The Yuqie Yankou rite (Chinese: 瑜伽燄口, pinyin: Yúqié Yànkǒu, lit: "Yoga Flaming-Mouth Food Bestowal"), sometimes called the Yujia Yankou rite, is an esoteric Chinese Buddhist ritual typically performed to fulfill several different goals, including to nourish and liberate hungry ghosts, to promote longevity and prolong the lifespans of the living, as well as to avert calamities and prevent disasters. The ritual is commonly performed during or at the end of regular religious temple events such as repentance rites (懺悔, Chànhǔi), Buddha recitation retreats (佛七, Fóqī), the dedication of a new monastic complex or gatherings for the transmission of monastic vows. It is also widely performed as a post-mortem rite within Chinese society during funerals and other related occasions such as the Ghost Festival. While the ritual originated as a rite to feed hungry ghosts, or egui (餓鬼, Èguǐ), certain traditional commentaries have expanded its scope and significance to include the nourishment and ultimate liberation of all sentient beings, including devas, asuras and humans. Due to the eclectic and non-exclusivist nature of Chinese Buddhism, where monks and nuns are usually trained in multiple Buddhist traditions and there is historically little to no sectarianism between the different traditions, the Yuqie Yankou is practiced by monastics who are trained across all different traditions in Chinese Buddhism, such as Chan, Esoteric, Pure Land, Tiantai and Huayan Buddhism.
The ritual combines features of Chinese operatic tradition (including a wide range of instrumental music as well as vocal performances such as solo deliveries, antiphonal and choral singing), the recitation of sūtras similar to other Mahāyāna rituals as well as esoteric Vajrayāna practices (including maṇḍala offerings, recitation of esoteric mantras, execution of mudrās and visualization practices involving identifying oneself with a divinity). In particular, the usage of mantras, mudrās and maṇḍalas in the ritual correspond directly to the concept of the "Three Mysteries" (三密, Sānmì) in tantric Buddhism: the "secrets" of body, speech and mind. The ritual is one out of several esoteric Chinese Buddhists rites dedicated to the salvation of sentient beings, such as the Mengshan Shishi (蒙山施食, Méngshān Shīshí, lit: "Mengshan food bestowal") that is carried out in daily liturgical services. It is also usually performed as part of the more extensive Shuilu Fahui ceremony (水陸法會, Shuǐlù Fǎhuì, lit: "Water and Land Dharma Assembly"), where its function is to aid in the salvation of all sentient beings.
A similar ritual known as the Lingbao Pudu rite (靈寶普度, Língbǎo Pǔdù, lit: "Universal Salvation rites of Lingbao") exists in Taoist traditions. It resembles the ritual program of the Yuqie Yankou rite (involving a descent to hell and a salvific nourishing of the beings of the universe), but possesses numerous striking differences such as the invocation of deities and figures from the Taoist pantheon in place of Buddhist figures, the utilization of specialized Taoist mantras and fulu (or written talismans) as well as the employment of a liturgy based on Taoist conceptualizations and understanding.
Etymology The word yuqie (瑜伽) refers to the Sanskrit word yoga (योग). The term is used in the Chinese Buddhist canon to refer to two different and unrelated corpuses of texts – the non-esoteric, exegetical texts of the Yogācāra tradition and a wide range of texts of the esoteric type. The esoteric texts with “yuqie” in their titles can be further divided into two distinctive groups: Texts from the Vajraśekhara ( 金剛頂, Jīngāngdǐng) cycle of teachings and practices, and texts not directly related to the Vajraśekhara. Traditional commentaries on the term "yuqie" glosses over it as the practice of the “mutual correspondence of the three actions", with the three actions referring to mental, verbal and physical actions.
History
Tang dynasty to Yuan dynasty (7th - 14th century)
The Burning-Face Sūtra and The Flaming-Mouth Sūtra The basic structure of the ritual was based on well-established templates stemming from the Sarvatathagatatattvasamgraha and its related cycle of texts. Two sources translated during the Tang dynasty (618 - 907) were particularly influential in establishing its framework: The Burning-Face Sūtra[zh] (佛說救面燃餓鬼陀羅尼神咒經, Fóshuō Jiù Miànrán Èguǐ Tuóluóní Shénzhòu Jīng, lit "Sūtra Spoken by the Buddha on the Dhāraṇī-spell that Saved the Burning-Face Hungry Ghost") which was translated by Śikṣānanda[zh] between the years 700 - 704, and the Flaming-Mouth Sūtra[zh] (佛說救拔燄口餓鬼陀羅尼經, Fóshuō Jiùbá Yànkǒu Èguǐ Tuóluóní Jīng, lit "Sūtra Spoken by the Buddha on the Dhāraṇī that Rescued the Flaming-Mouth Hungry Ghost") which was translated by Amoghavajra between the years 757 - 770. The two texts are translations of two different recensions of a yet unstable Indian Buddhist sūtra that was already in existence no later than the seventh century which were widely circulating in China at the time. Of the two different translations, later ghost-feeding liturgies such as the Mengshan Shishi mostly relied on Amoghavajra’s Flaming-Mouth Sūtra, which overshadowed Śikṣānanda’s earlier translation due to its longer length as well as Amoghavajra's prestige as a Buddhist adept. Both texts center on the narrative of Ānanda's encounter with a ghost king named either Mianran (面燃, Miànrán, lit: "Burning Face") or Yankou (燄口, Yànkǒu, lit: "Flaming Mouth") that warned him about his impending death and rebirth in the realm of hungry ghosts which would happen unless he was able to give one measure of food and drink the size of a bushel used in Magadha to each of the one hundred thousand nayutas of hungry ghosts and other beings. The encounter prompted Ānanda to beg Śākyamuni Buddha for a way to avert his fate, at which point the Buddha revealed a ritual and a dhāraṇī that he had been taught in a past life when he was a brahmin by the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, who is known in East Asia as Guanyin (觀音菩薩, Guānyīn Púsà). Part of the ritual involved the brief invocation of the names of four Buddhas. According to the sūtra, the performance of the ritual would not only feed the hungry ghosts but would also ensure the longevity of the performing ritualist. The sūtra ends with Ānanda performing the rite according to the Buddha’s instructions and avoiding the threat of rebirth into the realm of the hungry ghosts. Buddhist traditions hold that he eventually achieved longevity and attained the state of arhathood.
The Method of Bestowing Drink and Food While the Burning-Face Sūtra and the Flaming-Mouth Sūtra contained the basic structure and framework of a simple rite, they lack more complex elements necessary for them to function as liturgical texts (儀軌, Yíguǐ, Sanskrit: vidhi). The earliest known work which attempts to turn the ritual elements contained in the two translated sūtras into a practice anchored on a written liturgy is the Method of Bestowing Drink and Food (施諸餓鬼飲食及水法, Shī Zhū Èguǐ Yǐnshíjíshuǐ Fǎ, lit "Method of Bestowing Drink and Food and Water to All Hungry Ghosts") which is conventionally dated to the late 8th century to 9th century period, although some scholars have pointed out strong evidence linking it to an earlier date. This text is traditionally claimed as instructions from Amoghavajra himself, and a Dunhuang manuscript of the text refers to itself as the “oral instructions of the ‘Translator of Great and Broad wisdom’” (i.e. Amoghavajra). The text incorporates the ritual and dhāraṇī taught in the two sūtras, while adding an array of other hymns, spells, recitations and mudrās, the name of an additional Buddha (inserted in the original group of four) and specific instructions on visualizations and other related ritual-acts. The ritual structure and content of the Method of Bestowing Drink and Food later became the basic template for later ghost-feeding rites in Japan, with various further indigenous alterations and adjustments. In China, this text also became the prototype for further development and more esoteric elements were added to it, which eventually lead to the creation of the Yuqie Yankou rite.
Flaming-Mouth Liturgy Sūtra
Another text that was influential in the development of the Yuqie Yankou rite is the Flaming-Mouth Liturgy Sūtra (瑜伽集要救阿難陀羅尼焰口儀軌經, Yújiā Jíyào Jiù Ānán Tuóluóní Yànkǒu Yíguǐ Jīng, lit "Sūtra of the Flaming-Mouth Liturgy, the Collected Essentials of the Yoga of the Dhāraṇī that Saved Ānanda"), which is also traditionally attributed to Amoghavajra, and its contents is mostly based on the Flaming-Mouth Sūtra. The earliest extant version of this text can be found among the Fangshan Stone-carved Sūtras, dating to the Jin dynasty (1115 - 1234). Like The Method of Bestowing Drink and Food, this text contains a liturgical section with more developed and complex ritual elements which made it utilizable as a ritual manual. The text frames the practice of ghost-feeding within standard Mahāyāna rhetoric of universal liberation of all sentient beings, and also insists that the performers of ghost-feeding rites have to be properly initiated into esoteric practice by a qualified ācārya and the instructions for the construction of a special altar or platform known as the “Samaya-platform” (三昧耶壇, Sānmèiyé Tán) for the performance of the ghost-feeding rite. Notably, this text makes reference to the ghost that Ānanda encounters using the term "Dashi" (大士, Dàshì), meaning "mahāsattva" or "Great Being", a term that is usually used to refer to bodhisattvas. This reference is instrumental in the identification of the ghost in Chinese traditions as a manifestation of the bodhisattva Guanyin, and he is referred to in Chinese Buddhist practices (including the Yuqie Yankou) as Mianran Dashi (面燃大士, Miànrán Dàshì, lit "Burning-Face Mahāsattva") and in Taoist practices as Jiaomian Dashi (焦面大士, Jiāomiàn Dàshì, lit "Burning-Face Mahāsattva"). The text also explicitly situates itself in the mainstream Chinese Esoteric Buddhist tradition (密宗, Mìzōng) through the encouragement that performers of the ritual should be taught and initiated into the teachings of the ritual by a qualified master through the conferment of an esoteric empowerment or abhiṣeka (灌頂, Guàndǐng).
Song Tiantai Ghost-Feeding Texts In the Song dynasty (960 - 1279), while the Method of Bestowing Drink and Food and the Flaming-Mouth Liturgy Sūtra were still in circulation, new ghost-feeding texts were also composed and compiled by monastics of the Tiantai tradition based on both the Burning-Face Sūtra and The Flaming-Mouth Sūtra. Two extant collections of Song Tiantai ghost-feeding are the Golden Garden Record (金園集, Jīnyuánjí) by the monk Ciyun Zunshi[zh] (慈雲遵式, Cíyún Zūnshì) and the Survey of Food-Bestowal Rites (施食通覽, Shīshí Tōnglǎn) by the monk Zongxiao (宗晓, Zōngxiǎo). Each text contains several different fascicles regarding the rites and liturgies of ghost-feeding rituals. Notably, one of the fascicles in the Golden Garden Record, the Food-Bestowal Liturgy (施食文, Shīshíwén), not only refers to the ghost that Ānanda encountered as a "Dashi" (like in the Flaming-Mouth Liturgy Sūtra), but also further specifies his identity as a ghost king (鬼王, Guǐwáng). The text also gives greater importance to his role as a central figure in the performance of the rites. However, key one characteristic that these ritual liturgies lack is the execution of mudrās and visualization sequences that are present in the Method of Bestowing Drink and Food and the Flaming-Mouth Liturgy Sūtra, as well as the finalized liturgical text of the Yuqie Yankou rite.
Flaming-Mouth Food-Bestowal Rite