Fó shuō dà ā mí tuó jīng 佛說大阿彌陀經
The Great Sūtra of Amitābha (Wáng Rìxiū’s composite recension) by 王日休 (Wáng Rìxiū, 校輯 / collated and compiled)
About the work
This 2-fascicle text by 王日休 Wáng Rìxiū (d. 1173) is the famous Southern-Sòng composite recension of the Larger Sukhāvatīvyūhasūtra, synthesised from the four major existing Chinese translations (T0360, T0361, T0362, T0363). The result is a unified Chinese Pure Land scripture that combines what Wáng Rìxiū judged to be the best readings from each of the source-translations, producing a stylistically polished and devotionally accessible text. The work became one of the most widely-chanted versions of the Sukhāvatīvyūha in late-imperial Chinese Pure Land practice.
Prefaces
No formal preface.
Abstract
The bracket adopted here (1160 – 1173) reflects 王日休 Wáng Rìxiū’s mature Buddhist period leading up to his death.
The Taishō text (T0364) is established on the standard apparatus.
Translations and research
- No substantial Western-language translation located.
- Welch, Holmes. The Practice of Chinese Buddhism, 1900–1950. Harvard University Press, 1967 — for late-imperial Pure Land practice.
Other points of interest
- Wáng Rìxiū’s editorial method — synthesising multiple Chinese translations of a single Indic original into one composite recension — is unusual in the Buddhist canon and is one of the most distinctive lay-Buddhist editorial achievements of the Sòng period.