Dàyòu 大佑 / Qú’ān Dàyòu 蘧菴大佑 (1334–1407)
An early-Míng Tiāntái-school 天台 master, hào Qú’ān 蘧菴 (“Hut of Qú [Bóyù]”) — frequently cited as Qú’ān Dàshī 蘧菴大師 (“the Master of the Qú-Hut”). Native of Wújùn 吳郡 (Sūzhōu), so he is also identified as 吳郡沙門大佑 in colophons. Lifedates 1334 (Yuán Yuántǒng 2) – 1407 (Míng Yǒnglè 5), age 74. He is one of the principal early-Míng restorers of Tiāntái Pure Land doctrine and the immediate transmission link from the Yuán 性澄 Xìngchéng line to the late-Míng 傳燈 Chuándēng / 袾宏 Zhūhóng synthesis.
His major Pure Land works are: the Ēmítuó jīng lüèjiě 阿彌陀經略解 KR6p0017 — the standard early-Míng abbreviated commentary on the Smaller Sukhāvatīvyūha, in one juǎn; and the same Lüèjiě with the supplementary Yuánzhōngchāo 圓中鈔 of 傳燈 Yōuxī Chuándēng KR6p0018, the latter a substantially expanded sub-commentary added a century after Dàyòu’s death. He also produced the Jìngtǔ zhǐguī jí 淨土指歸集 (a Pure Land collectanea), the Tiāntái sìjiào yí jíjiě 天台四教儀集解, and the Sēng shǐ luè 僧史略 (a Buddhist historical compendium). Beyond Pure Land, he was a substantial Tiāntái doctrinal scholar in his own right, with works on the Lotus, Vimalakīrti, and Diamond Sūtras.
He served as abbot of Bào’ēnsì 報恩寺 in Sūzhōu and was a major figure in the Wú region of Pure Land circles in the late Yuán / early Míng. His doctrinal position is the classic SòngYuán Tiāntái synthesis: Pure Land devotion subordinated to but harmonised with the yīxīnsānguān doctrine of Sìmíng 知禮 Zhīlǐ.
Sources: Bùjì sēngshǐ luè 補續僧史略 vol. 4; Mǐng dèng huìyào 明燈匯要; the autobiographical material in his Lüèjiě preface; Shì Shèngyán 釋聖嚴, Míngmò Fójiào yánjiū, ch. 2. DILA Authority id A001327.