Sacred Space, Material Culture, and Ritual Practice for Installing Parasols in Dunhuang

This paper aims to shed new light on the religious function and symbolic meaning of parasols (san 傘) in Buddhist ritual practices, tracing the origins of the concept and examining its representations in texts and art. The author focuses on manuscripts, particularly the “Liturgies for Installing Parasols” (Ansan wen 安傘文) from Dunhuang, and argues that parasols were used as special ritual instruments to guard the local community. Their sacred power stemmed from the apotheosis of the parasol’s practical function of shielding and protecting people, which was further enhanced by beliefs surrounding the “Mother of Buddhas with Great White Canopy” (Da bai sangai fomu 大白傘蓋佛母) in the late Tang and Five Dynasties. Erecting parasols or carrying them in processions around the city was considered equivalent to demarcating boundaries, establishing defenses, and creating sanctuaries. Whether worn as a protective object, placed at the city’s four gates as a symbol of safeguarding passage, or installed in processions, the Great White Canopy Dhāraṇī and the practice of installing parasols distinguished the inside from the outside, self from others, and purity from impurity. This practice not only had the power to expel plagues and disasters, but also solemnified spaces, bringing blessings, purification, health, and peace. The parasol’s practical functions were continuously extended and mythologized, becoming a central object in rituals aimed at sanctifying space. The rise of the Great White Canopy Dhāraṇī belief in Dunhuang further reinforced its role in local customs. This method of spatial sanctification reflects the internal logic of esoteric Buddhist practices while sharing conceptual and technical similarities with traditional Chinese apotropaic arts (fangshu 方術) and Daoist exorcistic rituals. Through the grand and regular performance of these ceremonies, political legitimacy and communal well-being were successfully established.