JINGTU. The Chinese term jingtu ("pure land"), pronounced jōdo in Japanese, refers to the Chinese Buddhist tradition of devotion to Amitābha Buddha in order to be reborn into his Pure Land as a means of attaining enlightenment. Because many Amitābha devotees believed that sincerely chanting Amitābha's name guaranteed salvation in the next life, this practice became an auxiliary spiritual discipline for most Buddhists in East Asia and an important refuge for the laity, but often became a primary and sometimes exclusive orientation in times of crisis. At the heart of this exclusivistic tendency was despair about achieving enlightenment through traditional practices based on one's own effort, and enthusiasm over the compassionate vow of Amitābha to welcome devotees at death to the blessings of his Pure Land. Beginning in the seventh century CE, this tendency became recognized as a separate religious orientation called the...