The Changing Images of Zodiac Animals in Medieval Chinese Buddhist Literature

Abstract

In a Buddhist text entitled Mahāvaipulya-mahāsaṃnipāta-Sūtra, that has only survived in its fifth century Chinese translation, twelve animals were portrayed as thereincarnations of Bodhisattvas who traveled to teach and enlighten sentient beingswho were reborn in the bodies of animals. In the seventh and eighth centuries, Chinese Buddhist commentators incorporated indigenous Chinese thoughts of Yin-yangand Five-Phase theories to reinterpret these animals as demonic spirits who couldcorrupt the morality of Buddhist practitioners. This new development manifested theattempt of medieval Chinese Buddhist monks to help Buddhist ideas take root in Chinese society. It shows how medieval Chinese Buddhist literature transformed twelveanimals from compassionate deities into animal demons to accommodate foreignideas for serving the Chinese audience.