Qing jing ye chu 清浄業処 in the Guan-Wu-Liang-Shou-Jing

Scholarly opinion differ as to whether the Guan wu liang shou jing was composed in India, China or Central Asia. The sutra's use of the term qing jing ye chu is cited as one evidence for the sutra's Indian origin. However, there are different position concerning the interpretation of this term, and no definitive theory has emerged. In my paper, I consider the various points of contention concerning this term. Dr. Hayashima Kyosho was the first to focus on the term qing jing ye chu to discuss the composition of the Guan jingo He took qing jing ye chu as being related to the term kammatthana (ye chu) used in Pali Buddhism to refer to the object of meditation or the method of meditative contemplation. For this reason, he argued that the sutra was composed in India. His theory was supported by Dr. Hirakawa Akira. In contrast, Dr. Fujita K6tatsu questioned the views of Drs. Hayashima and Hirakawa, arguing that there is no proof that ye chu is a translation of kammatthana, technical term distinctive to Pali Buddhism, and hence that it is impossible to argue for the Indian origin of the sutra on the basis of this term alone. The present author agrees with Dr. Fujita's view. To be more specific, there is no example of the Pali Buddhist term kammatthana, which refers to the object of meditation or its method, being translated as ye chu. It is quite possible that it is nothing more than the modern Japanese translation of kammatthana. In my paper, I consider the Guan jing's qing jing ye chu from the following four perspectives: (1) the usage of the terms qing jing ye and jing ye, (2) the usage of the term chu, (3) the context in which the term is used, and (4) the usage of the terms guan, jian 見 and xiang 想. My conclusion is as follows. When considering the Guan jing's qing jing ye chu, there is no need to stick to the Pali Buddhist kammatthana (object of meditation), as Drs. Hayashima and Hirakawa do. This is because the same meaning can be drawn from among the examples of the Guan jing. Therefore, it is impossible to use the term qing jing ye chu as evidence for the Indian origin of the Guan jingo But on the other hand, this is not to say that qing jing ye chu cannot be understood to mean the object of meditation. Thus, apart from the method of Drs. Hayashima and Hirakawa, it is possible to interpret qing jing ye chu as object of meditation from the examples of the Guan jingo In any case, it is not necessary to consider the Pali Buddhist term kammatthana as corresponding to the Guan jing's qing jing ye chu