Guān wú liàng shòu fó jīng shū 觀無量壽佛經疏 (Shàndǎo)
The Four-Fascicle Commentary on the Visualization-of-Amitāyus Sūtra by 善導 (Shàndǎo, 集記)
About the work
The Sì juàn shū 四卷疏 — the Four-Fascicle Commentary — is the most consequential single Pure Land commentary in East Asian Buddhist history. Composed by 善導 Shàndǎo (613–681), the great Tang Pure Land patriarch, it is the foundational doctrinal text of Japanese Pure Land Buddhism, providing the basis for Hōnen’s Senchakushū and Shinran’s Kyōgyōshinshō. The work systematically explicates the [[KR6f0071|Guān wú liàng shòu fó jīng]] from a definitively biàn shèng 別聖 (separate-sage) Pure Land perspective — emphasising that all classes of beings, including those with grave karmic burdens, can attain rebirth in Sukhāvatī through the efficacy of Amitābha’s Original Vow.
Prefaces
No formal preface.
Abstract
The bracket adopted here (660 – 681) reflects 善導 Shàndǎo’s mature Cháng’ān period leading up to his death in 681.
The Taishō text (T1753) is established on a particularly rich apparatus.
Translations and research
- Pas, Julian F. Visions of Sukhāvatī: Shan-Tao’s Commentary on the Kuan Wu-liang-shou Fo Ching. SUNY Press, 1995. — The standard study and substantial English translation; one of the major monographs in modern Pure Land studies.
- Inagaki, Hisao, tr. Shan-tao’s Kuan-ching ssu-t’ieh-shu: A Translation. (Various publications.)
- Suzuki, D. T. Shin Buddhism: Japan’s Major Religious Contribution to the West. New York: Harper, 1970.
Other points of interest
- The Sì juàn shū is the principal source through which Pure Land doctrine entered Japanese Buddhism: 法然 Hōnen (1133–1212) reports that his decisive turn to exclusive Pure Land devotion came after reading Shàndǎo’s commentary, and his entire Senchaku hongan nenbutsushū 選擇本願念佛集 derives its authority from this work.