The Moon as a Celestial Body and

God in the Buddhist Worldview:

From India to China

JEFFREY KOTYK
University of Bologna

Abstract: The Moon appears in the early Buddhist canon as a celes-

tial body orbiting around Mount Meru while at the same time being
a god (Candra or Soma). The Moon later appears in Abhidharma
literature, in which it is described as a mobile residence for the lunar
deities. Following the introduction of Mantrayāna practices into
China, the Moon appears in maṇḍalas and other illustrated forms,
yet these representations are not uniform. For instance, we see
Candra as a driver of a chariot pulled by geese in one instance, and
then elsewhere the Moon as a seated figure with a hare in hand. At
the same time, esoteric interpretations apply symbolic and meta-
phorical meanings to the Moon, while astrology and the seven-day
week understood the Moon in a whole other way. The Moon in the
East Asian Buddhist worldview became a multifaceted figure simul-
taneously embodying different concepts from various time periods.
This study primarily examines the transition of the Moon from the
Āgamas to the early phase of Mantrayāna (Esoteric Buddhism) in
China.

Keywords: Moon, Abhidharma, Āgamas, Cosmology, Candra

2
THE MOON AS A CELESTIAL BODY AND GOD IN THE BUDDHIST WORLDVIEW 3

T he Moon is a universal object in the ancient literatures of the

world. The Moon has always been present within the Buddhist
worldview, but its identity and functions are variable depending on
the time period and context. This study demonstrates that the Moon
as a deity and astral body underwent a number of transformations
over time as it progressed from the early centuries of Buddhism in
India. The evolution of the Moon in Chinese Buddhism, I argue,
shows how various intellectual, cultural, and even artistic forces
shaped the interpretation and representation of this astral body and
deity.

The Moon in Early Indic and Chinese Sources

The Moon was utilised in timekeeping in the earliest records of

India. Pingree explains that the inscriptions of Aśoka in the mid-
third century BCE—the earliest instance of writing in India—refer
to three ṛtus (seasons), each which are comprised of four months
(cātuṃmāsa), as well as nakṣatras.1 The nakṣatras (translated as
lunar mansions or lunar stations) are constellations in relative prox-
imity to the lunar orbit, either 28 or 27 in number. The Moon will
transit through them over the course of the lunar revolution period
of 27.32 days. The dimensions of the nakṣatras were originally
measured with muhūrtas (the day is divided into 30 muhūrtas).
Dimensions of the nakṣatras are given in the different recensions
of the Śārdūlakarṇāvadāna, which is a manual of divination and
associated lore attached to an entirely unrelated Buddhist tale about
the Buddha liberating his disciple Ānanda from captivity after a
low-caste girl sought to marry him. As Zenba points out, Kṛttikā,
which in ancient sources was listed as the first nakṣatra, is defined as
10 muhūrtas in the Sanskrit recension, whereas the Tibetan trans-
lation gives 30 muhūrtas. There are two Chinese translations of the
Śārdūlakarṇāvadāna: the Modengjia jing 摩登伽經 [Ch. Mātaṅ-

1
Pingree, ‘A Note on the Calendars Used in Early Indian Inscriptions’,
355–59.
4 Kotyk

ga-sūtra] and Shetoujian Taizi ershiba xiu jing 捨頭諫太子二十八宿

經 [Sūtra of Prince Śārdūla and the Twenty-Eight Lunar Stations].
The former gives 12 muhūrtas and the latter gives 30 muhūrtas for
Kṛttikā.2 Other Indic sources also show that the yogatārās (stellar
coordinates) can also differ.3 The defined parameters and exact posi-
tions of the nakṣatras were clearly variable.
Another aspect of the ancient Indian calendar was the division
of lunar phases into two parts or portions (pakṣas). These are the
periods of lunar waning (kṛṣṇa-pakṣa) and waxing (śukla-pakṣa).
Each pakṣa is comprised of 15 tithis (‘lunar days’), thus both pakṣas
together constitute one month of time.4 The lunar phases could be
used for symbolic purposes in Buddhist literature, which carried over
into Chinese translation. For example, the Da bore boluomiduo jing
大般若波羅蜜多經 [Skt. Mahāprajñāpāramitā-sūtra], which was
translated into Chinese by Xuanzang 玄奘 (602–664) in 663, has the
following line:

Also, it is like the Waxing Moon, in that there is increase day by day.
The bodhisattvas practice profound prajñāpāramitā (perfection
of wisdom); it gradually increases from the first aspiration of mind
until the realization of the sought after unexcelled perfect awakening.
Also, it is like the Waning Moon, in that there is decrease day by day.
The bodhisattvas practice profound prajñāpāramitā, and the afflic-
tions and latent aspects [of afflictions] gradually decrease. 又如白月,
日日增長, 諸菩薩眾行深般若波羅蜜多, 從初發心乃至證得所求無
上正等菩提漸漸增長. 又如黑月, 日日減盡, 諸菩薩眾行深般若波羅
蜜多, 煩惱隨眠漸漸減盡.5

Buddhism early on had its theories regarding the lunar phases. The
Chang Ahan jing 長阿含經 [Skt. Dīrghāgama], translated by Bud-

2
Zenba, ‘Matōga gyō no tenmonrekisū ni tsuite’, 174.
3
Pingree and Morrissey, ‘On the Identification of the Yogatārās of the
Indian Nakṣatras’, 99–119.
4
For a discussion on tithis, see Yano, Mikkyō senseijutsu, 123–31.
5
T no. 220, 7: 927a4–8.
THE MOON AS A CELESTIAL BODY AND GOD IN THE BUDDHIST WORLDVIEW 5

dhayaśas (Fotuoyeshe 佛陀耶舍) and Zhu Fonian 竺佛念 in 412–413,

gives the following explanation of the waxing period:

Furthermore, why does the moonlight gradually grow? There are

also three causes-conditions that make the moonlight gradually
grow. What are those three? 1. The Moon is in direct opposition [to
the Sun], hence the moonlight grows. 2. The ministers of the lunar
palace all wear dark clothing. On the fifteenth day [of the month]
the lunar devas sit in one place and together enjoy merrymaking. The
luminosity pervades [to the extent that it] suppresses the luminosity
of [each of] the devas, hence the light becomes full. It is like how
when a great torch is burnt among lamps, it suppresses the light of
the lamps. The lunar devas are also like this, in that on the fifteenth
day among the devas their individual lights are suppressed complete-
ly and the [collective] luminosity alone illuminates. The second
cause-condition is also like this. 3. Although the solar devas have sixty
rays of light illuminating the lunar palace, on the fifteenth day, the
lunar devas can shine back the light, making it uncovered. This is
the third cause-condition. There is no increase or decrease [in light]
when the lunar palace is round and full. Furthermore, why does the
Moon have a black shadow? It is because the shadow of the Jambū
Tree is on the Moon that the Moon has a shadow. 復以何緣月光漸
滿? 復有三因緣使月光漸滿. 何等為三? 一者月向正方, 是故月光
滿. 二者月宮諸臣盡著青衣, 彼月天子以十五日處中而坐, 共相娛
樂, 光明遍照, 遏諸天光, 故光普滿. 猶如眾燈燭中燃大炬火, 遏諸
燈明, 彼月天子亦復如是, 以十五日在天眾中, 遏絕眾明, 其光獨照,
亦復如是, 是為二因緣. 三者日天子雖有六十光照於月宮, 十五日時
月天子能以光明逆照, 使不掩翳, 是為三因緣, 月宮團滿無有損減.
復以何緣月有黑影? 以閻浮樹影在於月中, 故月有影.6

The reference to the Jambū Tree as the source of the ‘shadows’ on the
Moon (i.e., the craters on the lunar surface) is noteworthy, since there
is no reference to a hare. The lunar hare—the ‘hare-marked moon’—
is seen in the Mahābhārata and other sources.7 The Dīrghāgama

6
T no. 1, 1: 147b15–27.
6 Kotyk

perceives the shadow of a tree on the Moon, rather than a rabbit. The
association between the hare and the Moon would become signifi-
cant in later centuries, as we will see below.
Another important observation is that the Dīrghāgama uses the
amānta system, since the fifteenth day of the month falls on the Full
Moon, which would mean the first day would correspond to the
New Moon. This is different from the pūrṇimānta system, in which
the month starts from the Full Moon. There were multiple calendars
in use in India during the general period in question (the turn of the
Common Era), some of which evidently used Macedonian months.
Pingree states, ‘Macedonian months, presumably amānta and prob-
ably originally equated with Babylonian months, occur in a Śaka
inscription from Takṣaśilā dated in the year 78 and in six inscriptions
from various sites dated from between the years 11 and 51 of Kaniṣka.’8
It is possible that the calendrical model of the Dīrghāgama was
derived from this earlier model of months.
The Dīrghāgama in the above citation seems to incorporate three
separate explanations for the lunar phases. The second explanation
suggests the collective brilliance of the inhabitants of the lunar palace
produce the phenomenon of a Full Moon. The Moon, then, is imagined
not as a single deity, but rather as a palace of many devas, complete
with a bureaucracy. If we take all three explanations together, this
scenario imagines that the beings on the Moon all come together
regularly once a month and ‘shine back’ the light of the Moon, which
produces the brilliance of the Full Moon, in contrast to other times,
when the dark clothing of the ministers would apparently not allow
for this.
When we turn to Vedic literature, the Moon is a deity known as
Candra, Indu or Soma. Gansten notes, ‘Like Sūrya, he is one of the
ancient Vedic divinities, but unlike the solar deity, he is not a very

7
Hiltebeitel, Reading the Fifth Veda, 456. Saurabh Sharma kindly pointed
out to me that the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa of the Śukla Yajurveda (SB XI.I.5.3)
also mentions a hare-marked moon (śaśaścāndramasa iti candramā). July 15,
2021.
8
Pingree, ‘A Note on the Calendars Used in Early Indian Inscriptions’, 357.
THE MOON AS A CELESTIAL BODY AND GOD IN THE BUDDHIST WORLDVIEW 7

prominent one.’9 The situation is different in the Dīrghāgama, in

which the Moon is conceived of as a palace populated by many devas
and ministers. The Dīrghāgama reads as follows:

The Buddha said to the bhikṣus, ‘… The diameter of the lunar palace
is forty-nine yojanas. … The lunar palace is supported by five winds:
the maintaining wind, the raising wind, the receptive wing, the
turning wind, and the calibrating wind. The main palace in which
the lunar deva stays is made of lapis lazuli, being sixteen yojanas in
height. The hall has four gates and is surrounded by railings. The seat
of the lunar deva is half a yojana in diameter and is made of the seven
treasures; it is pure and soft, like the robe of a deva. The body of the
lunar deva emits light and illuminates the hall of lapis lazuli. The
light of the hall of lapis lazuli illuminates the lunar palace. The light
of the lunar palace illuminates the world below in the four direc-
tions. The lifespan of the lunar deva is five-hundred years. The suc-
cession is the sons is uninterrupted. The palace remains undestroyed
and lasts for one kalpa’. 佛告比丘:‘… 月宮殿縱廣四十九由旬 … 其
月宮殿為五風所持: 一曰持風, 二曰養風, 三曰受風, 四曰轉風, 五
曰調風. 月天子所止正殿, 琉璃所造, 高十六由旬, 殿有四門, 周匝
欄楯. 月天子座縱廣半由旬, 七寶所成, 清淨柔軟, 猶如天衣. 月天
子身放光明, 照琉璃殿, 琉璃殿光照于月宮, 月宮光出照四天下. 月
天子壽天五百歲, 子孫相承, 無有異系. 其宮不壞, 終于一劫’.10

The Moon is a mobile palace flying through the sky in this descrip-
tion. The ‘winds’ which propel the palace are an element in the
kinetic theory of classical Indian astronomy. The Sūrya-siddhānta,
for example, reads, ‘A wind, moreover, called provector (pravaha)
impels them [the planets] toward their own apices (ucca); being
drawn away forward and backward, they proceed by a varying
motion.’11 In this way, the lunar palace exists in material space, rather
than in an abstract realm.

9
Gansten, ‘Navagrahas’, 648.
10
T no. 1, 1: 146c28–147a10.
11
See translation in Burgess, Translation of the Sūrya-siddhānta, 53.
8 Kotyk

The lunar devas are not entirely insignificant to the story of the
Buddha’s life. The lunar devas interact with the Buddha in one
chapter of the Saṃyuktāgama-sūtra (Za Ahan jing 雜阿含經).
Guṇabhadra (Qiunabatuo 求那跋陀; 394–468) around 435–443.
The corresponding sutta in the Pali canon is the Candima-sutta in
the Saṃyutta-nikāya (2.9).12

Thus have I heard: at one time, the Buddha was staying at Jetavana
Anāthapiṇḍada-ārāma in the country of Śrāvastī. At that time, the
King of the Asuras, Rāhula, obstructed the lunar devas. At that time,
the lunar devas were frightened and they came before the Buddha in
veneration, prostrating their heads at the feet of the Buddha before
retreating to one side. They spoke a verse in praise of the Buddha:
‘Now we respect the supremely awakened one, capable of casting off
all obstacles. We have now met with anguish and thus have come to
take refuge. We lunar devas take refuge in the Sugata. The Buddha
pities the world. We beseech him to dispel away the asura’. At that
time, the World Honoured One spoke a verse in reply, ‘Destroy the
darkness and may light illuminate space. Now, vairocana, pure light
manifest: Rāhu flee to space and quickly let go of the hare-sem-
blance’.13 The asura, Rāhu, released the Moon and returned. Filth
flowed from his whole body, frightened and uneasy: his spirit was
hazy and will disoriented, like a severely ill person. 如是我聞, 一時,
佛住舍衛國祇樹給孤獨園. 爾時, 羅睺羅阿修羅王障月天子. 時, 諸
月天子悉皆恐怖, 來詣佛所, 稽首佛足, 退住一面. 說偈歎佛:‘今禮
最勝覺, 能脫一切障, 我今遭苦惱, 是故來歸依. 我等月天子, 歸依
於善逝, 佛哀愍世間, 願解阿修羅’. 爾時, 世尊說偈答言:‘破壞諸
闇冥, 光明照虛空, 今毘盧遮那, 清淨光明顯, 羅睺避虛空, 速放飛
兔像’. 羅睺阿修羅, 即捨月而還. 舉體悉流污, 戰怖不自安, 神昬志
迷亂, 猶如重病人.14

For a relevant study, see Waldschmidt, ‘Buddha Frees the Disc of the Moon
12

(Candrasūtra)’, 179–83.
13
Here, vairocana refers to the Sun, not to the later cosmic buddha.
Monier-Williams: ‘coming from or belonging to the sun, solar.’ Monier-Williams,
A Sanskrit-English Dictionary, 1025.
THE MOON AS A CELESTIAL BODY AND GOD IN THE BUDDHIST WORLDVIEW 9

Rāhu then comments on the incantatory skills of Gautama, the

Buddha:

At that time, there as an asura named *Bandhi who saw Rāhu the
asura quickly release and the Moon and return, and spoke a verse,
‘Rāhu the asura, why did you immediately release the Moon at
once—filth flowing from your whole divine body, like a severely ill
person?’ Rāhu the asura said with a verse in reply, ‘Gautama spoke
an incantatory verse. Had I not quickly released the Moon, my head
might have been split into seven parts and I would have been subject
torments on the brink of death’. 時, 有阿修羅名曰婆稚, 見羅睺羅
阿修羅疾捨月還, 便說偈言:‘羅睺阿修羅, 捨月一何速, 神體悉流
污, 猶如重病人’. 羅睺阿修羅說偈答言:‘瞿曇說呪偈, 不速捨月者,
或頭破七分, 受諸隣死苦’.15

The Buddha in this story has the ability to aid astral beings and
halt eclipses through banishing Rāhu. We might speculate that the
underlying motive of the authors of this tale was to demonstrate the
superior spiritual mastery of the Buddha, but this story demonstrates
that astral deities were present from the early tradition of Buddhism
onward. The Moon could be used for timekeeping and symbolic
purposes, but at the same time Buddhists also viewed the Moon as a
physical place housing devas.
This cosmological model was also outlined in Abhidharma liter-
ature, in particular the Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣya by Vasubandhu,
which drew upon the worldview described in earlier Buddhist
literature. The Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣya offers further details on
kinematic and kinetic theories connected to the Sun and the Moon
(the other planets are not explicitly mentioned), all of which were
translated into Chinese. Vasubandhu appears to have favored a
physical explanation for the lunar phases, rather than resorting to ex-
planations in which the gods resident on the Moon have a role in this

14
T no. 99, 2: 155a7–21.
15
T no. 99, 2: 155a22–29. Vepacitti is the name of the asura in Pali. See Wald-
schmidt, ‘Buddha Frees the Disc of the Moon (Candrasūtra)’, 182.
10 Kotyk

phenomenon (although Vasubandhu also believed that the Moon

was still inhabited). For instance, the translation of the Abhidhar-
makośa-bhāṣya by Xuanzang 玄奘 (602–664) offers the following
explanation of the New Moon:

Why is there a void visible on the lunar disc between the end of the
kṛṣṇa-pakṣa [waning period] and the beginning of the śukla-pakṣa
[waxing period]? The nominal (prājñaptika) explanation is as
follows. When the lunar palace has moved into the proximity of the
solar disc, of the solar disc, the Moon is enveloped in the luminosity
of the solar disc. The other side develops a shadow which naturally
covers the lunar disc, making it so that at that time one sees it not
full. Earlier masters explained that the void appears because the
degrees of movement of the solar and lunar discs are different. 何故
月輪於黑半末白半初位見有缺耶? 世施設中作如是釋: 以月宮殿行
近日輪, 月被日輪光所侵照, 餘邊發影自覆月輪, 令於爾時見不圓
滿. 先舊師釋: 由日月輪行度不同現有圓缺.16

It is clear that Abhidharma inherited the earlier model in which the

Sun and Moon are physical discs or palaces, rather than being divin-
ities themselves, strictly speaking. The lunar and solar models of the
Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣya, like the Āgamas, are relatively simple and do
not necessitate—or point to—knowledge of advanced astronomy or
even spherical earth cosmology. The Sun and Moon revolve around
Mount Meru and above the Four Continents (Jambūdvīpa, Pūrvavi-
deha, Avaragodānīya, and Uttarakuru) in the classical Buddhist view
of the world.17 Indian mathematical astronomy, explained in treatises
such as the Sūrya-siddhānta, does not appear to have influenced Bud-
dhist cosmology until much later on in history. The Kālacakra from
the early eleventh century is one of the rare Buddhist works from
India to incorporate scientific astronomy and mathematics.18

T no. 1558, 29: 59b13–17.

16

For an overview of Buddhist cosmology, see Sadakata, Buddhist Cosmology.

17

18
For a relevant discussion, see Newman, The Outer Wheel of Time: Vajrayāna
Buddhist Cosmology in the Kālacakra Tantra.
THE MOON AS A CELESTIAL BODY AND GOD IN THE BUDDHIST WORLDVIEW 11

The Moon in Chinese Divination and Astronomy

The above Buddhist views of the Moon ought to be compared to

autochthonous Chinese understandings to illustrate their differences.
Chinese astral divination arose entirely separate from Indian systems.
The Moon and the other planets were generally conceived of as
insentient material forces, although they could signal developments
on earth and the state attempted to prognosticate future events,
based on planetary configurations and anomalous phenomena, in
particular comets. The Hanshu 漢書 [History of the Han Dynasty],
compiled in the first century, has a section dealing with astronomy,
which by extension also addresses celestial omens. The following is
stated with regard to the Moon:

When the Moon eclipses any of the five planets, that country will defi-
nitely fall: with Jupiter there will be famine, with Mars there will be
chaos, with Saturn there will be murder, with Venus there will be war
with border countries, and with Mercury there will be chaos through
women. If the Moon eclipses in the [constellation called] Great Horn,
the king shall loathe this. 凡月食五星, 其國必亡: 歲以飢, 熒惑以亂,
填以殺, 太白彊國以戰, 辰以女亂. 月食大角, 王者惡之.19

The autochthonous system of celestial omenology in China was

chiefly concerned with the affairs of state and it did not extend to
individuals. Another source from a later century which provides a
major overview of Chinese metaphysics, which also extends to plane-
tary lore, is the Wuxing dayi 五行大義 [Great Meaning of the Five
Elements]. This is a compilation of theories and lore related to the
five elements (wuxing 五行) compiled by Xiao Ji 蕭吉 (c. 530–610).20

19
Hanshu 26.1286. As the accompanying commentary (cited in the Zhong-
hua Shuju edition) notes, ‘that country’ refers to the region assigned to the
area of space where this eclipse takes place. This is the ancient fenye 分野 (‘field
allocation’) system.
20
For a relevant study of this text and its author, see Nakamura, ‘Shūkitsu to
Gogyōtaigi’, 26–42.
12 Kotyk

This text refers to the imagined toad and hare on the Moon: ‘Inside
is the toad and hare: yin and yang both residing and mutually depen-
dent’ (中有蟾蜍與兔者, 陰陽兩居相附).21 Like in India, China also
conceived of a hare in its lunar pareidolia, but this appears to have
been separately developed from the identical Indian perception.
While the Āgamas surveyed above do not depict a subordinate
relationship between the Sun and the Moon (Sūrya and Candra),
Xiao Ji conceived of the Sun and the Moon like a lord to a minister:

The Moon is the essence of yin. Its form itself is without luminosity,
for it depends upon the Sun illuminating it for light, like a minister
who has no prestige himself: his prestige is attained through bor-
rowing the prestige of a lord. The Moon in the beginning [of the
month] does not directly face the Sun, hence it is without luminosity
[at the New Moon]. The gibbous Moon is half [lit], then it is fully
illuminated when it directly faces the Sun [at the Full Moon]. After
the sixteenth day [of the month], it gradually diminishes, as it also
gradually is no longer facing the Sun. 月為陰精, 體自無光, 藉日照之
乃明, 猶如臣自無威, 假君之勢, 乃成其威. 月初未政對日, 故無光,
缺月半而與日相對故光滿, 十六日已後漸缺, 亦漸不對日也.22

In this sense, Xiao Ji is utilising figurative imagery to describe the

relationship of the Moon to the Sun, but this is different from
implying that the Moon possesses some type of divine intelligence or
persona, which is unlike the Indic model described above, in which
the Moon hosts numerous deities.
The Chinese lore concerning the Moon co-existed alongside
Buddhist cosmology. We could imagine that literate monastics, par-
ticularly those from literati backgrounds, would have been well aware
of both conceptions of the Moon. Knowledge and understanding of
the Moon continued to evolve over time and this process accelerated
around the early eighth century when new ideas—scientific, astrologi-
cal and religious—were increasingly translated into Chinese.

21
Xuxiu siku quanshu vol. 1060: 248b17–18.
22
Ibid., 249a3–6.
THE MOON AS A CELESTIAL BODY AND GOD IN THE BUDDHIST WORLDVIEW 13

One major instance of new lunar theories being introduced was

the translation of Indian astronomy into Chinese during the early
to mid-Tang (seventh to eighth centuries). The most prominent
extant example of Indian astronomy in Chinese is the Jiuzhi li 九
執曆, which was translated in the year 718 by Gautama Siddhārtha
(Qutan Xida 瞿曇悉達; d.u.), although some elements of the text reflect
adaptation to the Chinese locality. The title of this work is tentatively
reconstructed into Sanskrit as *Navagraha-karaṇa, although this is
not entirely certain. Yabuuchi notes that this work is primarily based
on the Pañcasiddhāntikā (ca 550) by the astronomer Varāhamihira.23
One of the important astronomical concepts connected to the
Moon described in the Navagraha-karaṇa is the lunar apogee,
called gao yue 高月 (‘high moon’) in the translation, which itself is
from candra-ucca in Sanskrit.24 The lunar apogee from a geocentric
perspective is the point along the lunar orbit in which the apparent
velocity of the Moon is slowest. This point moves over time: the
apogee precesses in approximately 8.85 years (the modern under-
standing is that the apogee is the point along the elliptical orbit of the
Moon that is farthest from the Earth). This concept of the apogee in
this form is unattested in Chinese astronomy from earlier periods,
although as Niu Weixing recently pointed out, Jia Kui 賈逵 (30–101)
was aware that every month the Moon would pass through the fastest
point along its orbit for three degrees, which is a reference to the lunar
perigee. Niu confirms that the first evidence of the apogee in China
is, in fact, found in the Navagraha-karaṇa. This type of astronomical
knowledge fostered further reshaping of perspectives on the Moon in
China. Yixing’s calendar, the Dayan li 大衍曆 (in official use between
729–761), in its table of divergent lunar movements (yueli biao 月離
表) starts from the position of the apogee, rather than the perigee (the
latter was the traditional starting point), a change that Niu attributes
to foreign influence in Chinese astronomy at the time.25

23
Yabuuchi, Zuitō rekihō shi no kenkyū Zōtei, 40.
24
Ibid., 12.
25
Niu, ‘Zhongguo gudai tenwenxue zhong de yueliang yuandidian’, 350,
354.
14 Kotyk

Another important element of lunar theory that is explained in

the Navagraha-karaṇa is the ascending node of the Moon, which is
explained under the heading ‘Section on Calculating the Asura’ (‘Tui
Axiu zhang’ 推阿脩章). Interestingly, the sub-commentary to this
includes reference to Chinese materials.

In former times it was translated as wind, or it was translated as

eclipse deity.26 In Sanskrit it is called Rāhu. What it is called in the
scriptures of Śākya [Buddhism] is Rāhu the Asura King. This is the
Ministerial Spirit.27 Also, the River Diagram states that the Moon
will eclipse when the umbra meets with the Moon, and that a star
will disappear when the umbra meets with the star. Again, we con-
sider this to be a strange spirit. Also, the planets transit through the
lunar mansions in forward motion. The asura transits through the
lunar mansions in retrograde motion. There will be an eclipse when
it occults the Sun and Moon. 承前或譯為風, 或澤為蝕神, 梵之曰呼
為羅喉, 釋典所云, 羅喉阿脩王, 即此臣靈也. 又《河圖》云: 暗虚值
月則月蝕, 值星則星亡. 亦謂此怪靈也. 又諸曜則廵宿順行, 其阿脩
則廵宿逆轉. 掩蔽日月以亦交蝕.28

Rāhu is equated to an umbra, but whether the latter was treated as

ascending node is uncertain (and, in my estimation, unlikely). Gau-
tama Siddhārtha drew parallels between Indian and Chinese lores,
but the concept of the lunar node as presented here was evidently
new to China. The period of the retrogression of the lunar node is
given as 6,794 days. This value and the associated vocabulary do not
appear evident in earlier astronomical literature in Chinese. Based on
this, it would seem that both the lunar apogee and ascending node as
astronomical concepts—in particular, ones whose movements could

26
I suspect feng 風 (‘wind’) is likely a scribal error. Read ze 澤 (‘marsh’) as yi
譯 (‘translate’).
27
Chen ling 臣靈 appears to refer to a specific deity, although I am uncertain
of its origin.
28
SKQS 807: 938a15–b1. Cf. Yabuuchi, Zuitō rekihō shi no kenkyū Zōtei, 26.
My translation differs from Yabuuchi’s.
THE MOON AS A CELESTIAL BODY AND GOD IN THE BUDDHIST WORLDVIEW 15

be calculated—were first introduced into China around the year 718

from Indian intermediaries. As we will see below, the lunar apogee
and node both came to have important functions within Chinese
horoscopy several decades later.
The Navagraha-karaṇa also contains one of the earliest datable
references to the seven-day week (Saturday, Sunday, Monday, etc.)
in China, called the ‘sequence of corresponding days of the seven
planets’ (qiyao zhiri ci 七曜直日次). Details on the significance of
the days, however, is omitted. The text reads, ‘The application of the
seven weekdays is described separately in divination works’ (其七曜直
用事法別具本占).29 This concept of the seven-day week was new to
the Chinese, but already deeply familiar to the Indians and other peo-
ples from abroad living in China. Each of the planets ruled over one
of the seven days. Detailed lore in Chinese about what the weekdays
signified appears to have come somewhat later, but nevertheless we
can observe in the year 718 the concept at least translated into Chi-
nese.
Aside from the Gautamas, some other Indian figures from around
this time introduced astronomical knowledge and also divinatory lore
related to the Moon. Even before the Gautamas were active in Chi-
nese astronomy, a major text on Indian astrology was translated into
Chinese from Sanskrit. The Suishu 隋書, the official history of the
Sui dynasty compiled in the early Tang between the years 636–656,
lists three texts which dealt with ‘astronomy of Brahmins’ (Poluomen
tianwen 婆羅門天文), although none of these extant. One of these
was titled Poluomen Jiejia xianren tianwen shuo 婆羅門竭伽仙人天
文說 [Astronomical Teachings of Brahmin Sage *Garga], translated
into thirty fascicles. As Kawai and Kōzen note, the name Jiejia 竭伽
appears to have been a transliteration of Gārgya or Garga.30 It is plau-
sible that the text was a full translation of the Gārgīya-jyotiṣa (*Gar-
ga-saṃhitā), which was a significant treatise dealing with Indian
astrology from an early period.31 Although no identifiable fragments

29
SKQS 807: 934b6–7. See also translation and commentary in Yabuuchi,
Zōtei Zuitō rekihō shi no kenkyū, 7–8. Translation here is mine.
30
Kawai and Kōzen, Zui sho keisekishi shōkō, 603–604. Sui shu 34.1019.
16 Kotyk

of this translation exist, we can certainly assume the work dealt with
lunar astrology.
We can, however, point to some extracts of astral omenology from
Indian sources in Chinese translation. The Jiu Tangshu 舊唐書 [Old
Book of Tang], which is the official dynastic history of the Tang
dynasty finished in 945 by Liu Xu 劉昫 (887–946), includes some
discussion of the Indian or Sino-Indian astronomers who worked at
the court, including the Gautama and Kāśyapa families, who appear
to have been contemporaries. Therein we see a ‘Indian method of
Kāśyapa Xiaowei, etc.’, (迦葉孝威等天竺法) which is a formula for
calculating the extent of an eclipse with reference to the distance
of the Sun and the Moon to a lunar node. The citation continues
and explains some omens of which one ought to be aware in order
to foresee an eclipse, so that the king might make preparations. The
following guidelines are given:

When the Moon is about to eclipse, first the Moon’s form will shake,
as if in a frightened condition. The hare of the Moon and the Moon
colour of the periphery will turn yellow, as if in a melancholic state.
There will be a perpetual halo around it. When the Moon first
appears [New Moon], its luminosity will not flourish, or it will be
extremely faint. When the Sun is about to eclipse, first the Sun’s
form will shake, extremely, as if in a frightened state, or its light will
become quite faint and not awesome, or it shall become wretched.
When the Sun and Moon eclipse, first simultaneously their luminos-
ity shall drop away, or at dawn or dusk, there will arise a red colour,
like a fire, and gold, silver, pearls, and treasures shall lose their lustre.
月欲有蝕, 先月形搖振, 狀若驚懼, 月兔及側月色黃如有憂狀. 自常
暈, 月初生時, 光不顯盛, 或極細微. 日欲有蝕, 先日形搖振, 極如驚
懼狀, 或光色微昧, 不赫盛, 或黎慘. 日月蝕先同候光隕墜, 或旦暮
際有赤色起如火燒, 金銀珠玉諸寶失光.32

The compiler of this section of the Tang history also remarks,

31
Kotyk, ‘Kanjiken no bungaku ni okeru saihō-senseijutsu’, 105.
32
Jiu Tang shu 33.1205.
THE MOON AS A CELESTIAL BODY AND GOD IN THE BUDDHIST WORLDVIEW 17

‘These are somewhat different from the formula models of China

and from the outside they are similar to each other as general models’
(此等與中國法數稍殊, 自外梗概相似也). In light of the fact that this
material on Indian omens is cited in the dynastic history, we can
imagine that during the Tang, anomalies and omens would have been
interpreted not only via canonical Chinese lore, but also Indian lore
to some extent.
The translation of the Navagraha-karaṇa and other materials
facilitated new ideas about the Moon in terms of astronomy, astrol-
ogy and omenology. The Moon became an extremely multifaceted
object. Those familiar with astronomy, even some basic knowledge,
would have been aware of the complexities of lunar phases and the
Moon’s orbit, but at the same time learned Buddhists in China
would have understood the different Chinese and Buddhist interpre-
tations of the Moon and even the theoretical physical composition of
it. The subsequent introduction of Buddhist Mantrayāna furthered
these developments along and added further conceptualization and
symbolism to the pool of lunar lore.

The Moon and Mantrayāna

The advent of Mantrayāna and its translation into Chinese offered

new lunar lore to the Chinese Buddhist worldview. One of the key
texts in this regard was the Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi. Śubhakarasiṃha
(Shanwuwei 善無畏; 637–735) and the Chinese monk Yixing 一
行 (673–727) translated the Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi (abbreviated in
Chinese as Dari jing 大日經) in the year 724. Yixing then compiled
a commentary to the text, evidently based upon explanations from
Śubhakarasiṃha, titled Dari jing shu 大日經疏 [Commentary the
Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi].
The Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi can use the Moon as a simile, but it
also had a deified form of the Moon. With respect to the former, we
see statements like this:

Next, Lord of Mysteries, just as the moon rises with the result that it
shines upon clear water and manifests a reflected image of the moon,
18 Kotyk

so too should the vidyādhara thus explain the likening of mantras to

the moon in the water. 復次祕密主, 如因月出故照於淨水而現月影
像, 如是真言水月喻, 彼持明者當如是說.33

The Moon as Candra is also regarded as a deity, hence a mantra for

the Moon is also given in the Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi:

The mantra of the Moon deva: namaḥ samantabuddhānāṃ candrāya

svāhā. 月天真言曰: 南麼三曼多勃馱喃一戰捺羅引二合也二娑訶三.34

The contents of the Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi were elaborated upon ex-

tensively in the subsequently compiled commentary. The Moon is uti-
lised throughout the commentary for providing similes. For instance:

One should know that the practitioner at this stage is the same as
great awakening. They acquire the name buddha due to their self-re-
alization of mind, but it is not ultimate profound awakening, the
stage of the great muni (sage). It is like the pure Moon: although its
body neither increases nor decreases, its light gradually increases until
the fifteenth day, when it can then move the tide of the great sea. 當
知行人則是位同大覺也. 以其自覺心故, 便得佛名, 然非究竟妙覺大
牟尼位. 猶如淨月雖體無增減, 然亦明漸漸增, 乃至第十五日, 方能
動大海潮也.35

The Moon is also employed in various visualization practices of the

Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi, as explained in the commentary, such as when
visualizing the syllable ra transformed into raṃ within the Moon.
The lunar disc is also a component in some visualizations.36 The
commentary also provides an overview of astrology, primarily for the
purposes of timing rituals, and discusses in brief the nakṣatras and

T no. 848, 18: 3c28–4a1. English translation by Giebel. See Giebel, The
33

Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi Sūtra, 16.

34
T no. 848, 18: 15b8–9. Cf. Giebel, The Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi Sūtra, 16.
35
T no. 1796, 39: 590b17–21.
36
T no. 1796, 39: 707b26–27. Read a 阿 as luo 囉. T no. 1796, 39: 688c21–22.
THE MOON AS A CELESTIAL BODY AND GOD IN THE BUDDHIST WORLDVIEW 19

pakṣas, among other features of astrology and timekeeping. Yixing

also inserted some of his own lunar theory regarding how to defini-
tively align the New Moon and Full Moon with the first and fifteenth
days of the month, rather than relying on averages which result in the
assigned day being ahead or behind the New Moon or Full Moon.37
Following this section, this is further discussion that delves into
the symbolic meaning of the astrological material outlined earlier.
This sort of hermeneutic (i.e., exoteric and esoteric) is a characteristic
feature of the commentary. Similes are drawn between the Moon and
the Buddhist path. For example:

‘To determine the day’: the Sun symbolizes the body of the main
object of veneration, while the Moon symbolizes cultivating practice
of yoga (*yogācāra). The practice is the Moon as meditative concen-
tration: sometimes it increases in light, sometimes it becomes fainter;
sometimes it is too fast in movement, sometimes it is too slow in
movement; sometimes it passes the Middle Path, sometimes it does
not reach the Middle Path, leading to the timing of spiritual faculties
also expanding and contracting, like how one can get to certain con-
ditions based on constant principles, whereas at a certain time one
should build them. However, there is shifts in perceptual objects.
Sometimes they mature before one gets to a time and place. Some-
times they mature when having gotten to this time and place. These
shifting circumstances should be well understood, thus it speaks of
determining the day. 定日者, 日喻本尊身, 月喻修習瑜伽行. 以行者
定心之月, 或時增明或時微昧, 或發行太速或發行太遲, 或過於中道
或不及中道, 致使機悟之時亦有盈縮, 如循照常理可至某緣, 某時中
宜應建立, 然有緣境遷移, 或未到時處而熟, 或過此時處乃熟, 如是
變通皆應善知, 故云定日也.38

This is presumably Śubhakarasiṃha’s voice. It is explained that just as

the Moon changes in position and luminosity, so too are experiences

37
See translation and discussion of this section in Kotyk, ‘Early Tantric Hem-
erology in Chinese Buddhism’, 1–29.
38
T no. 1796, 39: 618b24–c1.
20 Kotyk

also subject to shifting circumstances. The practitioner is also com-

pared to an astrologer who examines the Moon as it transits through
the lunar mansions (nakṣatras), as follows:

Just as the Moon transits through twenty-seven nakṣatras, and the

nakṣatras through which it transits differ in being good or bad, so
too do the divinations based on worldly observations of the Moon.
For instance, Pūrvāṣāḍhā is good winds; when the Moon moves
into Pūrvāṣāḍhā, winds arise. Rohiṇī is good rains; when the Moon
moves into Rohiṇī, rains fall. The acts of bodhi (*bodhicaryā) are also
so. Powers differ in connection to conditions and according to ac-
tions. Subduing and reception, as well as practices of quiescence, and
the exercise of skilful means accordingly shift. The ācārya who deeply
examines inner faculties and outer conditions will clearly understand
this matter. It is called well observing the nakṣatra alignment. 如月行
經二十七宿, 以所經之宿好惡不同故, 令世間候月之占亦復隨異. 如
箕星好風, 月行入箕則風起, 畢星好雨, 月行入畢則雨降, 菩提行亦
爾, 遇緣對境勢力不同, 令折伏攝受及寂行所施方便隨轉. 若阿闍梨
能深察根緣, 曉知是事, 名為善觀宿直也.39

The idea here is that the bodhisattva foresees and adapts to circum-
stances based on shifting factors, just as the astrologer foresees wind
and rain, and advises accordingly, based on the position of the Moon
relative to the nakṣatras. The mundane utility of astrology in the
commentary is never rejected, but an additional ‘esoteric’ interpreta-
tion is applied to a mundane science, in which the science is reenvi-
sioned in a form that serves the Buddhist project.
The Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi is accompanied by a maṇḍala, which
in Chinese is called Taizang mantuluo 胎藏曼荼羅, i.e., the Womb
Matrix [Skt. *Garbhakośa-maṇḍala, *Garbhadhātu-maṇḍala]. The
outer ring of deities of maṇḍala primarily incorporates heterodox
(non-Buddhist) deities, which includes astral deities such as the
twelve zodiac signs, nine planets (navagraha), and twenty-eight lunar
mansions. The planets and lunar mansions are depicted in anthro-

39
T no. 1796, 39: 618c8–14.
THE MOON AS A CELESTIAL BODY AND GOD IN THE BUDDHIST WORLDVIEW 21

pomorphic forms. The commentary instructs that ‘to the south of

the western gate, position the lunar deva opposite the solar deva.
[The lunar deva] rides in a chariot [pulled by] white geese, and to the
flanks are the deities of the twenty-seven nakṣatras and twelve zodiac
palaces as entourage’ (西門之南, 與日天相對應置月天, 乘白鵝車. 於
其左右置廿七宿十二宮神等, 以為眷屬).40 The position of the Moon
directly opposite to the Sun hints at the astronomical fact that the
Moon is only a Full Moon when it is positioned opposite to the Sun.
There are several East Asian recensions of the maṇḍala of the
Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi, all of which are preserved in Japan in the
Mikkyō lineages. The most notable example is the Genzu mandara
現圖曼荼羅, which is traced back to the maṇḍala brought to Japan
by Kūkai 空海 (774–835) in 806. The original icons, however, can
differ from what we see in this version. The original icons of the
Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi—or the oldest extant versions—are preserved
in a collection of illustrations titled Taizō zuzō 胎藏圖象 [Icons of
the Womb Matrix]. The postscript of this document relates that the
monk Enchin 圓珍 (814–891) of Tendai had recopied these figures
at Qinglongsi 青龍寺 in Chang’an in the year 855. The next copy of
this was created in 1181. Another copy was created in 1194, hence
the extant Taizō zuzō is the third copy of the original document
brought by Enchin. The icons of the Taizō zuzō are arguably the
closest versions to the original set drawn under Śubhakarasiṃha’s
direction around the year 724.41 The Taizō zuzō is reproduced in the
modern Taishō shinshū Daizōkyō zuzō 大正新修大藏經圖像 [Bud-
dhist Canon Compiled during the Taishō Era (1912–1926): Icono-
graphical Section], which are the supplementary—largely but not
exclusively iconographical—volumes of the larger Taishō canon. The
Moon in the Taizō zuzō is depicted as rising in a chariot pulled by
seven geese. In his right hand is a lotus, and the left a crescent-shaped
sceptre, atop which is a hare (Figure 1).
There are other variations on the lunar icon in other icono-
graphical sets connected to the Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi. The Taishō

40
T no. 1796, 39: 634c12–14.
41
Drawings of the Taizō zuzō are viewable on e-Museum Japan website.
22 Kotyk

FIG. 1 Moon Deva / Candra (yue tianzi 月天子). Adapted from TZ, vol. 2, 277.

zuzō provides the more commonly employed icons (Figure 2). Along-
side the lunar deva, who rides in a chariot, but in this case pulled
by three geese, we also see his consort. This would indicate that the
tradition connected to the Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi also envisioned
female divinities (devī) inhabiting the Moon, although the earlier
literature surveyed above does not explicitly mention the existence of
female entities on the Moon (or the Sun for that matter). This set of
icons also includes a Yueyao 月曜, in which a masculine form holds
THE MOON AS A CELESTIAL BODY AND GOD IN THE BUDDHIST WORLDVIEW 23

FIG. 2 Moon consort [313] (Yue tian fei 月天妃), Moon deva [312] (Yue tianzi
月天子) and Moon [286] (Yue yao 月曜) in Daihi taizō dai mandara 大悲胎藏大
曼荼羅. TZ vol. 1: 783, 789.

a crescent disc in which rests a hare. This appears to be the Moon,

but how this differs from Yue tianzi 月天子 is uncertain. The former
is adjacent to Saturn, so we might speculate that this is the personi-
24 Kotyk

fication of Monday, whereas the latter is the traditional god of the

Moon, i.e., Candra.
Although the Moon was perceived as a deity earlier in Buddhism,
the planets as a group of deities in practice entered the Chinese pan-
theon from around this time, which in the Buddhist context was
framed as nine planets (Skt. navagraha): the seven visible planets in
addition to Rāhu and Ketu. The planets were assigned seed syllables,
like all the other figures in the maṇḍala.42

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Abbreviations

SKQS Siku quanshu 四庫全書

T Taishō shinshū daizōkyō 大正新脩大藏経. See Takakusu
and Watanabe, eds.
TZ Taishō shinshū Daizōkyō zuzō 大正新修大藏經圖像. See
Takakusu and Ono, eds.

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These seed syllables, as they were preserved in Japan, are given in Somekawa,
42

Mandara zuten.
THE MOON AS A CELESTIAL BODY AND GOD IN THE BUDDHIST WORLDVIEW 25

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