Yuan Hongdao (Chinese: 袁宏道; pinyin: Yuán Hóngdào; Wade–Giles: Yüan Hung-tao, style name Zhonglang, 1568–1610) was a scholar-official and one of the greatest Chinese poets and littérateurs of the Ming Dynasty. He is also a well known author on Pure Land Buddhism.

Yuan Hongdao is one of the Three Yuan Brothers, along with his brothers Yuan Zongdao and Yuan Zhongdao. All were known for their literary writings influenced by Buddhism and Neo-Confucian Yangmingism. In Chinese Buddhism, Yuan is most famous for his Comprehensive Treatise on the West [Pure Land] (Xīfāng hélùn), an influential ten-fascicle work on Pure Land Buddhism.

Hongdao's life spanned nearly the whole of the Wanli period (1573-1620) in Chinese history. A native of Gong'an in Hukuang, his family had been officials for generations. Hongdao showed an interest in literature from youth and formed his own literary club at age fifteen. At an early age, Yuan took the jinshi examination (the highest gentry position in China) and subsequently received the official jinshi position in the government bureaucracy in 1594. During his years in the capital he also developed an interest in Buddhism, influenced by other elite Buddhist laymen of the time, like Jiao Hong. He initially studied the writings of Chan masters like Dahui Zonggao.

During his early years, Yuan also witnessed the death of his cousin Yuan Deng, whom he instructed to recite the Buddha's name at the end. Deng then reported to Yuan that he had a vision of the Buddha as he was dying. This experience left a strong impression on Yuan Hongdao.

Yuan soon became well known in literati circles and famed for his writing, moving in the intellectual circles of the Ming elite. He was close friends with the radical Neo-Confucian (Yangmingist) and Buddhist philosopher Li Zhi 李贄 (1527-1602) who promoted the “Crazy Chan” (Ch.: kuang chan 狂禪) ideal. Li Zhi would be Yuan's main Buddhist mentor for over ten years. Likewise, Yuan studied Buddhist texts extensively together with his two other brothers.

The poetry of the Yuan brothers, which focused on clarity and sincerity, produced a following that eventually came to be known as the Gong'an school of poetry and essay writing. The main tenet of this school of poetry was that good writing was a result of genuine emotions and personal experience. Yuan Hongdao was also known as a leading author of the "short essay" (xiaopin wen).

In 1597, Yuan had already grown tired of working as a government magistrate and so he resigned. Afterwards he spent his time traveling, reading, and meeting with friends to write and discuss philosophy. During this retired period he spent some time with the eminent monk Yunqi Zhuhong at Yunqifa temple, later known as a patriarch of Pure Land Buddhism. Zhuhong clearly had an influence on Yuan, since he wrote in praise of him and his later Pure Land writing shows that Yuan studied Zhuhong's writings.

In 1598 he returned to Beijing and became a teacher at the imperial academy. He also started a literary society he called Grape Society. With more time for writing, he composed a work on the Zhuangzi. Yuan also wrote a treatise on Pure Land Buddhism which made its way into the Chinese Buddhist canon. This is the Xīfāng hélùn 西方合論 (Comprehensive treatise on [Pure Land of] the west, Taisho no. 1976). This systematic treatise on Pure Land Buddhism is actually the longest surviving text written by Yuan Hongdao. In spite of this, most scholars have ignored it, focusing mostly on Yuan's secular literature. In this work, Yuan breaks with the radical antinomian Chan of his teacher Li Zhi, advocating for a kind of Buddhism which affirms the importance of moral and religious cultivation.