A Brief Discussion on Chan–Pure Land Syncretism in Dunhuang: Centered on Dunhuang Literature
Religions July 15, 2026 DOI: 10.3390/rel17070847 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Historical analysis Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Buddhism Meditation |
| Keywords | Introspection Syncretism linguistics Portrait Pure land Bodhisattva Mantra Frontier Aesthetics Phenomenon Misnomer Altar Gautama buddha Literature Emptiness Epistemology Key lock Visitor pattern |
| Key points | Argues that Chan and Pure Land practices in medieval Dunhuang were not mutually exclusive but were combined in an integrative religious phenomenon, challenging conventional sectarian boundaries. |
Abstract
This article investigates the convergence of Chan and Pure Land practices in medieval Dunhuang, highlighting a fluid and integrative religious phenomenon that challenges conventional sectarian boundaries. Drawing on a rich corpus of manuscripts, including treatises, lecture notes, liturgical texts, and portrait praises, the study demonstrates how meditation-centered approaches, often associated with Chan, coexisted with Pure Land devotion. In Dunhuang’s frontier setting, these practices were neither mutually exclusive nor rigidly compartmentalized; monks and lay practitioners alike combined Chan-style introspection with faith-based recitation of Amitābha’s name. The paper first clarifies the conceptual categories of “Chan” and “Pure Land” by placing them in contemporary scholarly debates on sectarianism, thereby questioning modern assumptions that retroactively impose later institutional labels on the medieval past. An analysis of key texts illustrates the consistent emphasis on introspective meditation and the aspiration for rebirth in Amitābha’s Western Paradise. Poetry, portrait eulogies, and sermon materials likewise reveal practitioners who excelled in Chan while cultivating Pure Land rituals. These findings attest to a broader pattern of adaptability in Chinese Buddhism and underscore Dunhuang’s significance as a site where diverse doctrinal streams converged.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on buddhism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mental balance and well-being: Building bridges between Buddhism and Western psychology. | 2006 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Buddhist Modernism and the Rhetoric of Meditative Experience | 1995 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Buddhist and Psychological Perspectives on Emotions and Well-Being | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Too Early to Tell: The Potential Impact and Challenges—Ethical and Otherwise—Inherent in the Mainstreaming of Dharma in an Increasingly Dystopian World | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| From self to nonself: The Nonself Theory | 2016 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |