Ēmítuó jīng yuēlùn 阿彌陀經約論
Concise Treatise on the Smaller Amitābha-sūtra by 彭際清 (Péng Jìqīng, 述)
About the work
A short single-juǎn doctrinal essay by the late-Qīng lay-Buddhist 彭際清 Péng Jìqīng (1740–1796) on the Smaller Amitābhasūtra, completing his three-part Pure Land yuēlùn trilogy alongside the Wúliángshòu jīng qǐxìn lùn KR6p0003 and the Guānwúliángshòu fó jīng yuēlùn KR6p0013. The author’s preface — signed Púsà jiè dìzǐ Péng Jìqīng shù 菩薩戒弟子彭際清述 — frames the work in four divisions: (1) the yàolǐng 要領 (“essential points”) of the sūtra, (2) the wǎngshēng lìyì 往生利益 (“benefits of rebirth”), (3) special Q-and-A (biè shēn wèndá 別申問答), and (4) closing dedication-verses (jiésòng 偈) for the merit-transfer.
Abstract
Péng’s reading of the smaller sūtra is structured around five organising doctrinal pillars: yīxīn 一心 (one-mind) as the doctrinal core, chímíng 持名 (upholding the name) as the practice, xìnyuàn 信願 (faith and aspiration) as the orienting condition, bù tuì 不退 (non-retrogression) as the soteriological signpost, and ēnòuduōluó sānmiǎo sānpútí 阿耨多羅三藐三菩提 (anuttarā samyak-sambodhi) as the ultimate goal. The text’s distinctive doctrinal claim is the identification of the Smaller Sukhāvatīvyūma’s “one-pointed mind not distracted” (yīxīn bù luàn 一心不亂) with the Huáyán doctrine of yīxīn fǎjiè 一心法界 — making the practice of niànfó a direct manifestation of the totalising Dharma-realm, and Pure Land devotion a route to immediate (rather than gradually progressed) realisation of bodhi.
The Yuēlùn is more compact than Péng’s earlier Qǐxìn lùn on the larger sūtra and shares the brevity of his Yuēlùn on the Guānjīng. Together the three texts constitute the late-Qīng lay-Buddhist commentary apparatus for the three principal Pure Land sūtras, the precedent that 魏源 Wèi Yuán’s Jìngtǔ sì jīng would build on a generation later. Dating bracket: Péng’s mature period, c. 1781–1796.
Translations and research
- Yu Chün-fang. The Renewal of Buddhism in China. Columbia UP, 1981.
- Goossaert and Kiely (eds.), Modern Chinese Religion II: 1850–2015. Brill, 2016.
- Wáng Lěi 王雷, Péng Jì-qīng jū-shì-fó-jiào sī-xiǎng yán-jiū. Beijing, 2017.