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John Carroll University Carroll Collected Theology & Religious Studies 5-1-1998 Review of The Pure Land Tradition: History and Development, edited by J. Foard, M. Solomon, and R.K. Payne Paul K. Nietupski John Carroll University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://collected.jcu.edu/theo_rels-facpub Part of the Religion Commons Recommended Citation Nietupski, Paul K., "Review of The urP e Land Tradition: History and Development, edited by J. Foard, M. Solomon, and R.K. Payne" (1998). Theology & Religious Studies. 49. http://collected.jcu.edu/theo_rels-facpub/49 This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by Carroll Collected. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theology & Religious Studies by an authorized administrator of Carroll Collected. For more information, please contact [email protected]. BOOK REVIEWS-CHINA 491 intendedto benefitSoviet Russia, since it could in no way benefitthe nonexistent CCP"(P. 75). In anotherreach, Elleman supposesthat had the real natureof Soviet diplomacy been known from the beginning, the "legitimacy of the Chinese CommunistParty would have been seriouslyundermined [whichi raises grave doubts about whetherthe CCP would have laterbeen able to rallythe Chinesepeople under its leadership"(p. 248). Finally,Elleman states that the CCP "was not cognizantof the truthunderlying Sino-Sovietrelations, and duringthe summerand fall of 1949, Mao continuedto claim that only the Soviet governmentcould provide"genuine and friendlyhelp," and thatChina should ally with the SovietUnion 'in orderto wage a life-and-death struggleagainst imperialism and its runningdogs"' (p. 247). Afterspending some 200 pages detailingthe distancebetween "myth and reality"in Sino-Sovietrelations, it was somewhatsurprising that Elleman should take Chinese propagandaat face value and not wonderif Mao had doubtsabout Sovietcredibility even in 1949. To say that the propaganda of the Karakhan Manifestowould have been counterbalancedby knowledgeof Soviet Russia's real actionsin China duringthis periodoverlooks the self-interestof thoseChinese who weresearching for alternatives to Western diplomatic traditions.The fact that Soviet propagandasucceeded in finding"receptive harbors" in Chineseaudiences cannot be attributedto anyone cause. Giving Sovietpropaganda more impact than it perhapshad is the best evidenceof the powerof wordsto shape perceptions.In conclusion,the overalltheme of Soviet duplicityin internationalaffairs is well delineatedand Elleman sheds new light on previouslymurky episodes in a watershedera in Sino-Sovietrelations. JULIAN CHANG StanfordUniversity The PureLand Tradition:History and Development.Berkeley Buddhist Studies Series3. Edited by JAMES FOARD, MICHAEL SOLOMON, and RICHARD K. PAYNE. Berkeley:Berkeley Buddhist Studies Series, 1996. x, 548 pp. $45.00. The twelveessays in this volumewere written by leadingscholars of Pure Land and Buddhist studies who bring togetherfirst-rate scholarship in theirrespective academic specialties.They demonstratelinguistic competence and familiaritywith the primaryand secondaryliterature in each of theirrespective concentrations. The essaysare arrangedin the chronologicalorder of theircontents, and by geographical region,beginning with Pure Land antecedentsin ancientIndia, the developmentof the traditionin China, and the institutionalmanifestations in Japan up to modern times. Generally,the volume presents an accurateand oftenthought-provoking overview of Pure Land Buddhistorigins and development.It is clearlydesigned for audiences familiarwith the languages,scriptures, and Buddhisttraditions of China,Japan, and to a lesserextent, India. The CharacterList at the end of the volume is a valuable referencetool forwork with the Chineseand Japanese texts. In additionto theprecise scholarshipon the textsand institutionalhistories of the Pure Land traditionthe volumeincludes information on two importantsubjects: the phenomenologyof Pure Land practicesand how thesedeveloped in the contextsof and in fusionwith other Buddhistsystems over the centuries. 492 THE JOURNAL OF ASIAN STUDIES This seemslike a lot of materialto coverin a singlevolume, precisely one of the shortcomingsof the projectas a whole,which it obviouslyshares with manyother similarcollections. The wide-rangingmethodological approaches include analytical assessment of primary texts, intellectual history,social and political history, phenomenology,and comparativereligious studies. Some ofthe authors have updated their articles since 1981, the intended publication date, some have included disclaimers, and some have provided furtherannotations and more recent bibliographiccitations. The firstessay in thevolume is in facta "summaryadaption" of a long landmark study of Pure Land Buddhism writtenin 1970 by Fujita Kotatsu in Japanese, summarizedand translatedin 1981 by Taitetsu Unno. Fujita Kotatsu has written fourarticles on the subjectsince the currenttranslation, which are listed at the end of this chapter.This is an excellentbeginning to the volume, with a perhaps prescriptivebut neverthelessintelligent methodological agenda thattraces the roots of Pure Land to India. In addition to being an importantcontribution in its own right,it mentionsmany of the issuesthat are dealt withlater in the volume. The firstand severalof the followingessays deal withthe problem of the origins of Pure Land. The assertionis that "Our task is to . elucidate . the historyof earlyPure Land withinthe developmentof earlyBuddhism and in the largercontext ofIndian religioushistory" (p. 5). Earlyhere means during the lifetime of Sakyamuni Buddha, though"Timn early Buddhism there is, of course,no mentionof Amida, or Pure Land, or birththerein.... And [yetl the termPure Land Buddhismshall apply to the periodwhen the doctrinearose in India thatman can attainBuddhahood by being bornin the Pure Land of Amida Buddha,until the timewhen ... the original formof the Pure Land siutrascame to be finalized"(p. 5). Fujita Kotatsu and others in thisvolume support this assertionwith detaileddescriptions of the primaryPure Land textsand withexplanations of Pure Land doctrinesin MahayanaBuddhist terms. The authorsshow how Pure Land practicesare based on earlyBuddhism and defined and refinedby laterMahayana ideas and ideals in India, China,and Japan.The essays includecomments about genderroles, syncretism, philosophical value ofvisualizing, remembering,or reciting the name of the Buddha (buddhdnusmrti),and some innovativereflections about the definitionsof Indian Buddhist technical terms (fraddhcd,adhimukti, prasdda). Some of the highlightsof the volume are Roger Corless'spiece on T'an-luan (c. 488-c. 554), whichincludes a reviewof T'an-luan's writings and an assessmentof his influenceon the earlyPure Land tradition(p. 111). He mentionsthe role of women in the system(p. 119), resonanceswith Buddhisttantrism (p. 125), and T'an-luan's use of Madhyamaka and "proto-Yogacara" ideas (p. 131). David Chappell's contributionfocuses on Tao-ch'o (562-645) and Shan-tao(613-81). The methodof this essay, institutionaland intellectualhistory, is a shiftfrom the text-critical approachin theprevious chapter. Chappell emphasizes that Pure Land devotionalism was the most importantreligious institution in seventh-centuryChina (p. 140). He notesthat lay and ordainedmen and womenpracticed Pure Land Buddhism(pp. 140- 41). In the fifthchapter Whalen Lai uses Sung Dynastyrecords of people "rebornin the Pure Land" (173-75) as a startingpoint fora detailed historicaland doctrinal overviewof Pure Land practices.His essay is much more broad than the previous chapters,covering a long historicalperiod and very diverse ideas. Lai traces the developmentof lay Buddhism through the T'ang, notingthat Chinese Buddhists were "reformedby Mahayanistsensibilities of the T'ang" (p. 196), and describesthe evolutionof Buddhistmonasticism from the T'ang to the Sung, when the path of BOOK REVIEWS-CHINA 493 faithbecame predominant.He includesBuddha recitation(nien-fo) diagrams at the end of the chapter(pp. 221-22). Lai makesthe interestingobservation that from his perspective"Tal religiouspractice totally divorced from philosophic reflection faces the dangerof degeneratinginto an aimlessritual, too amenableto magicalneeds and mixed goals" (p. 219). Richard K. Payne's article is an analysisof the "Rebirth Treatise"attributed to Vasubandhu(p. 233). Payne identifiesthe textand describes its philosophical and soteriologicalprogram. He finds a reliance on Yogacara philosophy(pp. 234, 241, 250-52), unlike other scholars(p. 240), a systematic practice(sddhana) in the structureof the text,and parallelsto Buddhisttantra (pp. 245-47, 262). At thispoint the volumeturns to JapanesePure Land traditionwith an overview of the traditionin Japan by ShigematsuAkihisa and translatedfrom Japanese by Michael Solomon. The firstof the chaptersis a summaryof JapanesePure Land luminariesand textsfrom the Nara to Kamakuraperiods. The chapteridentifies the Yogacara rootsof Pure Land, includesmention of genderissues, and is verynearly a bibliographicalsummary of leading Pure Land figuresand texts. The eighthof the twelvearticles, by Taitetsu Unno, focuseson theoriginal works of Hanen (1133-1211) and Shinran(1173-1263) fromthe perspectiveof Buddhist doctrineand practice.Unno, like othersin thisvolume, points out thephilosophical value of Pure Land tenets.Shinran's system was universalist,accepting men and women,lay and ordained.Unno explainsthat "otherpower" is not really"other"; rather"all is other"(pp.
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