Pure Land Buddhism Devotional cult of the buddha Amitabha. It is one of the most popular forms of Mahayana Buddhism in East Asia today. Pure Land schools believe that rebirth in the Western Paradise (the Pure Land) is given to all those who invoke Amitabha’s name with sincere devotion. In China the Pure Land cult can be traced back to the 4th cen¬ tury, when the scholar Huiyuan (333—416) formed a society of monks and laymen who meditated on the name of Amitabha. His successors system¬ atized and spread the doctrine in the 6th-7th century. The Pure Land teaching was transmitted to Japan by monks of the Tiantai school.
purgatory In Roman Catholic doctrine, the condition of those who have died in a state of grace but have not been purged of sin. These remaining sins include unforgiven venial sins or forgiven mortal sins. Souls burdened by such sins must be purified before entering heaven. The church also teaches that souls in purgatory may be aided by efforts of the living faithful through prayers, almsgiving, indulgences, and other works.
The existence of purgatory has been denied as unbiblical by Protestant churches and most Eastern Orthodox churches.
purge trials Soviet trials of critics of Joseph Stalin. After the assassina¬ tion of Sergey Kirov, prominent Bolsheviks were accused of conspiracy to remove Stalin from power. In three widely publicized show trials (1936— 38), which presented confessions obtained under torture or fabricated by the secret police, the accused were found guilty and executed or sent to prison. Numerous closed, unpublicized trials of Soviet military leaders were also held and resulted in a massive purge throughout the armed forces. The trials eliminated such potential rivals and critics of Stalin as Nikolay Bukharin, Lev Kamenev, Aleksey Rykov, Mikhayl Tukhachevsky, Genrikh Yagoda, and Grigory Zinovyev but earned worldwide condemnation.
Purim Vpur-im, pu-'rem\ Jewish festival celebrating the survival of the Jews marked for death in Persia in the 5th cent bc. According to the Book of Esther, Haman, chief minister of King Ahasuerus, planned a general massacre of the Jews and set the date by casting lots. Ahasuerus’ wife Esther interceded for the Jews, and they were allowed to attack their enemies. The ritual observance begins with a day of fasting on the 13th of Adar (in February or March), the day before the actual holiday. The Book of Esther is read in the synagogue, and Jews are enjoined to exchange gifts and make donations to the poor. Purim is a day of mer¬ rymaking and feasting.
purine \'pyur-,en\ Any of a class of heterocyclic compounds with a two- ring structure composed of carbon and nitrogen atoms. The simplest mem¬ ber, purine itself (C 5 H 4 N 4 ), is not common, but its derivatives with the structure are. Examples are uric acid, caffeine, and two of the nucleotides in NUCLEIC ACIDS, GUANINE and ADENINE.
Puritan Revolution See English Civil Wars
Puritanism Movement in the late 16th and 17th century that sought to “purify” the Church of England, leading to civil war in England and to the founding of colonies in North America. Many Puritans joined the Par¬ liamentary party during the English Civil War and gained considerable power, but after the Restoration they were once again a dissenting minor¬ ity. Believing themselves chosen by God to revolutionize history, some Puritans founded settlements in America (see Pilgrims), notably the Mas¬ sachusetts Bay Colony. The Puritans of Massachusetts emphasized the conversion experience, by which the elect experienced the descent of grace. In their theocracy only the elect were allowed to vote and rule, though the privileges of church membership were extended to all bap¬ tized and orthodox persons.
Purkinje \p3r-'kin-je\, Jan Evangelista (b. Dec. 17, 1787, Libocho- vice, Bohemia—d. July 28, 1869,
Prague, Czech.) Czech experimental physiologist. He discovered the Purkinje effect (as light decreases, red objects appear to fade faster than blue ones), Purkinje cells (large branching neurons in the cerebel¬ lum), and Purkinje fibres (which conduct impulses from the natural pacemaker throughout the heart). At Breslau he created the world’s first independent physiology department and first official physiology labora¬ tory. He introduced the term proto¬ plasm, devised new methods for preparing microscope samples, dis¬ covered the skin’s sweat glands and the nucleus of the unripe ovum, rec¬ ognized the uniqueness of finger¬ prints, and noted that pancreatic extracts digest protein.
purpura Vpor-ps-roX Presence of hemorrhages in the skin, often asso¬ ciated with bleeding from natural cavities and in tissues. Major causes include damage to small artery walls (as in vitamin deficiency or allergic reaction) and platelet deficiency (in association with such disorders as lupus erythematosus and as a complication of leukemia or chemotherapy).
Purus \pu-'riis\ River River, northwest-central South America. It rises in Peru and flows generally northeast through the rainforests of Peru and Brazil in one of the world’s most meandering courses. In Brazil it joins
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1568 I purusha ► Pydna
the stretch of the Amazon River upstream from Manaus known as the Solimoes River. At its mouth it divides into numerous branches. Most of its 1,995-mi (3,211-km) course is navigable, as are the many lakes formed near its shores. Rubber is gathered from forests along its course.
purusha See prakriti and purusha
Pusan Vpii-.sanV or Busan City (pop., 2003 est.: 3,747,369) and port, South Korea, at the southeastern tip of the Korean peninsula. Pusan was opened to Japanese trade in 1876 and to general foreign trade in 1883. It developed into a major port under Japanese rule (1910-45). It served as the country’s temporary capital during the Korean War. Pusan is South Korea’s largest port and second largest city. Administratively, it has the status of a metropolitan city equal to that of a province. Industries include shipbuilding and manufacturing. Hot springs are located in the northeast¬ ern suburbs.
Pushkin, Aleksandr (Sergeyevich) (b. June 6, 1799, Moscow, Russia—d. Feb. 10, 1837, St. Petersburg) Russian writer. Born into an aristocratic family, Pushkin began his literary career while still a student at the Imperial Lyceum at Tsarskoye Selo (later renamed Pushkin). His first major work was the romantic poem Ruslan and Ludmila (1820). With his political verses and epigrams, he became associated with a revolu¬ tionary movement that culminated in the unsuccessful Decembrist revolt of 1825. Banished to several provincial locations, he produced a cycle of romantic narrative poems that confirmed him as the leading Russian poet of the day and the leader of the Romantic generation of the 1820s. He also worked on his important historical tragedy, Boris Godunov (1831), and his central masterpiece, the novel in verse Eugene Onegin (1833). After Nicholas I allowed him to return to Moscow in 1826, Pushkin aban¬ doned his revolutionary sentiments, turning to the figure of Peter the Great in poems such as The Bronze Horseman (1837). Other works from this period include the classic short story “The Queen of Spades” (1834) and the drama The Stone Guest (1839). In his late works the motif of peasant rebellion is prominent. The object of suspicion in court circles, he died at age 37 after being forced into a duel. He is often considered his coun¬ try’s greatest poet and the founder of modern Russian literature.
Putin Vpii-tyinV Vladimir (Vladimirovich) (b. Oct. 7, 1952, Len¬ ingrad, U.S.S.R.) Russian president (from 1999). Putin served 15 years with the KGB, including six years in Dresden, East Ger. In 1990 he retired from active KGB service and returned to Russia to become prorector of Leningrad State University, and by 1994 he had risen to the post of first deputy mayor of the city. In 1996 he moved to Moscow, where he joined the presidential staff as deputy to Pavel Borodin, the Kremlin’s chief administrator. In July 1998 President Boris Yeltsin made Putin director of the Federal Security Service (the KGB’s domestic successor). In 1999 Yeltsin appointed Putin prime minister, and on December 31 of that year Yeltsin stepped down as president in Putin’s favour. Three months later Putin won a resounding electoral victory, partly the result of his success in the battle to keep Chechnya from seceding. In his first term he asserted central control over Russia’s 89 regions and republics and moved to reduce the power of Russia’s unpopular financiers and media tycoons. The period was also marked by frequent terrorist attacks by Chechen separat¬ ists. Putin easily won reelection in 2004.