| The term 'Chinese Pure Land Sect' is used a lot by scholars, but its meaning is quite ambiguous. Chinese Buddhist Sects, like the Chan Sect and the Tian Tai Sect, have never shown the characteristics as a bureaucracy. Instead, they seem to be Dharma Lineages through the relationship between master and disciple. But "Chinese Pure Land Sect" has not become a large Lineage because of its Universalism, or its characteristic as a bureaucratic organization. In my opinion, there is not a Pure Land Sect as a real organization in China, instead, it is only an imagined community.;In other words, 'Chinese Pure Land Sect' is quite open. Anyone can become its member only if he or she likes, without any permission of others or any ritual. So 'Chinese Pure Land Sect' is an intermediary between popular faiths and institutional Buddhism. Any popular religious believers, who chant the name of Amitabha Buddha, can announce themselves as Buddhist disciples, simply because Pure Land Sect is one sect of institutional Buddhism.;During Republican period (1912-1949), Venerable Yin Guang, the Thirteenth Patriarch of Chinese Pure Land Buddhism, had millions of followers. He pushed Chinese Pure Land Buddhism to the climax. The idea of Rebirth with Karma was propagated by him. In his opinion, the Faithe and the Vows are the most important to decide whether one will gain rebirth in the Western Pure Land or not. While the Practice, nianfo or nembutsu, decides the class of the Western Pure Land in which the person will reborn.;After recognizing the distinguishing characteristic of Modern Chinese Pure Land Sect, we can understand the ideas of Yin Guang and his Pure Land Buddhist Movement better. His teaching serves as a balance between Chinese Popular faith and Institutional Buddhism, and has been propagated by the modern technology of printing and postal service during the Republican period. So he can attract millions of the common people and became a great master of the modern Chinese Pure Land Sect.;The received understanding of the development of Pure Land Buddhism is such that it came from India and spread to China and Japan during the medieval period and modern time respectively. So the studies on Chinese Pure Land Buddhism usually focus on the medieval times. However, Chinese Pure Land Buddhism has experienced such prosperous development up to the present that we cannot disregard the studies on Modern Chinese Pure Land Buddhism.;To some extent, Yin Guang is a Charismatic leader of modern Chinese Pure Land Sect. However, we can also understand the historical reasons behind the success of his Pure Land project through the examination of the characteristics of Chinese Buddhist Sects and the development of Chinese society during the Republican period. Further, the critical studies on Yin Guang and his reconstruction of Chinese Pure Land Buddhism will benefit us much with better understandings on the Pure Land Buddhism and the Modern Chinese Buddhism. |
