Date： April 10, 2015 (Fri) 4:00-5:30p.m

Venue： Main Conference Room, 3rd floor, Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia (Tobunken), the University of Tokyo

Speaker： Meir Shahar (Tel Aviv University)

Title： The Chinese Cult of the Horse King and its Indian Tantric Origins

Abstract：

rnThe Horse King (Mawang 馬王) was among the most popular deities in the pantheon of late-imperial China. The equine deity fig ured prominently in the economic and military spheres alike. So long as horses, donkeys, and mules played a major role in C hinese agriculture, commerce, and warfare, the cult of their tutelary deity flourished. This paper will survey the late-imperial cult of the Horse King, arguing that the origins of the equine deity might be trace d back to the Horse-Headed Avalokiteśvara (Matou Guanyin 馬頭觀音) of Esoteric Buddhism. I will argue that the literary and iconographic attributes of the Chinese popular deity, no less than his very name Horse King, betray his Tantric ancestry. The multi-eyed and multi limbed iconography of the equine god, his association with fire, and his name Horse King (a shorten ed form of the esoteric Buddhist Horse-Headed King of Spells (Matou Ming Wang 馬頭明王)), equally reveal that he is none oth er than the Horse-Headed Avalokiteśvara in a new garb. In this respect the late-imperial cult of the Horse King evinces th e long term impact of Esoteric Buddhism on Chinese religion and culture.

Contact: norihisa(at)ioc.u-tokyo.ac.jp