The two Chinese Buddhist traditions of Huayan and Pure Land are quite different in style and content: whereas Huayan comprises a very abstract system of thought and meditation, the Pure Land tradition teaches the simple practice of ‘nianfo’ (recollection of the Buddha) with the goal of rebirth in Amitābha Buddha’s Pure Land. However, during the early Qing dynasty, the two Buddhist scholars Xufa and Peng Shaosheng worked to synthesize these two traditions. In both cases, we witness the unique attempt to combine a highly abstract system of thought accessible to only a few well-educated people with a very simple and concrete method of practice highly popular among the less-educated masses. This paper will explain the sources, reasons, contents, and influences of the Huayan-nianfo synthesis, which is very representative for early Qing dynasty Buddhism.
