Review of Paul Copp, The Body Incantatory: Spells and the Ritual Imagination in Medieval Chinese Buddhism

Abstract

In The Body Incantatory, Paul Copp studies a set of rich materials. On the one hand, he closely analyzes two bodies of archeological evidence for practices related to two popular dhāraṇıs̄ in the Tang through the early Song: (1) twenty-three amulets bearing the suiqiu 隨求 (mahāpratisarā) dhāraṇı ̄ (listed in Appendix 1, 233–37); and (2) various dhāraṇı ̄ pillars 幢 bearing the Usṇ̣ıs̄ạvijaya-dhāraṇı.̄ On the other hand, Copp works closely with Chinese versions of two normative scriptures relating to the same dhāraṇıs̄: (1) theMahāpratisarā; and (2) the Usṇ̣ıs̄ạvijaya-dhāraṇı.̄ Chapters 2 and 3, comprising the heart of the book, treat the Mahāpratisarā and Usṇ̣ıs̄ạvijaya materials respectively. The book is full of fascinating information for a reader like myself, who was unfamiliar with these materials. The book is ambitious. I was particularly excited by the book’s potential contributions to scholarship in three main areas: method; large conceptual issues, particularly the transformation of Buddhism in China and the place of the body in Buddhist practice and ideas; and a rich crop of more particular claims.