Shi Yinguang

Shi Yinguang (; 11 January 1862 – 2 December 1940), or Yinguang for short, was a Chinese Buddhist monk and considered the Thirteenth Patriarch of the Pure Land tradition. Yinguang lived during the rapid societal changes of the Republic of China, and is credited as a leader in the modern Buddhist revival movement. Yinguang promoted traditional Pure Land practices, such as reciting the nianfo, in a way that resonated with modern society. In Chinese Buddhist tradition, he is also widely regarded as an emanation of the Bodhisattva Mahāsthāmaprāpta.

Biography

Yinguang was born in 1861 as Zhao Shaoyi in Shanxi Province, the youngest of three children, to Zhao Bing Gang . Yinguang suffered from conjunctivitis, and suffered from poor vision in his youth, but after recovering he was put to studying the Confucian classics in order to prepare for Imperial civil service exams.

After the death of a schoolmate, Yinguang reportedly took a more active interest in Buddhism. This temple had been a center of Pure Land study and practice since the Qing Dynasty, when it was home to Bhiksu Da Mo, author of a sub-commentary to Patriarch Ouyi's Essence of the Amitabha Sutra.

By 1893, having traveled to a number of temples in search of Pure Land Buddhist teachings, Yinguang settled at Fayu Temple on Mount Putuo. From here, he undertook the collection of funds to print and redistribute Buddhist texts on Pure Land teachings to a wider audience. By the 1910s, he had attracted a following of educated Buddhist laypeople who assisted in his endeavor. Unlike other contemporary teachers, Yinguang maintained a more traditional Chinese Buddhist stance, but with an emphasis on modern social welfare and delineating orthodox Buddhist teachings from traditional Chinese folklore.

Yinguang's writings included a number of defenses of the Pure Land Buddhist teachings against criticism from the Chan Buddhist tradition, such as the Treatise Resolving Doubts about the Pure Land . The opening text of the Treatise begins with Yinguang's autobiography, concerning his own despair towards his poor fortune in life, and his fears that he would fail to attain Buddhahood in this life, then pivots toward a careful rebuttal of criticisms by an unnamed Chan Buddhist monk. The Treatise meticulously analyzes source material in the Chinese Buddhist canon to defend Pure land against common arguments.