In response to other sects and schools, Pure Land Buddhists in the mid-Tang period of China put forth various arguments regarding practices. Previously, the author identified the presence of differently oriented perspectives on practice among Pure Land Buddhists in the mid-Tang period by comparing perspectives on practices in the Jingtu cibei ji 浄土慈悲集 (T. 2826, Lüe zhujinglun nianfo famen wangsheng jingtu ji 略諸経論念仏法門往生浄土集, compiled by Huiri 慧日) and the Nianfo-jing 念仏鏡 (T. 1966, compiled jointly by Daojing 道鏡 and Shandao 善道). The Jingtu cibei ji recommends the practical implementation of jiang jing 講経 and precepts while focusing on nianfo 念仏, while the Nianfo-jing stresses that all other practices are integrated into the single act of nianfo; the two attitudes could be said to run counter to one another.
This could be regarded as the situation before the An Lushan Rebellion. However, after the rebellion, the Buddhist order shifted from a tendency of rivalry to one of reconciliation. How did Pure Land Buddhists’ perspectives on practices develop during that time? Here I discuss the Nianfo sanmei baowang lun 念仏三昧宝王論 (T. 1967; compiled by the monk Feixi 飛錫), a work that exemplifies Pure Land Buddhism in the mid-Tang dynasty after the An Lushan Rebellion, and I further examine the views expressed in this text.