Paper short abstract:

This contribution analyzes the material and format of Nichiren's paper mandalas, and their talismanic functions.

Paper long abstract:

The monk Nichiren (1222-1282) inscribed more than one hundred different calligraphic icons, which he called "mandalas of the Lotus Sutra" and which he distributed to followers and disciples. On the one hand, Nichiren presented complex doctrinal justifications for the worship of such objects, and some of his arguments provide an opportunity to assess the theoretical basis on which the agency of things was formulated in medieval Buddhism. On the other hand, the material characteristics of these icons reveal compelling aspects of the religious dynamic that engendered their production.

The great majority of Nichiren's mandalas were inscribed on sheets of paper, assembled and glued together in different ways. The size and number of paper sheets, the folds in the paper, the brush and other tools used to inscribe the ideographs, as well as the dimension of each mandala, shed light on the relational character of the production of these objects. This contribution will explore such material evidence to reveal Nichiren's interactions with lay people and monastics who were the recipients of the mandalas, and to investigate the talismanic and apotropaic properties that Nichiren invested these objects with at the very moment of production. As generations of followers reproduced Nichiren's mandalas on other fragile materials, such as pieces of fabric and clothing, such talismanic use continued through the centuries.