Hui-yüan (born ad 334, Yen-men, Shansi, China—died 416, Lu-shan, Hupeh) was a celebrated early Chinese Buddhist priest who formed a devotional society of monks and lay worshipers of the Buddha Amitābha. The society inspired the establishment in later centuries (6th–7th) of the Ch’ing-t’u (“Pure Land”) cult, which is today the most popular form of Buddhism in East Asia. On his advice, the ruler of the Eastern Chin dynasty (317–419) exempted Buddhist monks from having to bow before the emperor, on the grounds that they were far removed from ordinary mortals.
As a child, Hui-yüan is said to have been a student of Taoism and Confucianism, becoming a convert to Buddhism only after meeting the famous Buddhist monk Tao-an. In his teachings, Hui-yüan attempted to utilize native Chinese philosophy, especially Taoist thought, to explain some of the more esoteric Buddhist concepts. The result was a philosophy that emphasized salvation through faith; if one merely uttered the name of the Buddha Amitābha in loving adoration, after death one’s spirit was offered a heavenly abode in the Western Paradise. These ideas, which eventually challenged Taoism as the major religious inspiration of the Chinese peasantry, spread throughout China in the century following Hui-yüan’s death, partially because of the great prestige associated with his name.