Crafting cosmologies : buddhist cartography and the spatial imagination in Medieval China
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- This dissertation traces written and visual discourses mapping the Buddhist cosmos in medieval China. This study is grounded in sixth- to eleventh-century Chinese manuscripts and murals preserved at the Mogao Grottoes, a bustling Buddhist cave complex in the Dunhuang region. I expand this localized focus with analysis of texts, images, and maps whose productions range from the Six Dynasties (220--589) to the Song Dynasty (960--1279), from sand-swept caves of Dunhuang to elite temples of central China, and from the hands of anonymous local scribes to imperially sponsored scholar-monks. Each chapter examines a unique method of crafting cosmologies in medieval China. These methods are demonstrated inductively, grounded in three distinct bodies of materials, each evincing a particular pursuit in the production. Chapter One highlights the method of crafting cosmologies through visual transformation, examining wall murals at Mogao that engage in the artistic pursuit of turning a Mainstream text into a collection of graphic narrative maps of two distinct universes and one micro-cosmos. Chapter Two uncovers the creative method of textual appropriation, examining two new texts added to the Lotus Sūtra which I identify as having been made from at least one pre-existing cosmology. Chapter Three explores an element of material culture, examining one cohesive manuscript in order to illuminate possible practical pursuits involved in the creation of a meta-cosmology through the practice of textual compilation. Throughout, this study strives to demonstrate the foundational role cosmology played in medieval Chinese Buddhist ontology and soteriology
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic resource; remote; computer; online resource |
| Extent | 1 online resource |
| Place | California |
| Place | [Stanford, California] |
| Publisher | [Stanford University] |
| Copyright date | 2020; ©2020 |
| Publication date | 2020; 2020 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Tuzzeo, Daniel Ryan |
|---|---|
| Degree supervisor | Kieschnick, John, 1964- |
| Thesis advisor | Kieschnick, John, 1964- |
| Thesis advisor | Harrison, Paul M. (Paul Maxwell), 1950- |
| Thesis advisor | Wigen, Kären, 1958- |
| Degree committee member | Harrison, Paul M. (Paul Maxwell), 1950- |
| Degree committee member | Moerman, D. Max (David Max) |
| Degree committee member | Wigen, Kären, 1958- |
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Religious Studies. |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|---|
| Genre | Text |
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Daniel R. Tuzzeo |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Religious Studies |
| Thesis | Thesis Ph.D. Stanford University 2020 |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2020 by Daniel Ryan Tuzzeo
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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