Ā mí tuó jīng yào jiě 阿彌陀經要解
Essential Explication of the Amitābha Sūtra by 智旭 (Zhìxù / Ǒuyì Zhìxù, 解)
About the work
The Yào jiě in 1 fascicle is the late-Míng commentary on the Smaller Sukhāvatī by 智旭 Ǒuyì Zhìxù 蕅益智旭 (1599–1655), one of the Four Great Masters of the Late Míng. It is one of the most influential single Pure Land commentaries in late-imperial Chinese Buddhism and remained the standard introductory text in subsequent Chinese Pure Land study.
Prefaces
No formal preface.
Abstract
The bracket adopted here (1620 – 1655) reflects 智旭 Ǒuyì Zhìxù’s mature scholarly period leading up to his death.
The Taishō text (T1762) is established on the standard apparatus.
Translations and research
Reminder: AI generated list - beware of hallucinations. Corrections and additions welcome
- No substantial Western-language translation located.
- Hsing Yün, ed. (various Pure Land devotional translations).
- Welch, Holmes. The Practice of Chinese Buddhism (1967).
Other points of interest
- Ǒuyì Zhìxù’s Yào jiě — a late-Míng synthetic Buddhist work — represents the maturation of the lay-monastic Pure Land syncretist tradition that would shape modern Chinese Buddhist revival in the 20th century under figures like 印光 Yìnguāng.