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 [[KR6f0082|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
- 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.