Epigraphical Series

A unique series of publications devoted to the study of epigraphical sources in the East Asian context. Outstanding specialists of the field present here annotated editions and translations of important inscriptions together with the results of research related to those texts.

Dharma Bell and Dharani Pillar

Li Po’s Buddhist Inscriptions

By Paul W. Kroll

Dharma Bell and Dharani Pillar
Publication year
2001
ISBN
978-4-900793-19-4
Price
2,500 yen
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Information

This book introduces a neglected genre of Li Po's (701-762?) work–inscriptions written to honor certain religious objects. Although epigraphical in nature, the two texts presented are in the form of literary documents, as the inscriptions themselves no longer exist.  They are respectively related to a bell in the Xiangji Monastery near Changan, and a pillar from the Chongming Monastery in Shandong.  The volume includes the great Tang poet's shi-poems on Buddhist themes as well as detailed studies and annotated translations, with an appendix on an another inscription for a bell by Dugu Ji (725-777), a later author equally famous for prose-writing.