Buddhist Talismans

Talismans are ubiquitous across time and space in Buddhist Asia. With its long history and a wide range of variations, several other terms such as “amulets,” “charms,” and “seals” have been interchangeably and uncritically used. One recognizable pattern in the recent scholarship, however, is that those scholars of the East Asian tradition tend to prefer “talismans” (as a translation of the Chinese word “fu” or “fuyin”), whereas those scholars of the South Asian tradition favor “amulets.” Due to the convoluted and contentious usages of these terms, throughout this piece, on a broader level, I use the term “Buddhist talismans” as the heuristic category that includes both Indian and Sinitic heritages of these ritually charged and culturally conferred power objects. On a more concrete level, Buddhist talismans can be defined as any tangible objects believed to hold magical powers and apotropaic properties meant to be activated when they are ritually consecrated and physically contacted with the beholder, all of which were designed to intervene in the law of karma. The Buddhist use of talismans has its origins in ancient India. Printed dhāraṇī-amulets from Dunhuang, Tibet, and central Asian regions show strong Indian diagram-based and sonic components while fu-talismans from the Sinitic realm tend to be more letter-based signs, often exhibiting strong affinities with the Daoist use of talismans. Strickmann 2002 (cited under Chinese Talismans with a Broader Framework) suggests that the Buddhist use of talismans in China may have begun as early as the beginning of the 4th century although the imperial, bureaucratic use of “contracting document” or “tally” at the imperial court can be traced back to the late Western Han (206 bce–24 ce). But it was not until the Tang period that this talisman-seal (fuyin) practice spread more widely among the Buddhists as Copp 2014 (cited under Chinese Talismans with a Broader Framework) illustrates. With the constant interplay with Daoism, the ancient Indian practice of talismans (e.g., yantra) also found newer forms and functions over time in the Sinitic Buddhist world. Certain markers, such as using the character “the Buddha” on the talismans or featuring other Buddhist divinities or requiring Buddhist mudra often carried the hallmark of “Buddhist” practices. Also, Buddhist dhāraṇī texts (written in Siddhaṃ letters and other Buddhist languages) were prominently used as talismans. Although Buddhist talismans were created in Buddhist ritual settings often at the Buddhist monastery by the monastics for the monastics and the laity, other religious elements (e.g., Daoism, Bon, Shinto, shamanic tradition, folk beliefs, etc.) and local-specific cultural components morphed in the production, consumption, circulation, and interpretation of the Buddhist talismans. For a holistic understanding of Buddhist talismans in the future, a deeply inter-religious, inter-regional, and interdisciplinary approach would be desirable.