Zhuhong’s Ideas on Purity and Filth and Acceptance or Rejection: Differences with Other Huayan Masters

Abstract

The doctrinal basis of the Pure land teaching of Zhuhong lay in the Huayan School, a fact long known to scholars. Previous studies have tended to investigate doctrinal inheritances from Huayan masters such as Chengguan and Zongmi, and consequently their differences have been covered. This paper suggests that there is a gap regarding ideas of purity and filth and acceptance or rejection between these Huayan masters and Zhuhong. The former are based on Huayan ideas of inherent awakening and Yogācāra ideas of the Pure Land. Zhuhong emphasized the Yogācāra Pure Land which was based on the idea of the real existence of Amitābha’s land, and thus we can point out that a real gap exists between the two kinds of ideas.