Esoteric, Chan and vinaya ties in Tang Buddhism : the ordination platform of the Huishan monastery on Mount Song in the religious policy of Emperor Daizong

This paper explores the reconstruction of the ordination platform in the Huishan monastery 會善寺 on Mount Song in 767 in the context of the reinforcement of pro-Buddhist policies at the court of Emperor Daizong 代宗 (r. 762–779). The vinaya monks and state officials who engaged in this platform’s reconstruction are identified as associates of two prominent monastic figures: Amoghavajra (Bukong jin’gang 不空金剛; 704–774), an Esoteric leader at the imperial court; and Songshan Puji 嵩山普寂 (651–739), regarded as the seventh patriarch in the Northern Chan tradition. The key roles played by disciples of these two masters in the reconstruction of the Huishan platform attest to significant congruence in ritual practices between proponents of the Esoteric and Chan groups in Tang dynasty China, primarily in the areas of precept conferral and monastic ordination