on specific aspects of the scripture (see below). The art historian Roger Goepper included an English translation of Chapter Five of the Yuqi jing in his iconological study of Aizen and presented a range of ritual material from Shingon works related to the Yuqi jing (Goepper, Aizen-myōō).
3. For convenience’s sake the names of deities with no counterpart in Sanskrit are given in Japanese pronunciation.
4. Dolce, ‘Nigenteki genri no gireika’; Dolce and Mano, ‘Annen.’
5. Dolce, ‘The Embryonic Generation of the Perfect Body.’
6. Misaki, Taimitsu no kenkyū, 137–140; Osabe, Tōdai mikkyōshi zakkō, 240–241.
7. T no. 867, 18: 253c: 唐南天竺國三藏沙門金剛智譯.
8. See, for instance, Yugi kaishinshō, 134, entry ‘On the translator.’ The hypotheses articulated in this work can be found in other works by Shingon scholar-monks. Cf. vanden Broucke, ‘On the Title and Translator of the Yuqi jing.’ On the Yugi kaishinshō, see below, n. 37.
9. Kamata et al (ed.), Taishō shinshū daizōkyō hōbō sōmokuroku 2: 212; Hōbōgirin, p.1035; vanden Broucke, ‘The Twelve-armed Deity Daishō kongō and His Scriptural Sources,’ 150 and 272n28.
10. Yasuhara (‘Yugikyō no kenkyū’ 1: 61) notes that in the Ming canon the sūtra appears in two juan 巻. However, medieval Japanese sources always give it as one juan. See, for instance, Yugikyō kenmon, ZTZ mikkyō 2: 207 ‘this sūtra in one fascicle (kan 巻) and twelve chapters.’
11. Kūkai, Shōrai mokuroku, T no. 2161, 55: 1062b29 (金剛峯樓閣一切瑜伽瑜祇經一卷), 1066a18; Eun, Eun risshi shomokuroku, T no 2168, 55: 1090a27; Shūei, Zenrinji Shūei sōmokuroku, T no. 2174b, 55: 1112c.25. The title also appears in several medieval catalogues, such as the Daigoji Rokugekyōtō mokuroku 錄外經等目錄 [Catalogue of Scriptures and Other Writings not Recorded], T no. 2175, 55: 1112c24.
12. Jin'gang jixiang da chengjiu pin jing 金剛吉祥大成就品經 [Scripture of the Chapter of the Great Accomplishments of Vajraśrī], one juan. See entries in Ennin’s catalogue, Nittō shingū shōgyō mokuroku, T no. 2167, 55:1080c28; Engyō’s catalogue, Reiganji wajō shōrai hōmon dōgu tō mokuroku, T no. 2164, 55:1072b6; and Shūei’s catalogue, Shinshosha shōrai hōmon tō mokuroku, T no. 2174, 55: 1108b2. Engyō notes that an alternative name of this text is ‘Sūtra of Five Eyes’ (Gogenkyō 五眼經) and that it comes from the ‘Scripture of the Adamantine Crown Peak’ (referred to as Kongōchōbu kyō 金剛頂峰經). Annen’s Hakke hiroku also reports that it is a chapter from the scripture (referred to as Yugikyō) and that it was brought to Japan by En(nin) and (En)gyō (T no. 2176, 55:1119b20).
13. See Shingonshū shogaku kyōritsuron mokuroku 眞言宗所學經律論目録, KDZ 1, p. 106.
14. This chapter has been translated in vanden Broucke, ‘The Twelve-armed Deity Daishō kongō,’ 150–155.
15. Jin'gangding jing (often given with the reconstructed Sanskrit title of Vajraṣekhara-sūtra) is the title of Amoghavajra’s translation of the first five chapters of the Sarvatathāgatatattvasaṃgraha, T no. 867, vol. 18. See Kano, ‘Sarvatathāgatatattvasaṃgraha.’
16. Harriet Hunter (A Transmission and Its Transformation, 113) however notes that the system is not always consistent.
17. Misaki, Taimitsu no kenyū, p. 138. Cf. T 18: 260a6-12. On the basis of these images Misaki has suggested that Chapter Nine of the Yuqi jing was influenced by Higher Yoga Tantras. On the relation between Butsugen and Ichiji kinrin in the maṇḍala, see Hunter, A Transmission and Its Transformation, 110–114. Misaki sees a sexual relationship also in the relation between Aizen and Vajrasattva presented in Chapter Five of the Yuqi jing, where Aizen is described as ‘the wife of Vajrasattva and the mother of all the Buddhas’ (T 18: 257b2-3). On this association and the changing gender of Aizen, see Dolce, ‘Nigenteki genri no gireika.’
18. Ōmura, Mikkyō hattatsushi, 520; Ōsabe, Tōdai mikkyōshi zakkō, 240–242; Misaki, Taimitsu no kenkyū, 508 passim; and vanden Broucke, ‘On the Title and Translator,’ which summarises Japanese scholarship.
19. Fahua guanzhi yigui / Jp. Kanchigiki 法華観智儀軌 (full title: Chengjiu Miaofa lianhua jing wang yujia guanzhi yigui 成就妙法蓮華経王瑜伽観智儀軌), T no. 1000, 19: 594–602. On this ritual, see Dolce, ‘Reconsidering the Taxonomy of the “Esoteric.”’
20. Harriet Hunter presents an excellent discussion of this point. See Hunter, A Transmission and Its Transformation, in particular Chapter Three and Chapter Four.
21. Yugikyō hidenshō 瑜祇経秘伝抄, a long commentary on the scripture by Yūgi (see below, n. 37). Yūgi, on the contrary, considers the sūtra to embody the meaning of the non-duality of the two realms.
22. The text is listed as Yugikyō gyōbōki 瑜祇經行法記 in Nihon daizōkyō, and I have used this as its main title, but the internal title is Issai nyorai Daishōkongōchō saishō shinjitsu samayabon shidai kannen 一切如来大勝金剛頂最勝眞實三昧耶品次第觀念 (see NDZ 36: 235). The text follows the recitative passages of the sūtra and offers instructions on diverse practices: an internalised fire ritual (naikahō 内火法), the installation of 12 syllables on the practitioner’s body (junijikan 十二字観) and a five colour visualization (goshikikan 五色観). See NDZ 1: 527-530 for an analysis of the content.
23. The text is given as Yugi sōgyō shiki 瑜祇總行私記 in the Taishō canon and as Yugikyō sōgyōki 瑜祇經總行記 in Nihon daizōkyō. Further, on the title page of the latter Gikyō kuden 祇經口傳 appears as its main title and two other alternative titles, Yugikyō shuin 瑜祇經手印 and Yugikyōhōshō 瑜祇經法抄 are given. The text is considered to be the oral transmission from one of Shinjaku’s masters, either Shūei or Jinnichi 神日 (860–916). On the latter, see MDJ 5: 2209.
24. Full title of the Taishō version: Kongōbu rōkaku issai yugi kyō shugyōbō 金剛峰樓閣一切瑜祇經修行法, T no. 2228, 61: 485a–504b. This is a text in three kan, but medieval sources state that there were three different versions, an extended text in six kan, a middle one in three kan and an abbreviated text in one kan. See NDZ (kaidai) 1: 521–527. Also known as Gyōbō shidai. For an introduction to Annen in English, see Dolce and Mano, ‘Annen,’ 768–775.
25. Iyanaga Nobumi 彌永信美 has suggested to me that Annen might have received oral instruction from Ennin which engendered his understanding, in particular of the ritual dimension of the Yuqi jing. The assumption is that Ennin, in turn, would have learned these interpretations in China. However, in the current status of research on early Japanese Esoteric Buddhism it is difficult to find evidence for such an hypothesis.
26. Yugikyō shūgyōbō, T no. 2228, 61: 485a7.
27. See, for instance, Shingonshū kyōjigi, T 75: 441a. See also Kagiwada, ‘Tōmitsu ni okeru Yugikyō kaishaku no hensen.’
28. T no. 2228, 61: 485.
29. Yuqi jing, T 18: 263b4–5.
30. The practice is known as ‘visualisation of five syllables on the practitioner’s body’ (goji gonshin kan 五字厳身観) or ‘visualisation of the five cakras’ (gorinkan 五輪観). See, e.g., Dari jing, T n. 848, 18: 31a, 38b–c, 52b-c; Dari jing shu, T no. 1796, 39: 727c8–728a9. For a translation and extensive discussion of these passages in English, see Chen, Legend and Legitimation, 203–218.
31. Yugikyō gyōbōki, T no. 2228, 61: 494c–495a.
32. Nihon daizōkyō kaidai 1: 524. Sange gakusoku suggests that the yogin consecration was transmitted only within Taimitsu lineages, but my research has shown that it was adopted by several Tantric lineages regardless of their institutional affiliation. See Dolce, ‘The Abhiṣeka of the Yogin.’
33. SZ 5: 11–26.
34. ZSZ 7: 91–134. According to the colophon this work was copied in 1276 by Kakuman 覚満 and this copy in turn transcribed in 1297 by Jitsuō 實応 at Negoroji 根来寺. This manuscript, now in Kōyasan University library, is the one printed in ZSZ. See ZSZ 14 (index of titles and authors): 40-41.
35. SZ 5: 27-137. According to the colophon (shikigo 識語), Dōhan received the transmission of the Yuqi jing at Hosshōji 法性寺, the temple of the Fujiwara house in the capital, at the same time as an individual given as ‘Zenjō tenka’ 禅定展下. The explanatory notes of Shingonshū zensho (SZ kaidai, 11) associate this title to Dōjo nyūdō shinnō 道助入道親王 (1196-1249), a Ninnaji monk and son of emperor Gotoba. However, in the medieval period the title was used by members of the Regent family when they took tonsure. Here it must refer to Kujō Michie 九条道家 (1193-1252), who is known to have nurtured an interest in the Yuqi jing. See Matsumoto, Chūsei ōken to sokui kanjō, 356-357 and 362. The colophon also informs us that the instruction lasted 30 days.
36. On the influence of Annen on early Tōmitsu exegesis of the Yuqi jing, see Kagiwada, ‘Tōmitsu ni okeru Yugikyō kaishaku no hensen.’
37. ZSZ 7: 137–154. According to the information included at the beginning of each juan, it records the transmission Yūgi received by a Kōyasan monk called Keiga 景巌 in 1576. Yūgi received instructions at Daigoji, Onjōji 園城寺 and Enryakuji 延曆寺, as well as Nara temples. See ZSZ 14: 255–256 and MDJ 5: 2191 b–c.
38. In NDZ 36 (kyōzōbu mikkyōbu ge 2): 1–89. According to Ono (ed.), Bussho kaisetsu daijiten (11: 84), Jōhen also authored a commentary on the Yuqi jing, Yugikyōshō 瑜祇経抄, not yet identified. This is said to be quoted by Raiyu in his own commentary.
39. Kanazawa bunko shiryō zensho 6. On the dating, see Manabe, ‘Kaishaku.’ The list of texts on esoteric Buddhism held at Kanazawa bunko give more than twenty titles on the Yuqi jing, of which six are books owned (shutakuhon 手沢本) by Kenna. The latter include a copy of Jitsuun’s Yugikyō hiketsu and a manual for the practice of the yugi kanjō. Manabe, ‘Kanazawa bunko ni okeru shingon mikkyō tenseki,’ p. 276.
40. Printed in Kanazawa bunko shiryō zensho 6. Of the twelve chapters, Chapter Two and Chapter Three are not commented upon. The manuscript is written on the back of a letter in cursive. Although restored, it is not in excellent conditions and several lines are missing at different points. The preface includes the name of Kenna in Siddhāṃ. See also Manabe, ‘Kaishaku,’ in Kanazawa bunko shiryō zensho 6: 289–290.
41. Unpublished manuscript. Not dated. Copied by Hōren 宝蓮 in 1344. Colophon in Abe, Chūsei nihon no shūkyō tekusuto taikei: 262. I am grateful to Abe Yasurō 阿部泰郎 of Nagoya University 名古屋大學 for introducing me to this text and providing me with photographs of the manuscript. The conditions of the manuscript render its reading arduous in places. The other two commentaries, titled Yugikyōhō and Yugi sotaran, compiled respectively in 1339 (Ryakuō 2, Engen 3) 6/6 and 6/7, are part of Onokō hishō. See Uchida, Monkanbō Kōshin to bijutsu, 343-344 and, for the colophons, Abe, Chūsei Nihon no shukyō tekusuto taikei: 259–260.
42. See Yuga dentōshō 瑜伽伝灯鈔, the biography of Monkan, in Uchida, Monkanbō Kōshin to bijutsu 146–147. The famous portrait of Godaigo in the holdings of Shōjōkōji 清浄光寺, in Fujisawa, where the ruler is portrayed holding the same accessories of Vajrasattva, a vajra and a vajra bell, is said to reproduce the semblance of Godaigo when he received the yugi initiation. See Nara kokuritsu hakubutsukan, Shinbutsu shūgō, 196 (no. 177) and Dolce, ‘The Abhiṣeka of the Yogin.’
43. See ZTZ, mikkyō 2, 205–216. From a manuscript in the holdings of Kyoto University Library. Daie succeeded Enni to the abbotship of Tōfukuji 東福寺. He also received transmissions from Sanbōin lineage of Daigoji.
44. On Yōsai’s Tantric thought and lineage see Mano, ‘Yōsai and the transformation of Buddhist precepts in pre‐modern Japan’ and Mizukami, ‘Yōsai no mikkyō shisō.’ On Enni’s interest in the Yuqi jin see Mizukami, ‘Enni Ben’en no mikkyōsetsu to taimitsu.’
45. Chūsei zenseki sōkan vol. 4, 457–486 (5–78 facsimile). I am grateful to Shinpukuji for giving permission to publish two photos of this manuscript, and to Abe Yasurō for facilitating the request.
46. Chūsei zenseki sōkan, vol. 12, 545–584. Comparative analysis of the two manuscripts, in particular the calligraphy and the style of annotations, shows that these were copied by the same person, Nōnin 能信 (1291–1355), founder of Shinpukuji. A gloss on the title page of Hikyōketsu indicating that this is one of two juan suggests that the two manuscripts might have originally been transmitted as a set and later divided. See Abe, ‘Yugikyō kenmon (daiichi) kaishaku.’
47. ZTZ mikkyō 2, 217–256.
48. ZTZ mikkyō 2, 257–355. Several manuscripts are preserved at Eizan bunko 叡山文庫 and other Tendai temples on Mount Hiei 比叡山, which bear different internal titles: Yugikyōshō 瑜祇經抄, Yugikyō kuketsu 瑜祇經口決, Kanokyō kikigakishō 彼経聞書抄. See the supplement to ZTZ mikkyō 2, ‘Kaidai.’
49. A printed and edited version of this text has been published in Mizukami, Taimitsu shisō keisei no kenkyū, 595–670.
50. See n. 21 and Tomabechi, ‘Yugi sōgyō shiki.’
51. ZTZ mikkyō 2, 212a.
52. Chūsei zenseki sōkan 12, 558. I am grateful to Kigensan Licha for drawing my attention to this passage.
53. See Shibuya, Tendai shoseki sōgō mokuroku, 1223; and Sonehara, ‘Shunkei no kenkyū.’ I am grateful to Sonehara Satoshi 曽根原理 for bringing this work to my attention.
54. Ogawa Toyoo 小川豊生 notes that the term kenmon first appeared in Tendai ritual texts from the early eleventh century, with the number of occurrences increasing in the fourteenth century. Ogawa suggests that titles such as kenmon and kikigaki 聞書 indicate a specific category of Japanese texts that combine scriptural passages and teacher’s notes to convey the insights attained through religious experience. Ogawa, Chūsei Nihon no shinwa, moji, shintai, 591–598.
55. Yugisotoran kuden, ZSZ 7: 106.
56. Yugisotoran kuden, ZSZ 7: 128.
57. Yugisotoran kuden, ZSZ 7: 93.
58. Dolce, ‘Esoteric Patterns in Nichiren’s Interpretation of the Lotus Sūtra,’ 310–313.
59. Kōen hokkegi, Chishō Daishi zenshū 3: pp. 920-1. For a discussion of this work, see Dolce, ‘Esoteric Patterns in Nichiren’s Interpretation of the Lotus Sūtra,’ 273–278.
60. Yugisotoran kuden, ZSZ 7: 93. No gloss is given for kyō (sūtra).
61. This was already noted by vanden Broucke, ‘On the Title and Translator.’
62. ZTZ mikkyō 2: 205; Chūsei zenseki sōkan, 459–460.
63. Several drawings of this stūpa exist, either within commentarial writings, as in Jitsuun’s Yugisotoran hiketsu (SZ 5: 13), or as independent folios. The manuscript in , from the Fuji Eikan bunko 藤井永観文庫 at Art Research Center, Ritsumeikan University, is a beautiful example of the latter. Now framed as a hanging scroll, according to the inscription it is called Sōōkyō injin 相応経印信 and it was transmitted on the 5th day of the seventh lunar month of Kenmu 建武 1 (1334) by a certain ajari Keishin 堅信. On the yogin stūpa, see vanden Broucke, ‘The Yugitō’ and Matsumoto, Chūsei ōken to sokui kanjō, 340–348. I am grateful to the Art Research Center for allowing me to reproduce this image and providing high resolution photos of the document.
64. Fuji Eikan bunko, Art Research Center, Ritsumeikan University, eik2-0-20, recorded as Yugi kiribumi 瑜祇切文. Currently framed as a hanging scroll. Copied by a certain Shunkei 春賢, it was originally included in a set of 11 folios under the title of Yugi injin setsumon hiden 
印信説文秘伝. I am grateful to the Art Research Center for allowing me to reproduce this image and providing high resolution photos of the document. I have discussed this document in Dolce, ‘Nigenteki genri no gireika,’ 193–195.
65. The sentence ‘merging of the two fluids in which the seed of consciousness is entrusted’ comes from the Mohe zhiguan 摩訶止観, Zhiyi’s treatise on meditation (T 47: 93c11–12), which in turns draws on the Da zhidu lun 大智度論 (T 25: 199a 2–8).While in these classic Chinese sources the sentence served to explain the impurity of the physical body produced by other bodies, in the Japanese injin this negative meaning is turned around and the sentence becomes an expression of the identity of Buddha and practitioner.
66. Dolce, ‘Nigenteki genri no gireika,’ 194.
67. Kongōōinryū hiketsu. Unpublished, Zentsūji Archives, dozō 土蔵 23-249-28. I am grateful to Unno Keisuke 海野圭介 of the National Institute of Japanese Literature for sharing the photographs of this document with me and to the Treasure Hall of Zentsūji for graciously allowing me to publish the image.
68. T no. 867, 18: 255b6-20. The syllable VAṂ is described as the fundamental syllable of the Yuqi jing.
69. ZTZ mikkyō 2: 206–207. See also Hikyōketsu, Chūsei zenseki sōkan 4, 463.
70. For instance, ZTZ mikkyō 2: 207; Chūsei zenseki sōkan 4, 463.
71. For a detailed analysis of the yugi kanjō, see Dolce, ‘The Abhiṣeka of the Yogin.’
72. Yuqi jing, T 18: 267a2-10.
73. For an interpretation of similar material in Tibetan Buddhism, which focuses on body boundaries, see Dachille, ‘Piercing to the Pith of the Body.’
74. This is a core element in Indian and Tibetan tantras. See, for instance, Bentor, ‘Interpreting the Body Maṇḍala.’ Channels are however not discussed in Yuqi jing exegeses.
75. SZ, p. 24. Similar diagrams are included in the above-mentioned initiatory documents Kongōōinryū hiketsu.
76. See Monkan’s Yuga yugi hikanshō and Dolce, ‘The Abhiṣeka of the Yogin.’
77. See, for instance, Sugiki, ‘Oblation, Non-conception and Body’ and Dalton, ‘The Development of Perfection.’ Dalton (‘The Development of Perfection,’ 2) argues that by the end of the ninth century these texts presented the tantric subject as the site for the entire ritual performance: ‘the body’s interior provided the devotee, the altar, the oblations, and the buddha to be worshipped.’
78. For a detailed analysis of the charts see Dolce, ‘The Embryonic Generation of the Perfect Body, 297.’
79. Yugikyō kenmon, ZTZ mikkyō 2: 214–215 and Hikyōketsu, 485. According to Mizukami this is the first text where such a chart appears. See ‘Enni Ben’en no mikkyō setsu to taimitsu,’ 85. Taimitsu keigushō, in Mizukami, Taimitsu shisō, 666–667. In other manuscripts of Taimitsu keigushō the chart is not included. See Mizukami, ‘Taimitsu shisō,’ 454–455.
80. SZ 5: 14–15 and SZ 7:173.
81. Dolce, ‘The Embryonic Generation of the Perfect Body, 297.’
82. Yugikyō chomonshō, ZTZ mikkyō 2: 302. See Dolce, ‘The Embryonic Generation of the Perfect Body,’ 295. This commentary does not include the chart. A similar passage is in Yugikyō hidenshō, SZ 7: 173–174, which does illustrate these notions with both a gestation chart and a drawing of the five mudras.
83. Yugisotoran kuden, ZSZ 7: 127.
84. SZ 5: 23–24.
85. Cf. Dalton, ‘The Development of Perfection.’
86. See, for instance, Kano, ‘Sarvatathāgatatattvasaṃgraha.’