Fazhao (Chinese: 法照; pinyin: Fǎzhào, J. Hōshō; 746–838), also known as Zhulin Fazhao (竹林法照) and Śramaṇa Fazhao of Nanyue, was a Chinese monk during the Tang dynasty, known for his teachings on Pure Land Buddhism and nianfo (recitation of Buddha Amitābha's name).Kai, S. (2020). "The Pure Land Teachings of Fazhao and the Mañjuśrī Cult of Mount Wutai". In The Transnational Cult of Mount Wutai. pp. 288-306. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004419872_013Callahan, Christopher. "Recognizing the Founder, Seeing Amida Buddha Kakunyo’s Hōon kōshiki", Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 43/1: 177–205 © 2016 Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture http://dx.doi.org/10.18874/jjrs.43.1.2016.177-205 He was honored by Chinese emperor Daizong with the title "National Teacher of the Bamboo Grove temple of the Central Terrace [of the Wutai Mountains]" and was later honored as a patriarch of the Pure Land tradition in China.Jones, Charles B. (2019) Chinese Pure Land Buddhism, Understanding a Tradition of Practice, pp. 161. University of Hawai‘i Press / Honolulu.
Life Master Fazhao was born in present-day Dadang Village in Yang County, Hanzhong, Shaanxi Province, to a secular family with the surname Zhang. In his youth, he traveled to Jiangnan, where he became interested in the teachings of Huiyuan (334–416) at Mount Lu. Upon arriving at Mount Lu, he established a center for Amitābha Pure Land practice.Buswell, Robert E; Lopez, Donald S. The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, p. 300. Princeton University Press, Nov 24, 2013.
In 765, Master Fazhao left Mount Lu and became a disciple of the renowned Pure Land monk Chengyuan(承遠） (712–802). According to the Nanyue Mituo si Chengyuan Heshang bei (Stele of the Mituo Temple at Nanyue), Master Fazhao had a vision during meditation. He saw himself before Amitābha Buddha, alongside an elderly monk identified as Chengyuan, who instructed him to convey a message to his former homeland. This experience profoundly affected Master Fazhao, leading him to Mount Heng (Hunan), where the vision's scenery matched his meditative insight. Moved by the realization, he accepted Chengyuan as his spiritual mentor and aspired to become his successor.
In 766, while at Mount Heng of Nanyue (南岳衡山), Master Fazhao is said to have received a new method of nianfo chanting directly from Amitabha Buddha.Hong, Xiang; 宏祥 (2024). "A critical study and annotated translation of Fazhao's Ritual manual of the five-tempo intonation of the name of the Buddha for recitation of scripture and contemplation of pure land", p. 3. University of Hong Kong Scholar's Hub. A Dunhuang manuscript (P.2066) records that he spent ninety days each summer engaged in pratyutpanna nianfo practice. During one such practice session, he witnessed a golden bridge extending to Sukhāvatī, where he encountered Amitābha. The Buddha smiled and entrusted Master Fazhao with a profound Dharma teaching, instructing him to disseminate the five tempo nianfo method across the world to benefit countless beings. This marked Master Fazhao’s second major spiritual experience, reinforcing the sacred nature of nianfo as a universal practice in the western Pure Land.
In 767, Master Fazhao experienced a third significant vision while eating porridge at Yunfeng Monastery in Hengzhou. In his bowl, he perceived an unfamiliar landscape of a mountain temple called the Bamboo Grove Temple. Upon inquiry, the monks Jiayan （嘉延）and Tanhui （曇暉） identified the vision as being one of the Wutai Mountains. Inspired, Master Fazhao embarked on a pilgrimage to Mount Wutai in 769, arriving there in 770.
While on Mt. Wutai, Master Fazhao had visions of Mañjuśrī bodhisattva and Samantabhadra bodhisattva who confirmed his practice of nianfo and guided him on the path. According to the Guang Qingliang zhuan 廣清涼傳 (Extended Chronicle of Mount Clear and Cool [Mountain]) records, Mañjuśrī said the following the Fazhao:As to your nianfo practice, at the present time among various practices there is nothing surpassing nianfo. … all dharmas and prajñāpāramitā, the manifestation of deep dhyāna (meditation) and the unexcelled awakening of buddhas all are produced from nianfo. Thus know that nianfo is the king of dharmas. You all should constantly recite the king of unexcelled dharmas and let yourselves not rest. The Guang Qingliang zhuan also states that Master Fazhao created a stone stele of this revelation and also wrote it on his monastery's wall.
On Mount Wutai, Master Fazhao also led the construction of Zhulinsi (竹林寺, Bamboo Grove) monastery. He also became known as Wuhui Fashi, or “Dharma Master Five-Tempo”. Fazhao's teaching was deeply respected by the emperors Daizong and Dezong, both of whom invited him to teach at court, the first time Pure Land teaching was introduced to the imperial court.Hong, Xiang; 宏祥 (2024). "A critical study and annotated translation of Fazhao's Ritual manual of the five-tempo intonation of the name of the Buddha for recitation of scripture and contemplation of pure land", p. 5. University of Hong Kong Scholar's Hub. Fazhao was even granted the ‘national teacher’ (guoshi 國師) title by Emperor Daizong 代宗 (r. 762–779), indicating his popularity among the elites. He was the first Pure Land master to receive this title.Szczepanski, B. (2020). "Fazhao, Jin Bifeng, and Constructed Histories of Buddhist Chant and Music at Mount Wutai". In The Transnational Cult of Mount Wutai. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004419872_014
Master Fazhao's work significantly contributed to the mainstream acceptance and propagation of the Pure Land Buddhism during the Tang dynasty.
Teaching Master Fazhao's teaching is considered by modern scholars to be a fusion of the three main Pure Land lineages of China at the time, those of Huiyuan, Shandao and Cimin Huiri.Hong, Xiang; 宏祥 (2024). "A critical study and annotated translation of Fazhao's Ritual manual of the five-tempo intonation of the name of the Buddha for recitation of scripture and contemplation of pure land", p. 41. University of Hong Kong Scholar's Hub.
Nianfo (Buddha Recitation) Like previous Pure Land masters, Master Fazhao emphasized the practice of nianfo (recollection of the Buddha, mindfulness of the Buddha) as the supreme practice. In his Ritual Manual he writes:In accordance with the temperaments of the sentient beings, the Tathāgata establishes whether the teaching is profound or brief, all leading them to reality. And for the people who have attained such a true stage of the unborn, nobody can compare with them. Indeed, the meditative absorption of buddha recollection (nianfo samadhi, 念佛三昧) is the true, unsurpassable, profound, and marvelous meditation gate. Based on forty-eight vows and reciting the name Amitābha, the King of the Dharma conducts the Buddha-work and vows to save sentient beings...The Mahāvaipulya Buddhāvataṃsaka Sūtra states: “For Bodhisattvas, even all Buddhas, they must rely on the remembrance of the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha to attain the three virtuous states and the supreme perfect enlightenment respectively.”Hong, Xiang; 宏祥 (2024). "A critical study and annotated translation of Fazhao's Ritual manual of the five-tempo intonation of the name of the Buddha for recitation of scripture and contemplation of pure land", pp. 49-50. University of Hong Kong Scholar's Hub.
Master Fazhao developed a new and unique method of devotional practice known as the “five-tempo recitation of the Buddha’s name” (Wuhui Nianfo 五會念佛). This is Master Fazhao's main contribution to the Pure Land tradition. It is a method of chanting the Buddha's name which uses five different tempos and tones (of the Chinese pentatonic scale) to inspire faith and achieve the nianfo samādhi (nianfo sanmei). The Jingtu wuhui nianfo lüe fashi yizan describes these five ways of reciting the Buddha's name as follows:First, recite ‘Namo Amituofo’ (Nanwu emituo fo 南無阿彌陀佛) on a single pitch in a slow tempo, second, recite ‘Namo Amituofo’ with a rising (or higher) pitch at a slow tempo, third recite ‘Namo Amituofo’ at a tempo neither fast nor slow, fourth recite ‘Namo Amituofo’ at a gradually in- creasing tempo, and fifth recite the four syllables ‘Amituofo’ quickly while walking. In 767, while demonstrating the practice of the five ways of reciting nianfo at Yunfengsi monastery, it is said that miraculous events occurred, including the appearance of Amitābha in the clouds. These events reportedly drew the attention of Emperor Daizong (r. 762–779), who invited Master Fazhao to the imperial palace. Master Fazhao was also known for standardizing the Chinese nianfo phrase into the now common na-mo a-mi-tuo fo ("adoration [or prostration] to Amitabha Buddha').Williams, Paul (2008). Mahāyāna Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations 2nd Ed., p. 252. Routledge.
Master Fazhao's chant style was extremely influential, not just on Wutai mountain's traditions, but on East Asian Buddhist music and chanting in general. It was first adopted by monasteries in the capital of Chang'an, and later taught at national temples throughout the nation.Andrews, Susan. Seeking the Vision of Manjusri at Mount Wutai, p. 86. Thesis, McMaster University. Fazhao's influenced also reached Japan through the Tendai school. One of the early Tendai masters, Ennin, studied Master Fazhao's five tone nianfo during his trip to China and Mt. Wutai.Rhodes, Robert F.; Payne, Richard K. (2017). Genshin's Ōjōyōshū and the Construction of Pure Land Discourse in Heian Japan (Pure Land Buddhist Studies). University of Hawaii Press. p. 53. ISBN 978-0824872489.
Master Fazhao and other traditions Beyond promoting Pure Land Buddhism, Master Fazhao also integrated Pure Land teachings with Chinese Buddhist ideas of the Tiantai, Chan, and Huayan schools, thereby aligning Pure Land beliefs with the broader intellectual currents of Chinese Buddhism at the time. His efforts in spreading Pure Land teachings earned him the title “latter-day Shandao” (善導後身) among his contemporaries. Fazhao's residence in the Wutai mountains coincided with that of Chan master Baotang Wuzhu and also the Huayan master Chengguan. There is evidence that Wuzhu and Fazhao were colleagues.Hong, Xiang; 宏祥 (2024). "A critical study and annotated translation of Master FaZhao's Ritual manual of the five-tempo intonation of the name of the Buddha for recitation of scripture and contemplation of pure land", pp. 51-52. University of Hong Kong Scholar's Hub. Fazhao's teaching may also have been influenced by Zhanran's Tiantai lineage.Hong, Xiang; 宏祥 (2024). "A critical study and annotated translation of Fazhao's Ritual manual of the five-tempo intonation of the name of the Buddha for recitation of scripture and contemplation of pure land", pp. 53-54. University of Hong Kong Scholar's Hub