西方淨土=Western Pure Land; 淨土業者=Pure Land practitioner; 念佛三昧=ASamadhi of reciting the name of a Buddha; 禮懺=Worship andrepentance; 知禮=Chih-li; 遵式=Tsun-shih
According to Buddhist materials this studies analyzes the modification of Amita teaching after the T’ang. In Buddhist tradition the meditator practiced the visualization on the Amita Buddha for obtaining Samadhi in the early T’ang, however, the chanting on the name of Amita Buddha (N’ien-fo) was instead in the middle of T’ang, from which the Amita teaching was expanded widely. Afterwards Buddhism suffered the persecution of Hui-ch’ang in 845, then a turmoil and disunity of political state was followed in an almost half century after the dowfall of the T’ang. The teaching of Buddhist schools was declined, no intellectual activity within Buddhist circles was developed under the Five Dynasties period. In Sung Dynasty a significant cleric Fa-chih Chih-li (960-1028), who restored the teaching of T’ien-t’ai school and developed a theory of repentance, was also keen on Amita teaching and made a vow to be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Amita. After his propaganda the Amita teaching was widely accepted by T’ien-t’ai school. This studies points out the adherents of Amita teaching were almost from T’ien-t’ai community after the Sung period. The combining theory of N’ien-fo and repentance was established as a core of Western Pure Land teaching. Likewise we could say that Pure Land teaching was taken up with T’ien-t’ai doctrine and practiced by their adherents through the Sung, Yuan, Ming periods.
