家世

袁宏道的先世武勇好俠，家境富裕，為鄉里中的望族。曾祖父袁映豪俠仗義，曾率領鄉里子弟自衛抗賊。祖父袁大化為人慷慨，能救災活民。父親袁士瑜屢敗科場，卻頗富學問，對袁宏道兄弟啟迪教導有功。外祖父龔大器，官至河南布政使，聲望頗佳。舅父龔仲敏、龔仲慶都儒雅能文，分別官拜山東嘉祥縣令及兵部郎。外祖父家對袁宏道也有開明而良好的教育。

生平

少年及壯年

袁宏道7歲喪母，由庶祖母詹氏撫養長大，小時候就善寫八股文，少年時已有文學天賦，15歲時在故鄉組織和領導一個文學社團。1588年，袁宏道考中舉人。1590年春，袁宏道兄弟首次到武昌拜會李贄，次年袁宏道再到麻城探訪李贄，一住三月，拜李贄為師，思想和文學觀都為之大變，受李贄讚譽為「識力膽力，皆響絕於世」。1592年袁宏道高中進士，但他對官場並不熱衷，沒有立即進入仕途，而是與兄弟相互切磋論道，三袁與外祖父龔大器，舅父龔仲敏、龔仲慶共六人，組織「南平社」論學作詩。1594年十二月，袁宏道受命為吳縣知縣，翌年十二月到任。他治事精敏，政聲極佳，革除吳縣許多稅制弊端，去除了幾個惡吏，使地方風氣有所改善，頗受吳民愛戴。袁宏道在吳縣兩年間，遊覽過蘇州不少名勝古跡，如虎丘、天池、靈巖，東西洞庭、姑蘇台等。他無法忍受做縣令事務繁雜，而且當時吏治敗壞，宦官專權，做縣令動輒得咎，遂決心辭職，但三次請辭都不獲准。1596年八月，袁宏道患瘧疾，一病五月，他以重病為由第四度請辭，終於在1597年二月獲准。

袁宏道辭官後即到西湖等地遊覽，歷時三月，遊蹤在江蘇、浙江兩省中，並與陶望齡等人切磋文學，然後在真州暫住下來，日子安閑而愉快。1598年春，正在京師任職的兄長袁宗道來信催促入京，袁宏道遂到北京出任順天府儒學教授。不久，三弟袁中道也來到京師，三兄弟得以聚首。他們邀請供職京城的朋友組織「蒲桃社」，社址在城西崇國寺，主要成員除三袁外，還有黃輝、陶望齡、潘士藻、劉日升、吳用先、李騰芳等人。他們一起論學、作詩、參禪、飲酒，偶爾也討論政治，批評時事。京兆教官是個閑缺，袁宏道這時生活安定，心情閒適，1600年三月，由國子監助教轉任禮部儀制司主事。

中年

1600年六月間袁宏道有廬山之遊，到秋天因病告假，回到公安；十一月接到兄長袁宗道過世的消息，大受打擊，與弟弟袁中道一同辭官，其後素食數年，以求替亡兄祈福。他在公安城南買下窪地300畝，名為「柳浪」，當中有一片大湖，湖邊環繞萬株柳樹和假山，在此隱居六年，期間潛心研究佛理，往來的朋友也大多是僧侶。1604年八月，袁宏道曾與諸僧侶同遊德山，同年受公安縣令錢胤選所託，開始編《公安縣志》。隱居六年後，袁宏道開始靜極思動，父親亦勸他再出仕。1606年（萬曆三十四年丙午）秋天，袁宏道偕同袁中道上京，補禮部儀制司主事。1607年秋天，妻子李氏去世，袁宏道以因公探訪謝鵬舉之便，扶靈回鄉，翌年二月回到公安，住了兩個月便北上，扺京後補吏部驗封司主事，攝選曹事，以明快手法改正吏員營私之弊，並為選曹立下考查制度，很得太宰孫丕揚賞識。1609年秋天，袁宏道授任為陝西鄉試主考，親自閱卷，擢拔了不少人才，並乘主考之便，遍遊關中名勝。1610年，袁宏道升任稽勳司郎中，二月與袁中道一起南歸，立志歸隱，日常生活大多是焚香靜坐，吃齋茹素，做些清心寡慾的工夫。九月時遽然病逝，年42。

袁宏道死後公安縣和吳縣兩地都為其建造祠堂，以表紀念。袁宏道在公安三袁中聲名最著，三兄弟都主張寫作要清新活潑，自然率真，開創了文學史上著名的「公安派」。

文學

文學批評

袁宏道的文學理論深受徐渭及李贄影響，「性靈」等說源自王世貞，其文論的核心是歷史的文學觀。他認為文學隨時發展，一朝有一朝的環境，文學的形式與風格也無法保持不變，應以歷史發展的眼光看待文學，既不貶低過去，也認識到復古者的局限，不能以當代語言創作，就不能完全真誠地表達自我。無論過去有多麼輝煌，都無法重現，無論一個作家模擬古人有多成功，他的作品也不過是一件假古董。他批評模倣古代作家，主張詩文都要有自由的心靈、自由的表現，抨擊擬古派是空洞的模倣，反對當時流行的詩學帶來同質而單調的詩風，將明代文學的衰落歸因於以模擬為尚。正因唐代詩人無意模擬，唐詩才成為經典；復古派在唐代詩人身後亦步亦趨，這正是復古派無法獲得唐詩真致的原因。三袁認為，復古派定立的文學樣板（秦漢文與盛唐詩）過於狹隘，盛讚晚唐與宋元的作品。袁宏道質疑漢文唐詩的優越性，致力提高宋詩的地位，認為宋詩優點在取材廣泛，內容豐富，並推獎擬古派最避忌的兩位詩人白居易與蘇軾，甚至認為蘇軾有過於杜甫。

袁宏道強調個性和自然情感，最知名的口號是「獨抒性靈，不拘格套」，前一句強調個人的重要性和情感的真實性，後一句強調文體和形式的自由。性靈的意義在於忠於自我，從一首好詩中，可見詩人的個性與情感，「一一從自己胸中流出，此真新奇也」。他相信真正的美是樸實無華的，任何有意識的提煉與修飾不僅徒勞無功，還會破壞自然之美，文飾與技巧是無用的。他推崇白話形式，認為唯一可能流傳的當代作品，是街頭婦孺所唱的民歌，因為這些歌曲「能宣於人之喜怒哀樂嗜好情慾」。作品應表現「趣」，「趣」指一個人天性中的風採或風味，以及通常見於小孩而大人少有保存的一種本能的喜悅。

詩歌

袁宏道早期的詩歌深受前後七子影響，以模擬唐詩為目標，自會見李贄後，詩風劇變，著重自由表現，真誠而不拘格套，平直清新，自然平易，一如其偶像白居易、蘇軾等人的詩風。袁詩一反擬古派的風格，自由明瞭，能反映現實。五古《二月十一日崇國寺踏月》：「寒色浸精藍，光明見題額。踏月遍九衢，無此一方白。」早春寒冷的月光浸照寺院，山門上的題額亦清晰可見，京城街道上的月光，通處都不及這兒的白。袁宏道也有批評時政之作，《猛虎行》和《逋賦謠》是對當時重稅及礦吏的抗議，有點白居易「新樂府」的精神。袁宏道喜歡用樂府詩體，作有一組17首的「擬古樂府」，如《妾薄命》，頗有民歌情調，偶爾會採用口語化詞語，如《放言效元體》中的「鵝炙」、《淮安舟中》的「魚子飯」、「蛤蜊湯」。袁宏道偶爾也會採用民歌體，如《採蓮歌》、《橫塘渡》，兩詩採用女性的口吻，用詞平易，意思清楚。

袁宏道詩歌主題廣泛，從社會交往到個人思想，從自然景致到歷史懷古，均有涉獵。他的政治詩有的調笑諷刺，如《醉鄉調笑引》「天有酒則不傾，國有酒則不爭」，有的嚴肅討論，如《猛虎行》和《逋賦謠》，直接批評政府的重稅與暴行。他的哲理詩則多具佛道色彩，常表達人生短暫、功名利祿易逝的主題。中年以後，袁詩常以「閑愁」為主題，風格沖淡寧靜，如《潞河舟中和小修別詩》、《途中口占》。袁詩缺點是空疏鄙俚淺俗，近體詩部份過於隨便，流於「油滑」，如七律《暮春同謝生汪生小修遊北城臨水諸寺至德勝橋》「淺綠疏黃是處有，泥人真自勝姬鬟」，謂暮春園林的色彩纏繞人心，其愉悅勝過美人的纏綿。

散文

與唐宋散文不同之處在於，袁宏道喜愛使用抒情風格，較少用哲學或說教的方式。遊記中，以遊西湖的文章最多，大部份遊記記錄蘇杭兩地城裏城外的名勝，也寫了一些北京地區的遊記，此外以八篇短文組成一個系列，記敘了1601年的廬山之行；其後用一系列的文章描寫1604年的德山之旅、1609年的華山與嵩山之旅。與徐霞客相比，袁宏道遊記相當城市化，代表作《虎丘》一文，寫於袁宏道辭去吳令後不久，文章重心不在山水景色，著墨最多的中秋夜在虎丘舉行的一場音樂會，以細膩的筆觸，描寫遊人的歌喉、樂器，以及飲酒歡會的情形，寫的是都市生活，不是山林文學。《晚遊六橋待月記》則給人舒適恬美之感。袁宏道遊記中對自然的欣賞，往往止於感性的描繪，而缺乏托意深遠的意境。他往往藉著相關的地名，品評古人或史事。如《孤山》，對宋代林逋的「妻梅子鶴」，致以景仰之意，並對自己之有妻室深表悔懊。《靈巖》中則為西施辯白，認為歷來將亡國之罪歸咎於君王好色是不切實際的。在這種議論性的遊記中，描寫的功能往往退居其次，論辯的作用反居其首。

袁宏道在遊記中有非常突出的形象，善用對話來寫遊記，如《文漪堂記》、《良鄉三教寺記》，除了在篇首有一小段敘述外，全篇都是由幾個人的對話所構成，但這類遊記往往失之零碎鬆散，結構上不嚴密。晚年的遊記《華嵩遊草》，風格上與早期作品頗有不同，篇幅加長了，描寫更細膩，議論則較少；遣詞造句上，口語的成份減少了，排偶則增加，如《華山別記》「是日也，天無纖翳，青厓紅樹，夕陽佳月，各畢其能，以娛遊客，夜深就枕，月光蕩隙如雪」一段，8句中有6句是四字的，可見作者的良苦用心。

袁宏道的書信尺牘是晚明小品文的典範之作，話題廣泛，涉及從政治議題到生活瑣事，體現了對陳規故套的蔑視和反抗精神。袁宏道書信的生命力，源於他願意暴露內心深處的自己，與讀者分享私密經驗。在寫給沈寅的信裏，袁宏道勾勒了這幅自畫像：「弟支離可笑人也，如深山古樹根，虯曲臃腫，無益榱棟，以為器則不受繩削，以為玩則不益觀。」其幽默感在書信中表現無遺，不僅取笑自己，也拿朋友取樂。在給吳化的信裏，他開起自己所患瘧疾的玩笑，以輕鬆的口吻寫下自己的痛苦，態度舉重若輕而富幽默感。其書信用語簡明而直接，少有用典或古辭，有力而清晰，能掌控口語，如「我不管他，他亦照管不得我也」，與口語毫無二致。袁宏道《瓶史》先談到花的靈魂，「夫花有喜怒寤寐曉夕，浴花者得其候，乃為膏雨」，然後談愛好花的人，最後談正確的賞花方式，文章措辭簡練，見解深刻，是「獨抒性靈」的結果。

小說、戲曲

受李贄的影響，袁宏道甚為欣賞通俗小說，將《水滸傳》和《金瓶梅》等同於儒家經典，他是第一位評點《金瓶梅》的學者，認為《金瓶梅》不僅是誨淫之作，還包含道德教訓，在情慾描繪的背後，有嚴肅的教化意義。袁宏道並著有歷史小說《東西漢演義》，又修改了周朝俊原作的戲曲《紅梅記》。

性情與嗜好

袁宏道是清流官員，不同流合污，偶爾也感時憂國，為民呼號，明代思想家中最推崇王陽明。他以風雅自命，避忌俗人，甚至自稱最怕入城，有時絕意仕進，但又無意做一個深山隱者，辭官幾年住在莊園「柳浪」，便有些耐不住寂寞，有出山的念頭。袁宏道性格甚為傲慢，曾將同代人描述為「甕中雞」，而以「雲外鵠」自況，為人放曠自高，自信豪放，覺得自己的思想、人格、詩文都高人一等，輕蔑世人，自命不凡，其名士習氣，頗受竹林七賢嵇康之流影響。他原本極好女色，中年以後則有了戒色的念頭。

袁宏道閒居期間，每天讀書、作詩、參禪，閑暇時遊山玩水、下棋。他有很多特殊癖好。他不善飲酒，卻很講究飲酒的種種規矩，對飲器、酒質、酒品都有獨到研究；又有茶癖和花癖，曾比較龍井與天池兩地茶葉的優劣，辨鑑入微。袁宏道熱衷遊山玩水成癖，喜愛遊覽名勝，如北京城滿井、崇國寺等，寫下《滿井遊記》等文紀遊。他所謂的山水癖，只是過厭了城市中喧囂的日子，想到郊外清靜一下。他真正嚮往的生活，是既有城市的方便，又有山林的清幽。他更喜歡將山水庭園化，自築「柳浪」，充滿小橋流水式的江南風光。在山水之樂不可得時，則轉而嗜於花卉盆景之間。案頭的瓶花，也可以滿足他的部份山水慾。他的《瓶史》就是一本專講插花的小冊子，其中對花的種類、品第，插花器具、用水等都精心講究。

宗教

袁宏道往來於儒、釋、道三教，深信輪迴與鬼神之說，經常吃齋茹素，焚香靜坐，儼然是個居士，寫過許多為寺院募捐的文章，日常生活中有許多僧侶朋友，頗以自己在禪學上的造詣而自豪，其佛教思想傾向消極避世，而無普渡眾生的擔當。1597年，袁宏道與友人一同造訪雲棲山，認識了高僧祩宏。當時他尚未有直入念佛法門之意，還是希求能遊步於「見性之道」的禪。在北京時，袁宏道指出當時修禪者學人賣弄，濫用悟道意識的亂象，批評士人往往以為悟得容易，便不肯修行，以致走火入魔。其後他寫成《西方合論》，藉由淨土以發揚禪宗，合禪宗與淨土宗二者加以論述，以「禪、淨一如」為修道的大前提，以追求悟道之路。撰寫《西方合論》時所參照的內典，包括龍樹、智顗、李通玄、永明延壽等大德的論著，也受到袾宏《阿彌陀經疏鈔》的影響，書中流露的念佛思想，接近袾宏的教學理念。袁宏道友人虞淳熙將《西方合論》與《阿彌陀經疏鈔》、永明延壽《萬善同歸集》等書相提並論，推崇其價值。《西方合論》10卷收入智旭《淨土十要》，此外袁宏道撰有禪宗著作《宗鏡攝錄》12卷。

評價

明清兩代對袁宏道之詩評價較高，1930年代則對其小品文評價較高。竟陵派的鍾惺認為學習袁宏道的弊病有過於學習高攀龍，尤其不喜歡袁宏道閑散的文風。錢謙益讚賞公安派的獨立精神，卻批評袁宏道導致明代詩風鄙俗空疏。清代批評家指責袁宏道忽視詩律，用語過於淺白，其著重自我表現的文學觀是鄙俚而空疏的。沈德潛指責三袁導致「詩教」衰微，危及明朝國祚。四庫館臣讚賞公安三袁使「詩文變板重為輕巧，變粉飾為本色，致天下耳目於一新」，卻認為袁宏道「第喜逞才辨，不自知其言之過也」，要為明代社會的衰落負一定責任。袁宏道文集在乾隆時，被列入禁書目錄中，受詆為異端邪說，被認為應為明代詩歌的衰落負責，他的詩甚至被視為「亡國之音」，預示了明朝的滅亡。

20世紀初新文學運動後，袁宏道的名譽得以恢復，經歷三個世紀的批評和忽視後，他在1930及1940年代成為文學英雄。1930年代，林語堂和周作人鼓吹小品文，袁宏道的散文被視為小品文的典範，袁宏道被視為明代的重要散文作家，也被描述為一位名士：沉浸於文學與藝術，鄙棄陳言故套和社會規範，壓惡政治。《瓶史》是晚明典型的閒適小品，很受林語堂推崇。周作人相信白話文運動正源於公安派傳統，胡適的文學理念是袁宏道理論的現代版本，袁宏道是胡適的前驅。周作人又讚賞公安三袁的文章「清新流麗……不在文章裏面擺架子」，詩歌「巧妙而易懂」，但也批評他們的文章「過於空疏浮滑，清楚而不深厚」，並且不喜歡袁宏道涉足於禪宗與淨土宗。

袁宏道的作品也傳到日本，深受江戶初期僧人喜愛，稱其「樂府妙絕，不復可言」。

影響

袁宏道反對李攀龍、王世貞的文學觀點，「一掃王、李雲霧」，他去世時，公安三袁的詩風已取代擬古派，吸引住當時的詩人，導致復古派衰落。袁宏道是公安派的領袖，改變了公安派中其他成員如袁宗道、黃輝的詩風，三袁興起以後，自我表現連同一種個體的聲音，成為晚明文學界的趨向。袁宏道的詩歌和小品文，一直受人廣泛閱讀，他的一些文學批評觀點，到明末已成為老生常談。公安三袁推崇白話形式，為抬高小說、戲曲的地位開闢了空間，奠定其發展基礎。袁宏道極力推崇作家徐渭，大大提高徐渭的身後名。公安派在破除擬古主義和倡導個性主義方面，一時獲得很大的成功，但其影響不久即衰微。清朝初年，金聖歎精神上繼承了公安派，也表現出強烈的個性主義觀點；提倡「性靈」的袁枚也繼承了公安派的一些觀念。清政府盡力減小公安派的影響，三袁的作品被列入《清代禁毀書目四種》。袁宏道散文對20世紀的中國文學產生重大影響，林語堂的文論部份源自受袁宏道，他借用袁宏道的話，拈出「性靈」二字，來提倡寫幽默趣味的小品文，提出以袁宏道「獨抒性靈，不拘格套」的口號作為小品文的寫作原則。袁宏道又撰有專論插花的《瓶史》1卷，該書在18世紀傳入日本，啟發花道「宏道流」，流傳至今。

Life

Hongdao's life spanned nearly the whole of the Wanli period (1573-1620) in Chinese history. A native of Gong'an in Hukuang, his family had been officials for generations. Hongdao showed an interest in literature from youth and formed his own literary club at age fifteen. At an early age, Yuan took the jinshi examination (the highest gentry position in China) and subsequently received the official jinshi position in the government bureaucracy in 1594. During his years in the capital he also developed an interest in Buddhism, influenced by other elite Buddhist laymen of the time, like Jiao Hong. He initially studied the writings of Chan masters like Dahui Zonggao.

During his early years, Yuan also witnessed the death of his cousin Yuan Deng, whom he instructed to recite the Buddha's name at the end. Deng then reported to Yuan that he had a vision of the Buddha as he was dying. This experience left a strong impression on Yuan Hongdao.

Yuan soon became well known in literati circles and famed for his writing, moving in the intellectual circles of the Ming elite. He was close friends with the radical Neo-Confucian (Yangmingist) and Buddhist philosopher Li Zhi 李贄 (1527-1602) who promoted the 「Crazy Chan」 (Ch.: kuang chan 狂禪) ideal. Li Zhi would be Yuan's main Buddhist mentor for over ten years. Likewise, Yuan studied Buddhist texts extensively together with his two other brothers.

The poetry of the Yuan brothers, which focused on clarity and sincerity, produced a following that eventually came to be known as the Gong'an school of poetry and essay writing. The main tenet of this school of poetry was that good writing was a result of genuine emotions and personal experience. Yuan Hongdao was also known as a leading author of the "short essay" (xiaopin wen).

In 1597, Yuan had already grown tired of working as a government magistrate and so he resigned. Afterwards he spent his time traveling, reading, and meeting with friends to write and discuss philosophy. During this retired period he spent some time with the eminent monk Yunqi Zhuhong at Yunqifa temple, later known as a patriarch of Pure Land Buddhism. Zhuhong clearly had an influence on Yuan, since he wrote in praise of him and his later Pure Land writing shows that Yuan studied Zhuhong's writings.

In 1598 he returned to Beijing and became a teacher at the imperial academy. He also started a literary society he called Grape Society. With more time for writing, he composed a work on the Zhuangzi. Yuan also wrote a treatise on Pure Land Buddhism which made its way into the Chinese Buddhist canon. This is the Xīfāng hélùn 西方合論 (Comprehensive treatise on Land of the west, Taisho no. 1976). This systematic treatise on Pure Land Buddhism is actually the longest surviving text written by Yuan Hongdao. In spite of this, most scholars have ignored it, focusing mostly on Yuan's secular literature. In this work, Yuan breaks with the radical antinomian Chan of his teacher Li Zhi, advocating for a kind of Buddhism which affirms the importance of moral and religious cultivation.

Yuan remained working in the capital for some time as a conscientious and respected magistrate. He remained a well known and prolific writer and literary critic.

Works

Yuan's Collected Works include essays on Buddhism, Confucianism and Daoism, along with poems, short essays (xiao pin wen), travelogues, prefaces, memorials, Buddhist commentaries, many letters, and works on civil examinations.

Yuan's Comprehensive Treatise on the West Land (Xīfāng hélùn 西方合論) is his most extensive work, and what he is most well known for today in Chinese Buddhism.

Yuan also published works on many other topics, especially Chan/Zen Buddhism. In, 1603, he published the Zongjing shelu, an anthology of key selections from Yongming Yanshou's Zongjing Lu. He also published an excerpted and highly edited and modified Platform Sutra.

Yuan and his brother Yuan Zhongdao also published a collection of learned conversations on Buddhist (Chan, Pure land, Huayan), Yangmingist and Daoist topics, entitled The Coral Grove (Shanhu Lin 珊瑚林).

Regarding his poetry, it is found in various compilations including Collection from the Studio of Vase Flowers (Pinghua zhai ji 瓶花齋集), Collection from the Verdant Hall (Xiaobi tang ji 瀟碧堂集), and Collection of Liberation (Jietuo ji 解脫集).

Pure Land thought

Yuan's Xīfāng hélùn (Comprehensive Treatise on the West) presents a comprehensive Pure Land Buddhist philosophy in ten fascicles (juan). The work answers numerous questions and critiques of Pure Land Buddhism with rational arguments and scriptural citations.

The Xīfāng hélùn also criticizes radical Chan antinomianism popular at the time. Some Chan Buddhists at the time held that there was no need to adhere to Buddhist ethical principles if one was awakened. Some Chan teachers also rejected the pure land impulse to be born in a pure land (Sukhavati) outside this world system. Yuan's work defends the importance of vegetarianism and keeping the Buddhist precepts. It also attempts to show that Pure Land Buddhism was intellectually respectable and philosophically profound, against the claims that it was only suitable for uneducated peasants or people who cling to dualism and cannot understand the deeper teachings of Buddhism. Yuan himself writes that the main reason he wrote the work was to counter the influence of "Crazy Chan" which overemphasized emptiness and rejected all other tradition Buddhist practices like nianfo and keeping precepts as a kind of grasping. According to Yuan, an overemphasis on negation had led to a problematic nihilistic state of Chan:Those who are attached to the attributes of phenomena and the mind are all victims of conditioned processes. Those who cling to emptiness to refute existence are victims of nihilism. ... Since the five successors of Bodhidharma, the transmission from the sixth patriarch of the Chan school has flourished up to the present, to the point where the thought of the Chan school is now misused. The principle of Consciousness-Only is erroneously interpreted and identified with the "non-action" of non-Buddhist doctrines. Words of attachment are found everywhere. According to Yuan, these Chan teachings on non-grasping and the provisional nature of Buddhist practice is like water, which can put out a fire. When used too much, it can cause a flood. As such, Yuan wanted to bring some balance back to Buddhism by emphasizing the conventional truths of classic Buddhist practices. In this, Yuan was influenced by earlier figures like Zhiyi, Li Tongxuan, and Yongming Yanshou, as well as by the Da Zhi Du Lun.

Yuan criticizes those who claimed that Pure Land was dualistic and that Buddhism was all about transcending dualities (and thus reject Pure Land). For Yuan, it is the critics of Pure Land who lack true understanding, since if they truly understood non-duality and emptiness, they would see that the provisional truth of the pure land is not negated by these teachings on ultimate truth. Likewise, the Huayan doctrine of the interpenetration of all phenomena does not negate the individuality of specific realms or relative phenomena.

According to Yuan, Pure Land Buddhism is not just in accord with the highest principles of Mahayana philosophy, but it fulfills them in ways that Chan cannot rival. This is because Pure Land relies on the unity of the ultimate and conventional reality as seen by ordinary people (and is thus skillful for all types of people not just the wise). Furthermore, as Jones explains, if it were true that one needed to fully purify one's mind and have knowledge of the ultimate truth before attaining the pure land, then this would lead to the absurd conclusion that "one would have to be able to adopt the fully enlightened viewpoint before being enlightened - a vicious circle." As such, the Chan critique of Pure Land practitioners is a trivial critique which just points out the obvious, that unenlightened people are not enlightened to the ultimate truth. However, according to Yuan, the Buddha knows how to make use of the very dualistic viewpoints of ordinary beings in order to guide them to awakening through skillful means. Once born in the pure land, ordinary beings will become awakened to the ultimate truth.

To the detractors of Pure land who saw themselves as beyond beyond Pure Land practice, Yuan writes: You say, "Only purify your own mind, and then what need is there to discriminate?" If you enter a latrine, could you remain there for long? Go into a charnel-house where air is filthy with black smoke. Could you refrain from holding your nose? Could you share your dishes and bed with someone who has scabrous sores oozing pus and blood? If not, then this is a sign that you detest the five defilements. If you still need a clean room and sanitary companions, then this is a sign that you would delight in the Pure Land. Yuan also saw his Pure Land treatise as a work which shows how Pure Land is deeply connected with other traditions like Chan, Consciousness-Only and Huayan. In a later work he even writes that "I made use of Pure Land in order to expound Chan". Various scholars have also noted how Yuan makes extensive use of Huayan thought in his treatise, especially the philosophy of Li Tongxuan. The Xīfāng hélùn's ten-fascicle structure itself might be based on the Huayan teaching of the ten gates. As such, Yuan was not seeking to refute Chan or present an exclusive view of Pure Land. Instead, he sought to use Pure Land to broaden and expand the understanding of Buddhist practice in his contemporaries.

Throughout the Xīfāng hélùn, Yuan explains the nature of the various pure lands, answers numerous questions and objections about Pure Land Buddhism and provides a scriptural schema (panjiao) and an analysis of Pure Land scriptures. In fascicle five of the Xīfāng hélùn, Yuan discusses the relationship between the practitioner and Amitabha, as well as self-power and Buddha's other-power. According to Yuan (who cites Zhiyi), the Buddha's power is inconceivable and mysterious. As Jones writes, this means that "one cannot pin it down by saying that the practice is effective because of the Buddha's power, the devotee's power, both together, or neither...all dharmas are inconceivable, and one can never fully understand how causes produce effects." Thus, even if one is an unenlightened being or has different understandings of how other-power works, one can practice chanting the Buddha's name and one will still achieve the result of birth in the pure land.

Drawing on the philosophy of Huayan (as well as Tiantai to a lesser extent), Yuan also shows how Pure Land Buddhism is actually in complete agreement with its most refined and deep metaphysical theories, arguing that Pure Land is thus the supreme truth of Buddhism when properly understood. For Yuan, Amitabha Buddha and Huayan's Cosmic Buddha Vairocana are not separate Buddhas and thus Amitabha pervades all realms. He also argues that the simple recitation of the nianfo, when done with a mind of compassion, bodhicitta, and coupled with a moral life, fulfills all Buddhist principles. Yuan also strongly defends the traditional Buddhist course of practice, including generating faith, taking vows, keeping precepts, living with good companions etc.

Yuan's Xīfāng hélùn soon became popular in Chinese Buddhist circles. It was included in the Jiaxing Buddhist Canon and the patriarch Ouyi Zhixu (1599-1655) included it in his Ten Essential Texts of Pure Land (Jingtu shi yao 淨土十要). It remains popular to this day, as shown by the space given to it in Guo Peng's 1982 study of Ming and Qing Buddhism.

Poetry and literature

Yuan Hongdao wrote numerous poems and essays which became quite popular during his time. Together with his brothers, he founded a literary circle which came to be known as the Gong'an school. The literary theory of Yuan and his brothers was based on individual expression and individual feeling or "native sensibility" (hsing-ling), rather than some ancient literary model or method. As such, the Yuan brothers rejected the idea that writers had to mimic the work and styles of past Tang masters like Li Po. According to Yuan Hongdao, literary styles should naturally change to match the evolution of society. He wrote in a letter to a friend that "In general, things are prized when they are authentic. If I am to be authentic, then my face cannot be the same as your face, and how much less the face of some man of antiquity!". Yuan also admired the writings and literature of folk composers and vernacular Chinese authors, including Shi Nai'an's Water Margin.

Some of Yuan's poems have been collected and translated in Jonathan Chaves' Pilgrim of the Clouds: Poems and Essays from Ming Dynasty China (first published in 1978).

Longzhong (Within the Hill)

The following poem from Yuan Hongdao captures the unity of stillness and movement, the interfusion of all phenomena, including human and natural events: The cloud rises; a few peaks darken;

The light of the stream evokes dreams of Duke Wu.

The forest is deep; the cloud bird is strange;

In the village's quiet, a thin spring flows.

The stubborn stone empties the dragon's lair;

Spring flowers climb the fox's mound.

Who has taken the sun and made it rest atop—

In exchange for the toil of establishing the tripod of the Three Kingdoms?

(雲起数峰幽 溪光夢武侯 樹深雲鳥怪 村靜細泉流 頑石虛龍臥 春花上貉丘 誰將日高睡 易彼鼎分愁)

On meeting my Elder Brother Upon Arriving in the Capital

You have turned your back on the busy crowds of the world and chant to yourself from secondhand books.

Your official post is not important

you have few contacts with people;

a long stay in the capital has brought new wrinkles to your face.

On the cracked walls are portraits of Buddhist monks;

high in the windows, birds' nests can be seen.

Editor at the Academy—not the greatest job,

but still, be careful of the wind and waves!

Making Fun of Myself on "People Day"

This official wears no official sash,

this farmer pushes no plow,

this Confucian does not read books,

this recluse does not live in the wilds.

In society, he wears lotus leaves for clothes,

among commoners, he is decked out m cap and jade.

His serenity is achieved without closing the door,

his teaching is done without instruction.

This Buddhist monk has long hair and whiskers,

this Taoist immortal makes love to beautiful women.

One moment, withering away in a silent forest,

the next, bustling through crowds on city streets.

When he sees flowers, he calls for singing girls;

when he has wine to drink, he calls for a pair of dice.

His body is as light as a cloud

floating above the Great Clod.

Try asking the bird, flying in the air:

"What clear pond reflects your image?"

How free! the dragon, curling, leaping,

liberated! beyond this world, or in it.

The official, Liu-hsia Hui, firm, yet harmonious;

or Hermit Yi, pure in his retirement.