The text is also well known for its graphic descriptions of the Hell realms, and sufferings one might endure for harmful acts committed in this life.
The founder of Jōdo Shinshū Buddhism, Shinran, wrote an influential commentary on the Ōjōyōshū titled, "Notes on Essentials of Rebirth", while Hōnen first encountered Pure Land teachings after studying Genshin's writings.
In 986, a copy was sent to China at Genshin's request and was reportedly deposited at Guoqingsi Temple on Mount Tiantai some time before 990.
[1] The Ōjōyōshū is written in eighty thousand Chinese characters, in kanbun prose, and is divided into ten chapters in three volumes[2] (chapter names translated by professors Robert Rhodes and Richard Payne):[1] Thus, the Ōjōyōshū was intended as a comprehensive guide toward rebirth in the Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha in what Genshin believed was the declining age of the Dharma where the efficacy of the traditional Buddhist path toward buddhahood was no longer feasible.
Each chapter starts with a short general introduction and then turns its attention towards details by quoting from Buddhist scriptures which are then commented on by Genshin.