A Tale of Two Stupas Diverging Paths in the Revival of Buddhism in China

Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang Province, and the surrounding environs have one of the richest Buddhist cultures in China. In A Tale of Two Stupas, Albert Welter tells the story of Hangzhou Buddhism through the conceptions, erections, and resurrections of Yongming Stupa, dedicated to the memory of one of Hangzhou's leading Buddhist figures, and Leifeng Pagoda, built to house stupa relics of the historical Buddha.

Welter delves into the intricacies of these two sites and pays particular attention to their origins and rebirths. These sites have suffered devastation and endured long periods of neglect, yet both have been resurrected and re-resurrected during their histories and have resumed meaningful places in the contemporary Hangzhou landscape, a mark of their power and endurance. A Tale of Two Stupas adopts a site-specific, regional approach in order to show how the dynamics of initial conception, resurrection, and re-resurrection work, and what that might tell us about the nature of Hangzhou and Chinese Buddhism.

Albert Welter is Professor of East Asian Studies at the University of Arizona. He is currently leading a project funded by the Khyentse Foundation on Buddhist Culture in the Hangzhou Region of China and its impact throughout East Asia.

Foreword
Preface
Chapter One: Introduction: Buddhist Relic Veneration, Buddhist Sites and Translocations, and the Transformation of the Hangzhou/Jiangnan region into an Indian Buddhist Homeland
Chapter Two: Hangzhou Buddhism in Historical Perspective
Chapter Three: The Origins and Development of the Yongming Stupa
Chapter Four: The Origins and Development of Leifeng Pagoda
Chapter Five: A Tale of Two Stupas: The Parameters of Buddhist Revival in China
Appendix 1: Translations Associated with the "resurrection" of Yanshou and establishment of the Yongming Stupa
Appendix 2: Translations of The Precious Chest Seal Dharani Satra and selections from Jingci Monastery Gazetteer relating to Leifeng Pagoda
Bibliography
Index