Buddhist Stone Sutras in China: Shandong Province eds. by Wang Yongbo and Tsai Suey-Ling (review)

After the publication of Volume 1 (2014) and Volume 2 (2015), this is the third volume in the series on Buddhist sutra inscriptions engraved on rock cliffs in Shandong Province. Whereas the first volume on Shandong discussed the sites in Dongping and in Pingyin, that is, the area on the northwestern edge of the highlands around lake Dongping (see my review in China Review International 20, no. 3&4), and the second volume described and studied the inscriptions on Mount Yi, Mount Tie, Mount Ge, and Mount Gang—four mountains around the present-day city of Zoucheng, the home of Mencius (372–289 b.c.e.), located at the base of the foothills to the southwest of the Shandong highlands, south of Qufu and east of Jining city (see my review in China Review International 21, no. 2)—the inscriptions that are discussed in this volume are situated in the area from Yellow Stone Cliff (Huangshiya) in the north, that is, just southeast of Shandong's capital city Ji'nan, to Mount Long in the southwestern highlands of Shandong, that is, some 150 kilometers to the south of Yellow Stone Cliff. Inclusive of Yellow Stone Cliff and Mount Long, this geographical area contains nine sites: Yellow Stone Cliff, Mount Long, Mount Jian, Mount Yang, Culai, Fenghuang, Shuiniu, Ziyang, and Mount Tao. The inscriptions in these sites all date from the sixth century c.e., that is, the Northern Qi (550–577) and Northern Zhou (557–581) dynasties.

The inscriptions on Mount Jian and Mount Yang, two mountains situated in the middle of the area, are no longer extant. For Mount Yang, only one inscription is recorded: a passage of 98 characters from the "Sutra on the Great Perfection of Wisdom Spoken by Mañjuśrī", Saptaśatikāprajñāpāramitāsūtra (on which more is discussed further). Of the texts on Mount Jian, rubbings have been made before their destruction in the 1960s. In these rubbings, the name of Lady Zhao (died 575 or 576) figures. Lady Zhao was the wife of Tang Yong (before 532–581), an eminent political figure of the Northern Qi dynasty known as a supporter of the Buddhist cause (p. 8). While the name of Lady Zhao and of General Hulü Wudu (died 572) are the only two names mentioned in the Shandong inscriptions, we also know from other historical sources the names of the donors (communities of people organized in Buddhist associations, as well as individuals) who are mentioned in the eight surviving votive inscriptions (six of which are still in situ, and two of which are only preserved in rubbings) of Yellow Stone Cliff, giving us insight into the connection of these caves to the capital city Luoyang, where, under imperial auspices, work on the monumental sculptured grottos at Longmen had recently started (p. 164). Among the individual donors of Yellow Stone Cliff, we reckon Qifu Rui, the Governor of Qi Prefecture, and Yao Jingzun, the Governor of Wei Commandery. Their donations are dated 26 April 539. As suggested by Zheng Yan, "This may have been the official revival of Buddhist activities at the site after the dynastic rule had changed in 534 from the Northern Wei to the Eastern Wei" (p. 167). The principal donors connected to Mount Culai were Wang Zichun who served as Magistrate of Liangfu County, and a certain Rectifier Hu Bin (p. 247). A similar local connection between the Buddhist community and officialdom can also be deduced from the inscriptions in Shuiniu, where two local families dominate the inscriptions: the Yang and Shu families. The Yang family was overall more powerful, but at least one individual from the Shu family acted as Great Chief Overseer, a function that comprised management responsibilities in a Buddhist association (p. 422). These inscriptions offer the opportunity to compare history as...