Yuanyuan Duan

This project explores the Buddhist ideals and ritual practices of kingship in the Dali kingdom—from 937 to 1254 CE, in present-day China’s Yunnan province—within a transregional context. Drawing on newly available Esoteric ritual manuals used for consecrating the Dali kings, along with visual and material evidence from the kingdom, this research shows how the medieval Esoteric tradition’s promise of immediate enlightenment and techniques of ritual embodiment inspired a new political imagery when applied to the Dali rulers. The Dali kings came to portray themselves as Buddha incarnate, an ideal uniting religious and political authority in the person of the king, which had not been envisioned by earlier Buddhist texts. By situating Dali within a cosmopolis of “Esoteric polities” to map out its history, parallels, and the broader Buddhist world shaping its practices, this research further reveals the cross-cultural influence of Esoteric Buddhism on the political culture of Middle Period Asia.