Jìngtǔ lùn 淨土論
Treatise on the Pure Land by 迦才 (Jiācái, 撰)
About the work
A three-juǎn mid-Tang doctrinal treatise on the Pure Land of Amitābha by 迦才 Jiācái, composed at Hóngfǎsì 弘法寺 in Cháng’ān during the immediate post-道綽 Dàochuò and pre-善導 Shàndǎo period. The author’s preface frames the work as a structural reorganisation and theoretical tightening of Dàochuò’s Ānlè jí KR6p0037, which Jiācái found “broadly cited but mixed in argument” (文義參雜。章品混淆). Jiācái selects the doctrinal material Dàochuò had gathered, rearranges it under nine principal chapters (with sub-divisions running to thirty-some sections), and develops sustained arguments where Dàochuò had only cited evidence.
Abstract
The Jìngtǔ lùn is one of the major Tang Pure Land doctrinal treatises, alongside Dàochuò’s Ānlè jí, Shàndǎo’s Guānjīng shū KR6f0076, and Huáigǎn’s Qúnyí lùn KR6p0039. The work is structured around nine chapters (jiǔ piān 九篇): (1) on the metaphysical character of Sukhāvatī; (2) on the conditions of rebirth; (3) on the typology of practitioners; (4) on the relation between Pure Land devotion and the bodhisattva path; (5) on the soteriological status of niànfó; (6) on the relation between gradual and sudden practice; (7) on the doctrinal antecedents in the canonical sūtras; (8) on the historical witnesses; (9) on the practical-ritual programme. Each chapter develops its argument via canonical citation followed by sustained doctrinal exposition.
Jiācái is unusual among Tang Pure Land masters in being explicitly historical-critical: his preface gives a brief historical sketch of the Chinese Pure Land tradition from Lúshān Huìyuǎn (334–416) and Xiè Língyùn (385–433), notes the absence of subsequent disciples, and identifies Dàochuò as the principal recent precedent. This genealogical impulse — locating his own work within an explicit lineage — is characteristic of the early-Tang Pure Land consolidation that would culminate in Shàndǎo’s authoritative articulation. The Taishō text is collated against the Korean canon and one Sòng-period palace edition. Dating: the Lùn’s engagement with Dàochuò points to a terminus a quo of c. 645 (Dàochuò’s death year) and a terminus ad quem before Shàndǎo’s mature corpus, hence c. 645–670.
Translations and research
- Mochizuki Shinkō, Chūgoku jōdo kyōrishi. Kyoto, 1942/1964 — discusses the Jìng-tǔ lùn in the early-Tang context.
- Pas, Julian. Visions of Sukhāvatī. SUNY Press, 1995 — places Jiācái between Dàochuò and Shàn-dǎo.
- Inagaki Hisao, “The Way of the Pure Land: Reflections on the Ching-t’u-lun of Chia-ts’ai.” Pacific World, 3rd series 5 (2003).