Buddhist Connections between the Liao and Xixia: Preliminary Considerations

Introduction

The general conclusion of the research presented below is that the Liao empire (907–1125) was not only a military superpower in East Asia, dominating vast areas of the Mongolian steppes and territories in China proper, but also exerted a strong cultural and religious impact on its neighbors, including Koryŏ and the Great Kingdom of White and High (Baigao Daguo 白高大國), otherwise known as the Tangut State of the Great Xia (982/1038–1227) or the Western Xia (Xixia). Research into the Liao-Xixia Buddhist relationship became possible only recently, when several previously unattributed texts discovered in Khara-Khoto by Kozlov’s Mongol-Sichuan expedition in 1908–1909 were definitely identified as originating from the Liao.¹ Recognition of the Liao impact on the formation of Tangut religion and culture gave rise to a complicated set of questions concerning the nature and time span of this influence. One has to determine whether this relationship was circumstantial and limited to occasional transmission of random texts, or whether the discovery of Liao Buddhist materials in Khara-Khoto was not coincidental, but representative of a larger network of cultural exchange in North Asia prior to the Mongol invasion. Another dimension of the same problem relates to the nature of Liao-Xixia Buddhist influence. One has to determine whether the Liao Buddhists transmitted to their Tangut counterparts the results of their own creativity, or if a pre-existing Buddhist tradition was inherited by the Liao and passed on to the Tanguts.²

The main argument of this paper is that the Liao impact on Xixia Buddhism was of a formative nature. So-called Chinese Buddhism in Xixia (as it appears in texts from the Kozlov collection) emerged not only as a result of Xixia borrowings of certain Chinese texts and Buddhist practices which belonged to the mainstream Chinese Buddhism of the Song dynasty,³ but was also shaped as an imitation of the doctrinal system peculiar to the Liao version of the Buddhist creed. In the following discussion I refer to this particular version of Buddhism as the Perfect Teaching (yuanjiao 圓教), a term well attested in Liao Buddhist compilations. This version of Buddhism encompassed various traditions of Chinese Buddhism of the Tang and Five Dynasties period, including the practices of esoteric and Chan Buddhism.⁴ It was integrated into a complex system on the basis of the late Tang Huayan teaching, as it is presented in the few surviving works of Liao Buddhism. The Liao texts discussed in this paper originate from various sources, including Khara-Khoto, and date to the late twelfth to the early thirteenth century, thus demonstrating the vitality of Liao Buddhism even after the demise of the Liao.⁵ The Korean monk Ŭich’ŏng (Ch. Yitian 義天, 1055–1101) developed a substantial interest in Liao Buddhist institutions and teachings. Throughout his life he maintained a close relationship with members of the Liao Buddhist community, and collected a number of important Liao texts. He also wrote a brief account on Liao Buddhist practices, which are discussed below.

The Buddhist tradition appropriated by the Liao existed in Northern China before the Kitan rise to power, when a trend for convergence between Huayan doctrine and esoteric practices emerged in the works of Qingliang Chengguan 清涼澄觀 (737–838).⁶ It continued to flourish after the collapse of the Liao. During the Liao dynasty, this version of Buddhadharma reached its summit, and had a substantial appeal to the Tanguts, who maintained a close relationship with the Liao (both hostile and friendly) throughout their history. As the Khara-Khoto texts demonstrate, Xixia Buddhists not only translated certain Liao texts, but also attempted to reproduce the textual repertoire of Liao Buddhism and imitate certain attitudes specific to Buddhist teachings and practices (especially the attitude to Chan Buddhism) particular to the Liao. This is clearest in the case of textual transmission, both in terms of direct translations of Liao texts or their reproduction in Chinese, given the amount of doctrinal and ritual writings available from both Liao and Xixia.

Understanding the social function of Xixia Buddhism, and to what degree Xixia Buddhist...