The Making of a Savior Bodhisattva: Dizang in Medieval China

The book opens by questioning modern assumptions about Dizang as primarily a deity of the dead and sovereign of the underworld. Zhiru explains that although Dizang is today strongly associated with funerary rites, hungry ghosts, hells, and Mount Jiuhua, this image does not fully represent his medieval history. The study is divided into two main parts. Part 1 examines early images of Dizang as the bodhisattva of the defiled world, focusing on early scriptural representations, the Scripture on the Ten Wheels, Sanjie Jiao connections, Sinbang’s exegetical work, and early Shaanxi art. Part 2 explores Dizang’s multiple medieval identities through indigenous and accretionary scriptures, art and epigraphy, miracle tales, ritual texts, Pure Land imagery, Ten Kings iconography, and afterlife practices. The conclusion reassesses Dizang’s later role as Lord of the Underworld and situates the cult within broader issues in Tang Buddhism, Chinese Buddhist practice, and the relationship between doctrine and popular religion.