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Amitābha Sūtra
Illustrated'' Amitabha Sutra'', Korea, Deokjusa Temple The ''Amitābha Sūtra'' ( Ch.: 阿彌陀經, pinyin: ''Āmítuó Jīng'', or 佛說阿彌陀經, ''Fóshuō Āmítuó Jīng''; Jp.: ''Amida Kyō'', Vi.: ''A Di Đà Kinh''), also known as the horter''Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra'' (Sanskrit, ''The Array of "the Blissful'' ''Land''", or ''The Arrangement of Sukhāvatī'') is one of the two Indian Mahayana sutras that describe Sukhāvatī, the pure land of Amitābha. The text was translated into Chinese in 402 by Kumārajīva (Taishō Tripiṭaka no. 366) and it is also known in Chinese as the "Small Sutra" (''Xiaojing'').阿彌陀經 Amitâbha-sūtra Digital Dictionary of BuddhismGomez, Luis, trans. (1996), ''The Land of Bliss: The Paradise of the Buddha of Mea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Classical Chinese
Classical Chinese is the language in which the classics of Chinese literature were written, from . For millennia thereafter, the written Chinese used in these works was imitated and iterated upon by scholars in a form now called Literary Chinese, which was used for almost all formal writing in China until the early 20th century. Each written character corresponds to a single spoken syllable, and almost always to a single independent word. As a result, the characteristic style of the language is comparatively terse. Starting in the 2nd century CE, use of Literary Chinese spread to the countries surrounding China, including Vietnam, Korea, Japan, and the Ryukyu Islands, where it represented the only known form of writing. Literary Chinese was adopted as the language of civil administration in these countries, creating what is known as the Sinosphere. Each additionally developed systems of readings and annotations that enabled non-Chinese speakers to interpret Literary ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yuanzhao
Yuanzhao (Chinese: 元照, 1048–1116), styled Zanran Yuanzhao and Lingzhi Yuanzhao (靈芝元照) was a distinguished scholar-monk and Vinaya master of the Vinaya school during the Song dynasty (960–1279 CE).Chi-chiang Huang. �Pure Land Hermeneutics in the Song Dynasty: The Case of Zhanran Yuanzhao (1048--1116).�� (2000). He also taught and wrote on Pure Land Buddhism and Tiantai. After a period of illness later in life, he became a staunch Pure Land Buddhist, composing commentaries on the '' Amitabha Sutra'' and the '' Contemplation Sutra''. Yuanzhao was a key reformer of the Vinaya school during the Song dynasty, widely administering its monastic ordination ceremonies to monks and bodhisattva precepts to laypersons. He is also one of the most prominent Song era Pure Land commentators whose works are still extant. Overview A native of Yuhang (modern Zhejiang Province), he was born in 1048, the eighth year of the Qingli reign, with the secular surname Tang (唐). Ordained u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Song Dynasty
The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period#Ten Kingdoms, Ten Kingdoms, ending the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. The Song frequently came into conflict with the contemporaneous Liao dynasty, Liao, Western Xia and Jin dynasty (1115–1234), Jin dynasties in northern China. After retreating to southern China following attacks by the Jin dynasty, the Song was eventually conquered by the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The History of the Song dynasty, dynasty's history is divided into two periods: during the Northern Song (; 960–1127), the capital was in the northern city of Bianjing (now Kaifeng) and the dynasty controlled most of what is now East China. The #Southern Song, 1127–1279, Southern Song (; 1127–1279) comprise the period following ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinese Buddhism
Chinese Buddhism or Han Buddhism ( zh, s=汉传佛教, t=漢傳佛教, first=t, poj=Hàn-thoân Hu̍t-kàu, j=Hon3 Cyun4 Fat6 Gaau3, p=Hànchuán Fójiào) is a Chinese form of Mahayana Buddhism. The Chinese Buddhist canonJiang Wu, "The Chinese Buddhist Canon" in ''The Wiley Blackwell Companion to East and Inner Asian Buddhism'', p. 299, Wiley-Blackwell (2014). draws from the traditions of Confucianism and Taoism as well as the rituals of local Chinese folk religion, folk religions. Chinese Buddhism emphasizes the study of Mahayana sutras and treatises. Some of the most important scriptures in Chinese Buddhism include the ''Lotus Sutra'', ''Avatamsaka Sutra, Flower Ornament Sutra'', Vimalakirti Sutra, ''Vimalakirtī Sutra'', ''Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, Nirvana Sutra,'' and Shorter Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra, ''Amitābha Sutra''. Chinese Buddhism is the largest institutionalized religion in mainland China.Cook, Sarah (2017). The Battle for China's Spirit: Religious R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kuiji
Kuiji (; 632–682), also known as Ji (), an exponent of Yogācāra, was a Chinese monk and a prominent disciple of Xuanzang.Lusthaus, Dan (undated). ''Quick Overview of the Faxiang School'' (). Source(accessed: December 12, 2007) His posthumous name was Ci'en Dashi (), the Great Teacher of Cien Monastery, after the Daci'en Temple or Great Monastery of Compassionate Grace, which was located in Chang'an, the main capital of the Tang Dynasty. The Giant Wild Goose Pagoda was built in Daci'en Temple in 652. According to biographies, he was sent to the imperial translation bureau headed by Xuanzang, from whom he later would learn Sanskrit, Abhidharma, and Yogācāra. Kuiji collaborated closely with Xuanzang on the '' Cheng weishi lun'', a redacted translation of commentaries on Vasubandhu Vasubandhu (; Tibetan: དབྱིག་གཉེན་ ; floruit, fl. 4th to 5th century CE) was an influential Indian bhikkhu, Buddhist monk and scholar. He was a philosopher who wrote commen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wonhyo
Wŏnhyo (; ; 617 – 686, meaning: "Dawnbreak") was one of the most important philosophers and commentators in East Asian Buddhism and the most prolific scholar in Korean Buddhism.Muller, Charles元曉 Wonhyo, ''Digital Dictionary of Buddhism''./ref>Buswell, R. E. (2017). Wŏnhyo: Buddhist Commentator “Par Excellence.” ''Journal of Korean Religions'', ''8''(1), 131–160. As one of the most eminent scholar-monks in East Asian history, his extensive literary output runs to over 80 works in 240 fascicles. His most influential commentaries are those on buddha-nature texts like the *'' Vajrasamādhisūtra'', the '' Awakening of Faith'', and the '' Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra''. These works became classics widely respected throughout Korea, China and Japan. Wonhyo's work was foundational for all of Korean Buddhism and also influenced Buddhism in other East Asian nations. Chinese masters who were heavily influenced by Wonhyo include Huayan masters like Fazang, Li Tongxuan, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zhiyi
Zhiyi (; 538–597 CE) also called Dashi Tiantai (天台大師) and Zhizhe (智者, "Wise One"), was a Chinese Bhikkhu, Buddhist monk, Buddhist philosophy, philosopher, meditation teacher, and Exegesis, exegete. He is considered to be the founder of the Tiantai Buddhist tradition, as well as its fourth Patriarch (Buddhism), patriarch. Śramaṇa Zhiyi is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the development of East Asian Buddhism, East Asian Buddhist thought and practice. As the first major Chinese Buddhist thinker to construct a comprehensive religious system based primarily on Chinese interpretations, Zhiyi played a crucial role in synthesizing various strands of Mahayana Buddhism into a unique coherent framework."Tiantai Zhiyi." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 911–12. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27. According to David W. Chappell, Zhiyi "has been ranked with Thomas Aquinas and al-Ghazali as one o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sengzhao
Sengzhao (or Seng-Chao) (; , ''Sōjō''; 384–414) was a Chinese Buddhist philosopher from Later Qin. Born to a poor family in Jingzhao, he acquired literary skills, apparently including the capacity to read Pali, and became a scribe. This exposed him to a variety of uncommon documents. He was influenced by Taoists, Laozi and Zhuangzi, and although we are told he enjoyed Lao Tzu’s Daodejing (Tao-te ching, ''Dotokyu-kyo''), he was overjoyed when he discovered the '' Vimalakirti Sutra.'' This encounter transformed his life and he became a Buddhist. He was known as being among the ablest of the disciples of Kumārajīva. Sengzhao was recognized as both a scholar of high skill and someone of profound understanding relating to religious matters. He was involved in translating Indian treatises, which formed the only source of study for early Chinese Mādhyamika Buddhism. He also authored a small number of texts, but is famous for the book ''Zhaolun''. Its chapters are as follows: '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shandao
Shandao (; ; 613–681) was a Chinese Buddhist scholar monk and an influential figure of East Asian Pure Land Buddhism.Jones (2019), pp. 20-21 Shandao was one of the first Pure Land authors to argue that all Pṛthagjana, ordinary people, and even the most evil person, can be reborn in the Pure land, Pure Land by relying on the Other power, karmic power of Amitābha Buddha's Primal Vow, past vows. Shandao was also one of the earliest Pure Land authors to teach the primacy of faithfully reciting Amitābha's name (Ch: nianfo). Shandao saw this practice as sufficient for birth in the Pure Land, and as the supreme practice (even more important than Buddhist meditation, meditation). This, along with Shandao's efforts to teach common laypeople in various ways, like disseminating paintings of the Pure Land, made Pure Land Buddhism much more accessible and popular among the common people. Several modern scholars consider Shandao to be the central figure of the Chinese Pure Land traditi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Xuanzang
Xuanzang (; ; 6 April 6025 February 664), born Chen Hui or Chen Yi (), also known by his Sanskrit Dharma name Mokṣadeva, was a 7th-century Chinese Bhikkhu, Buddhist monk, scholar, traveller, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of his journey to the Indian subcontinent in 629–645, his efforts to bring at least 657 Indian texts to China, and his translations of some of these texts. He was only able to translate 75 distinct sections of a total of 1335 chapters, but his translations included some of the most important Mahayana scriptures. Xuanzang was born on 6 April 602 in Chenliu, near present-day Luoyang, in Henan province of China. As a boy, he took to reading religious books, and studying the ideas therein with his father. Like his elder brother, he became a student of Buddhist studies at Jingtu monastery. Xuanzang was ordained as a ''śrāmaṇera'' (novice monk) at the age of thirteen. Due to the political a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prakrit
Prakrit ( ) is a group of vernacular classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages that were used in the Indian subcontinent from around the 5th century BCE to the 12th century CE. The term Prakrit is usually applied to the middle period of Middle Indo-Aryan languages, excluding Pali. The oldest stage of Middle Indo-Aryan language is attested in the inscriptions of Ashoka (ca. 260 BCE), as well as in the earliest forms of Pāli, the language of the Theravāda Buddhist canon. The most prominent form of Prakrit is Ardhamāgadhı̄, associated with the ancient kingdom of Magadha, in modern Bihar, and the subsequent Mauryan Empire. Mahāvı̄ra, the last tirthankar of 24 tirthankar of Jainism, was born in Magadha, and the earliest Jain texts were composed in Ardhamāgadhı̄. Etymology There are two major views concerning the way in which Sanskrit and Prakrit are related. One holds that the original matter in question is the speech of the common people, unadorned by grammar, and that p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
