Amitabha=阿彌陀佛; Hermeneutics=詮釋; Guang jing=觀經; Pure Land=淨土; Rebirth in Sukhavati=往生淨土; Yuanzhao=元照
摘要
This paper is a preliminary study of Pure Land hermeneutics in the Song. In the paper, I examine the hermeneutics that the monk Yuanzhao of the Song Dynasty carried out. I argue that Yuanzhao engaged in an advanced third-phase hermeneutics in the Chinese Pure Land tradition. This hermeneutical phase，which had commenced in the Sui and the Tang periods when a Pure Land commentarial tradition was built up by such respected masters as Huiyuan and Shandao，reached a full-blown stage when Yuanzhao undertook the exegesis of the Guan jing.
Yuanzhao's exegesis of the Guan jing is of particular importance because it represented the triumph of the Pure Land faith toward which Yuanzhao had been ill-disposed，and because it reflected substantially Yuanzhao's devotion to the faith. Initially an adherent of the Vinaya School who preached monastic rules and conducted ordinations, Yuanzhao converted himself to the Pure Land faith after he had fallen ill. After the conversion，Yuanzhao became the staunchest and outspoken supporter of the faith in his time,and a Pure Land spokesman who believed in the fundamental values of monastic rules and advocated the amalgamation of Pure Land and Vinaya practices.Not only did he disavow his previous antagonism toward the Pure Land，he also devoted himself to lecturing and writing about the Pure Land.
In his hermeneutics, Yuanzhao set a goal to transmit the doctrines of the Pure Land that his predecessors had interpreted. He studied the Pure Land scriptures and commentaries that he had at his disposal. His dedication to the Pure Land found its expression in many Pure Land related activities, including the composition of commentaries on two Pure Land sutras, the Amituo jing and the Guan jing. His commentary on the Guan jing purported a systemization of the major Guan jing exegeses derived from previous hermeneutics.He managed to recapitulate the principal Pure Land ideas and to explain away discrepancies among some Pure Land texts that had interpreted the faith somewhat differently. While he adopted some interpretations that Zhiyi，Shandao，and other exegetes had provided，he did clarify much of the contradiction and ambiguity embedded in these interpretations. His comparisons of the differences between guanfo and nianfo，between guanfo and guanxin，as well as his interpretation of the indiscriminatory rebirth in Sukhavati demonstrated an extraordinary insight that he possessed. As an adherent of the Amitabha Pure Land ideal，he helped solidify the theoretical basis of the Pure Land faith and assure aspirants definitive rewards of their devotions.
Yuanzhao's Pure Land Hermeneutics represented both an exaltation and a revision of Zhiyi's, Shandao's, or Zunshi's views of the Pure Land. It also represented his disagreement with other Tiantai masters' interpretations of the sixteen guan stipulated in the Guan jing. His denial of the use of guanxin to interpret the sixteen guan and of the dichotomization of the sixteen guan into shi (phenomenon) and li (principle) guan reflected the sophistication of his hermeneutics. His advocacy of a simplified definition of the sixteen guan based on the aspirant's level of wisdom and virtue, rendered the distinction of shi or li guan insignificant. While Yuanzhao may have totally recognized the rebirth right of the most diabolic sinners, as it is what the Guan jing professes, he never forgot to put premium on morality. His Pure Land hermeneutics revealed the necessity of combining meditation，invocation，moral acts, vows,and devotion for the practice of the Pure Land faith.
I. Introduction II. Yuanzhao and the Pure Land Scriptures III. The Study and the Commentary of the Guan jing IV. Yuanzhao's Hermeneutics V. The Controversy of Rebirth in the Pure Land VI. Guanfo and Guanxin VII. Concluding Remarks
