A Study Of Amitabha Pure Land Belief In The Five Dynasties And Northern Song Dynasty

The pure land belief of Amitabha is the belief of Mahayana Buddhism in an ideal world,which expresses people’s pursuit and yearning for a better world and happy life.Therefore,this religious belief of the pure land of Amitabha became well-received and embraced by local people after it was introduced into China.Over the period of Jin and Tang Dynasties,the pure land belief of Amitabha witnessed its rudiment,developing and prosperity in a long process.The Northern Song Dynasty and the Five Dynasties was the transmutation period of Amitabha belief,during which all the clans within this religious order(Tiantai,Zen,Huayan,L(?) Zong,etc.)actively absorbed the thoughts of pure land belief and chanted relative Buddhist sutras so as to recruit more believers,thus expanding the influence of the clan,while,outside the religious orders,the secular society got into a situation of belief that“every family worships the Avalokite(?)vara and Amitabha”,and the praying for the pure land and chanting Buddhist sutras were integrated into the daily life of the common people.So,how did the pure land belief of Amitabha evolve in this period?This paper would like to discuss it in five aspects.The first chapter generally introduces the pure land belief of Amitabha.This chapter explains the elements,forms and development of the pure land belief of Amitabha.In particular,it clarifies the historical construction process of the pure land clans during Jin and Song Dynasties,and investigated in detail from three aspects: “how Wangsheng Biography shaped the history of pure land belief”,“how the pure land texts constructed the pure land clans”,and “what the history of Tiantai recoded on the pure land practice and inheritance”.The second chapter discusses the pure land belief of Amitabha during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms respectively.The main event in this period is that Yongming Yanshou(904～975)reconciled Zen-Jing relationship,which is often called “Zen-Jing combination” in the academic circles.It is manifested in two aspects: the first is that the Zen-Jing was harmonious in deep righteousness;that is to say,the Zen School’s theory of pure heart and pure land does not conflict with the Taoist School’s theory of the past West,and it is reasonably explained by using Buddhist teachings;the second,in practice,is that both the Zen and the pure land are cultivated,and the latter’s function in promoting happiness and enlightenment is highlighted.In addition,during this period,all the people in the south,Fujian and Zhejiang regions believed in Amitabha and returned to the pure land.The prosperity of Buddhist cliff statues in Bashu area has led to the prevalence of pure land,especially the folk pure land belief in Anyue and Dazu areas.In other areas,pure land worship is weak due to the popularity of Zen Buddhism.In the northern region,the masters of the Pure Land in Tang Dynasty vigorously promoted the Amitabha faith.Some monks talked about the Amitabha Sutra and the Theory of Initiation of Letters to spread the Pure Land,and some monks read the Amitabha Buddha’s name to pray for death.Secular people express their inner yearning for the western bliss world with pure land statues and Darani Zunsheng buildings.In a word,during this period,the center of Amitabha’s belief in pure land shifted from the north to the south,especially the southeast region.The third chapter discusses the pure land belief of Amitabha in the early Northern Song Dynasty.In this period,Amitabha’s belief in pure land is mainly manifested as "deepening of Tai-Jing Clans" and "initial integration of virtuous purity"." Deepening of Tai-Jing" is mainly promoted by three rooftop masters,namely,Gushan Zhiyuan,Siming Zhili and Ciyun Zunshi.Gushan Zhiyuan put forward Buddhism as the teaching of renaturation,and applied this theory in the form of annotation.Zhi Yuan wrote a volume of Amitabha Sutra Shu and a volume of Amitabha Sutra Shu Xi Zi Chao,which explained Amitabha classics with rooftop teachings such as "Five-fold Metaphysics" and "One Heart and Three Views",which played a certain role in promoting the spread of this sutra within the clan.Si Ming-li wrote one volume of Guan Jing Rong Xin Jie and three volumes of Guan Jing Shu Miao Zong Chao through in-depth interpretation of Guan Jing Shu on Tiantai,especially the latter,which effectively communicated and integrated Tiantai doctrine and Pure Land Method,and formed a systematic thought of Tiantai Pure Land,which provided the possibility for the popularization of Pure Land from the legal point of view.Ci Yun is a religious practitioner,and actively promotes Buddhism into people’s daily life by practicing confessions and changing sacrifices,which is of great help to folk customs construction.The thought of changing sacrifice according to the style is reflected in the inheritance of Zongmi’s thought of changing sacrifice to Zhai in Nine Ways of Xiulan Basin,the regulation and guidance of folk activities of changing sacrifice to Zhai and the specific practice of changing sacrifice to Zhai in Baihe Temple.The pure land,as the most effective folk education means,is well integrated into the activities of changing sacrifices and fasting according to the regulations,and the Second Gate of Resolving Doubts and Wishing in the Pure Land of the Past,the Instrument of Confessing Wishes in the Pure Land of the Past and other pure land practices are formulated.Paying attention to the reform of religious ceremonies in compliance with the law can effectively and durably crack down on obscene temples and improve customs,which is of great significance in the history of religious society and culture."Xian Jing Chu Rong" is manifested by Changjie Jingxing Society and Changshui Zixuan’s Shuranyan Shu in Zhaoqing Province.Many public officials and scholars were often brought into the society in the province.Although Hong Tong’s Hua Yan was taken as the service,it was misunderstood as a pure land association in later generations,and was pushed as the father of Lianzong.The net society formed was also easy to be a white lotus society.To read Buddha in the Pure Land is advocated by Qi Xin Lun,and Leng Yan Jing has the power to read Buddha’s yuantong chapter.Chang Shui Zi Xuan wrote Shouleng Yan Yi Shu Zhu Jing,and Qi Xin Lun Bi Tiao Ji,which played a role in this,deepened the impression of Huayan people on the Pure Land and opened the way for the integration of virtuous and pure.On the whole,the belief in the pure land of Amitabha in this period was regional,with Jiangsu and Zhejiang being the most popular,Central Plains being the second,and other regions being weaker.The fourth chapter discusses the pure land belief of Amitabha in the middle and late Northern Song Dynasty.In this period,the belief in pure land of Amitabha is manifested as "the great purity of every family",that is,the spread and practice of the belief in pure land of Amitabha by the two groups of monks and families.At home,Tiantai,Zen and Legalism are the most prominent.Disciples of Tiantai Sect inherited the clan tradition of knowing propriety and observing the style of respecting cleanliness,and began a systematic and extensive spread of pure land.Its main characteristics are: the relationship between reading Fahua and pure land passing away is strengthened;The number of monks who practice Zen and spread the pure land has increased;The pure land society,especially the pure land nostalgia society oriented by customs,is very popular;The relationship between Pu Xian,Guanyin and Pure Land is further strengthened by the practice of rooftop confession.Compared with the past,the pure land language of monks has increased significantly;Pure land Dojo and pure land statues flourish.The pure land spread of Zen monks is manifested in the north and south.In the south,the monks in Yunmen are the main ones,and the pure land chanting Buddha is basically absorbed into the practice of Zongmen.In the north,the pure land education of Changlu Zongqi is the main one,which is embodied in writing the "Buddhist Temple Clear Rules" and integrating the pure land chanting Buddha into the Zen forest life;Facing the secular world,people organize lotus flowers to win the meeting and practice Buddhism together;they also have a deep integration of pure land buddhism and filial piety.The most prominent law monk is Ganoderma lucidum,which has two main contributions: First,it harmonizes the precepts with the pure land and advocates that the law is clean;the second is to advocate filial piety and promote the secularization of Buddhism.The intellectual class is divided into the pure land faith of sincerity represented by Yang Jie and Wang Gu,and the pure land faith of negotiation represented by Su Shi.During this period,Tiantai and Zen Buddhism were the most popular,and literati and officialdom made friends with monks,whose pure land spread was most influenced by these two monks.In addition,the family-style pure land belief and the prosperity of women’s pure land belief also appeared in this class.The pure land belief of the common people is also extremely developed.Urban citizens and rural people practice the pure land and wish to die through various Buddhist activities,such as chanting Buddha’s name,funeral recommending death,chanting scriptures and statues.On the whole,the pure land beliefs of both the north and the south were relatively developed in this period.The pure land Buddhist chanting is basically integrated into various sects of Buddhism,and widely spread by high monks and great virtues,the literati and the general public basically have the concept of pure land Buddhist chanting.Whether it is intentional belief or unintentional disclosure,it shows that the situation of "the sound of every family’s amitabha" has basically taken shape.The fifth chapter describes the pure land literature in the Five Dynasties and the Song Dynasty.Pure land literature refers to literary works created or adapted by Buddhists,which expresses pure land thoughts,propagates pure land doctrines,expresses pure land beliefs,shows pure land feelings and embodies pure land purpose and interest.After the development of Jin and Tang Dynasties,to the Five Dynasties and Song Dynasty,Pure Land Literature flourished.As far as the style is concerned,its developed performance is as follows: pure land verse and pure land prose blossom.Verses include pure land poems,pure land praises,pure land eulogies,pure land poems,pure land songs,pure land words,pure land inscriptions,etc.,especially pure land poems,which have never existed in previous generations and are a new creation in Song Dynasty.Prose includes preface and postscript of pure land,prose of pure land,biography of pure land,and theory of pure land.Each style can be subdivided into different categories according to different theme types.For example,essay of pure land can be divided into sparse legal meeting,sparse extension of invitation,sparse recommendation of death,sparse praise and forgiveness,and sparse change of fate.In a word,the diversity of the pure land style in the Five Dynasties and Song Dynasty promoted the pure land belief to spread widely among different social strata and groups at that time,so that the pure land culture became a part of people’s daily life.