Huaigan

Huaigan (懷感; c. 7th century) was a Chinese Buddhist monk who was the leading student of the Pure Land patriarch Shandao (613–681) and a key systematizer of Chinese Pure land thought. Huaigan's Shì Jìngtǔ Qún Yí Lùn [釋淨土群疑論, Treatise Explaining a Number of Doubts on Pure Land, T 1960 ] is a major work of Chinese Pure Land apologetics.

Huaigan's work remained influential on other Chinese figures like Yongming Yanshou and the Tiantai monk Zunshi (964-1032 C.E.). Huaigan was also important to Japanese Pure Land authors like Genshin. The Japanese Pure Land teacher Hōnen designated Huaigan as the fourth patriarch of the Pure Land Buddhist Jōdo-shū tradition.