Chinese visual texts, Japanese spatial contexts: Mandala installation and the reading of empowered space in Japan

ABSTRACT This article analyzes the various display strategies for the Diamond and Womb World mandalas of esoteric Shingon (C. zhenyan 真言) Buddhism in Japan, which Kūkai (774-835 CE) first imported from China in 806 CE. It will offer contextualized spatial hermeneutics to interpret the ritual-functional significance of their emplacements. Specifically, it will consider traditional emplacements such as the parallel confrontation model and the frontal display model, which are most often discussed in the context of lay or monastic initiation ceremonies (kechien kanjō 結縁灌頂), annual state protecting rites (goshichinichi mishūhō 後七日御修法), and Shingon’s ubiquitous goma 護摩 fire ceremonies. However, it will also consider new and original (or simply idiosyncratic) examples in modern Japan that nevertheless show the versatility and adaptability of the twin mandala motif for distinct functional purposes. Emplacements on ceilings, on doors, behind founders’ portraits or even arguably in government buildings, all suggest that the functions of Shingon’s double mandala motif range from individual propitiation and commemoration to advancing sectarian and national ideologies.