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SD 40b 5 Transmission Outside the Scripture?

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Transmission outside the scriptures?The evolution of Chn Buddhism as a religion in its own right

by Piya Tan 2008 (2ndrev), 2009 (3rdrev)

Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities.

(Voltaire, alternative translation of passage from Questions sur les miracles, 1765)

Here we will examine the rise of Chn, that is, the ancestor ofKorean Seon, JapaneseZen, Vietnamese Thin, and their variousdescendents found today in the West and elsewhere. Of special interest isthe transformation of Tathgata Chn (rli chn) intopatriarchChn (zshchn), how the Buddha was effectively replaced bythe ancestor during the Golden Age of Chnin China.1

5.1BODHI,DHARMA AND THE CHN LINEAGE5.1.1 Who was Bodhi,dharma? Bodhidharma (Ptdm,

or simply Dm, early 5th century CE),2the earliest and a major

legendary figure in Chn, traditionally said to have brought it to China.We know very little about Bodhidharma, and we have no contemporaryinformation on him. Later accounts were layered with legend, but mostaccounts agree that he was either a South Indian or Persian monk whotravelled to southern China and subsequently moved northwards.

Traditional sources are not agreedon when Bodhidharma came to China.One early account claimed that he arriv-ed during the Li Sng period(420-479), and later accounts dated his arrival during the Lingdy-nasty (502-557), but he was primarily active in the Northern Wi (386-534).3Modern scholars date him around the early fifth century,4so that

the 6thcentury can be said to be the Bodhidharma Century.According to a well known account, Bodhidharma, failing to make a

favourable impression in southern China, headed northwards to North-ern Wi and lived in a cave near the Sholnmonastery. It was inthis connection that legends about his association of Chinese kungfuarose.5While living in the cave, he was said to have faced a wall6fornine years, not speaking for the entire time.7A version of this legend

1On a study of Tathgata Chn & patriarch Chn, see Y, Chn-fang, Chan education in the Sung, 1989.2For refs, seehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhidharma.3For some of the accounts, seehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhidharma.4

Jeffrey Broughton inEncyclopedia of Buddhism,2003 1: 57, 130.5Chinese martial arts have existed before the arrival of Bodhidharma. His status in martial arts is due to his role inthe institutionalizationof Chinese martial arts, presumably by introducing exercises, meditation, discipline, newertechniques etc, to the native fighting methods during his stay at the Shaolin monastery. See WONGKiew Kiat,TheArt of Shaolin Kung Fu: The Secrets of Kung Fu for Self-Defense, Health and Enlightenment, Rutland, VT &Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing, 2002. 215 pp. See also:http://static.wikipedia.org/new/wikipedia/en/articles/a/s/i/Asian_martial_arts_%28origins%29.html.

6This is called bgun, wall-gazing: but the Chinese sources interpret it differently: see under Medita-tion athttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhidharma.

7LINBoyuan 1996: 182.

5.1.1a Bodhidharma(woodcut print by Tsukioka

Yoshitoshi, 1887)

5.1.1b Daruma dollof theOkiagari-koboshi type

(photo by Farah Eliane deBenutzer, 2005)

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Piya Tan SD 40b.5 How Buddhism Became Chinese

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says after sitting in meditation for that long his legs atrophied,8which is why East Asian Daruma wob-bledolls (bdowng) have no legs!9

Another famous legend says that he fell asleep for seven years into his nine years of wall-gazing. An-gry with himself, he cut off his eyelids to prevent it from happening again.10It is said that, when his eye-lids fell to the floor, the first tea plants sprouted up; and thereafter tea would provide a stimulant to helpkeep Chn students awake during meditation.11

Similarly, we only know of his death through legends, where one of them says that, after the nineyears, Bodhidharma passed away, seated upright.12 Another legend says that he simply disappeared,leaving behind the Yjn Jng(literally, Muscle/Tendon Change Classic), a qgngmanual(though this has been doubted by several martial arts historians).13

5.1.2 The Chn root quatrain.5.1.2.1THE BODHIDHARMA VERSE. The traditional Chn view has been that the famous quatrain or

four slogans originated with Bodhidharma, and that they contain the essence of Chn, thus:14

jio wi bi zhun A special [separate] transmission outside the teachings, b l wn z do not depend on written words,15 zh zh rn xn directly point to the human mind,

jin xng chng f see ones nature and become Buddha.(See T2008.360a24-360c12 & 2008.364c9-364c24)

Contemporary writers following orthodox Chn views, regard this quatrain as the product of the Tngperiod, reflecting the rise to prominence of Chn during the golden age, that is, the 8thand 9thcenturi-es.16

The truth is that these slogans wereseparatelyfound in works dating before the Sng, but they do notappear together as a quatrain until well into the Sng. They were then attributed to Bodhi,dharma in acollection of sayings of Chn master Fnghu(or more colloquially, Hui or Huai)17(992-1064), pre-served in the Chrestomathy from the Patriarchs Hall (ZtngshyunTX64.1261), compiledby MnShnqng(du) in 1108.18

It was the early Sng historian and scholar-monk Znnng(919-1001) [5.1.2.3] who attributed

this three-line verse to Bodhidharma [5.1], thus:

8H Dumoulin,Zen Buddhism: A Historyvol 1: India and China, 2005: 86.9Seehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daruma_doll&http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okiagari-koboshi.10Alan W Watts, The Way of Zen. Pelican Books, 1962: 106.11Maguire 2001: 58.12LINBoyuan 1996: 182.13Seehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yi_Jin_Jing.14H Dumoulin,Zen Buddhism: A Historyvol 1: India and China, 2005: 85; Welter, The disputed place of a

special transmission outside the scriptures in Chan 1996, Mahkyapas smile 2000.15

Most trs take wnz () as a dvandva (words and letters), but the more common usage is as karmadharaya(descriptive cpd), which I follow here.16This is the position, eg of Heinrich Dumoulin,Zen Buddhism, 1988: 85, following the works of Japanese Rinzai

scholars like FURUTAShkin and YANAGIDASeizan.17More fully, Yunzhu yngq fnghu chnsh, or in brief, Hu chnsh. See also

Miura,Zen Dust 1966: 228-230; Suzuki,Essays 11927: 176; Welter 2000: 77-80.18TheZtngshyunis a record of masters associated with the Ynmn lineage. The quatrain was attr to Bodhi-

dharma in two places by Huai, in ch 5 (TX64.1261.377b & 379a). SeeMiura,Zen Dust 1966: 228-230; Suzuki,Essays 11927: 176; Foulk, Controversies concerning the separate transmission, 1999: 265 f; Welter, MahKyapassmile, 2000: 77-80.
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zh zh rn xn Directly point to human mind, jin xng chng f see ones nature and become Buddha, b l wn z do not depend on written words.19

Significantly, the first line, A special [separate] transmission outside the teachingswas missing in thisancient verse.

The first linea special [separate] transmission outside the teachings(jio wi bi zhun)was controversial from the start, as already mentioned. The most common line was the last, or ratherthe first half (two characters) of itsee ones nature(jin xng)which was an old Daoist idea,promoted by Doshng(535-434), a disciple of Kumra,jva, well known for his Daoist learning[2.2.3]. The first full line(jin xng chng f) see ones nature and become Buddhafirstappeared in the commentary to the Nirva Stra [4.1.1], in a statement attributed to the Koguryo monkSnglng(5th-6thcent)20before the Tng dynasty. And the two middle linesdo not depend uponwritten words(b l wnz)and directly point to the human mind(zh zh rn xn)became well known only at the end of the Tngperiod.

The controversial first linea special transmission outside the teachings(jio wi bi zhun)was said to be found on the tomb inscription of Lnj Yxun(d 867) [5.3.2], attributed to

his disciple, Fngxu Ynzho

(896-973), and appended to the end of theLnj l

,

21

therecord of Lnjs teachings. However, as the Japanese Zen scholar, YANAGIDASeizan,has pointed out,the historical authenticity of this inscription is very uncertain.22It is more certain, however, that this firstline was first documented in theZtng j(Anthology of the Patriarchs Hall), compiled in 952.It is mentioned in theJngd chundng l(The Jingde Era Record of the Transmission ofthe Lamp), completed in 1004, and where it was attributed to Gushng, in his biography [5.1.2.6].

We are now certain that this first line was not the invention of Bodhidharma, the Lnj or anyone ofthe Tng Chn tradition. In fact, it is perhaps not earlier than the Tang dynasty, certainly not before the5th-6thcenturies.

At the start of the 12thcentury, the saying, a special transmission outside the teachings,was men-tioned in the list of Chn sayings attributed to the Chn patriarch Bodhidharma inZtng j(952).Connecting the Lnj line and Bodhidharma was the culmination of identity-building for the Lnj lineage

by its own members. The inclusion of this quatrain into the Lnj record was clearly for the sake of legiti-mizing the Lnj lineage during the Sng dynasty to compete for the support of the elite, which was acommon practice then. The current version of the Chn quatrain is also found in an edition of theLnj ldated 1120.

The characterjio in thefirst line means religion(and as a verbjiomeans teach), but is oftenmistranslated as scripturewhich would bejng. In the second line, wnz does not mean wordbut (Chinese) character, written word.In other words, Chn does notreject any sutra or scripture. Thismeans that for the Chn tradition (as with early Buddhism), it is thespirit of the teaching, not the wordofthe teaching that is the true transmission. This is further supported by the next two lines: such a transmis-sion occurs through the living word, and as such is a direct transmissionfrom teacher to pupil, or fromone person to another (that is, not through books or a dead medium). That Chn and Zen reject scriptures

19See Welter, The disputed place of a special transmission outside the scriptures in Chan, 1996: 1.20One of the earliest eminent monks from Goguryeo or Koguryo (5th-6thcent) who travelled in China and lived

there for a lengthy period, and where he studied Snlnand Huynbefore returning home. (XgosngzhunT 2060.50.425c25,Gosng zhunT 2059.50.351b25)(based on AC Muller).

21T1985.47.495b-506c.One of the most popular texts in the Chn schools of East Asian Buddhism. There arenumerous English trs, incl The Zen Teachings of Master Lin-Chiby Burton Watson, Columbia Univ Press, 1999.

22Shoki no Zenshi2, 1976.
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interestingly is a western scholarly construction due to a simple mistranslation! This may explain the factthat Chn and Zen are the most prolix and verbose of Buddhist schools!23

5.1.2.2 WYU,FYNCHN AND THE WNMONKS. One of the most successful, if not the most suc-cessful, Buddhist kingdoms of ancient China was theWyu kingdom(907-978) [4.1.1], whosecapital was at Hngzhu.24The king of Wyu highly respected the Chn patriarch Fyn Wny(885-958), and was deeply influenced by his teachings. In fact, 10thcentury China was dominated

by the practitioners and supporters of the Fynlineage, many of whom were of great fame and influence.The Fyncircle regarded Chn as the quintessential apex of all Buddhism, which it viewed as an indis-pensable force in the creation of a civilized society.25

Driven by this vision of a Buddhist utopia, the Wyu rulers made the building and rebuilding ofBuddhist institutions and sites their central concern. The Mt Tinticomplex was rebuilt, and new Buddh-ist centres, such as the Yngmngtemple in Lnn(west of Hngzhu), constructed. Ambassa-dors were sent to Japan and Korea to collect copies of important texts no longer found in China. In duecourse, the monastics of Wyu built a great reputation for themselves and Buddhists throughout Chinawere drawn to its monasteries.

The leading Wyu official and monk Znnng [5.1.2.3] was a high official in the royal court of thesecond Sngemperor, Tizng(, r 626-649), the emperor of letters (wnd). The wn()revival in early Sng marked an important turning point in Chinese intellectual history, which [f]rom its

outsetsignaled a return to native values and a study of the sources that discusses them,26and there wasa consensus that this revival be guided by Confucianism. While some argued for the purist classicalculture (gwn), others (including Znnng) proposed a broader view to embrace innovative forms.

This was the period of the lettered monks (wnsng). Understandably, Znnng, who washimself a prolific literato, proposed that Buddhism be a part of this Sng renaissance, that is, to be includ-ed in the new definition of culture (wn), but was strongly opposed by the Confucianists. Althoughhe did not succeed in his proposals, his learning and writings continued to impress and influence theemperor and the court. In other words, he was himself a Buddhist wnmaster. Znnngs numerousworksreflected his broad knowledge of the Chinese literary tradition, but sadly none of these works survived.

5.1.2.3 WYU:ZNNNG AND YNSHU. Wyu Chn continued the old Tng traditions, but itspatriarchs distinguished themselves with the syncretic harmonization between Chn and Huyn (byWny, 885-958), between Chn and Tinti(by Dsho, 891-972), and between Chn and

Pure Land (by Ynshu , 904-975). Wyu Chn was officially represented at the Sng court byZnnng [5.1.2.2].

Znnng accepted the three-line Tng verse attributed to Bodhidharma (that is, without the first line)[5.1.2.1], and accepted Bodhidharmas teachings as a branch of the larger tradition coming down fromShakyamuni. Znnng held the view that those who took Chn to be independent of the mainstreamteaching did not understand that

23

See Vladimir K[eremidschieff], Legends in Chan, 2005. 24Wuyue was a small but significant kingdom that covered the area of modern Jings shngand Zh-jing shng. It was ruled over by Qinli(902-931), his son and three grandsons for over 70 years, thelongest surviving of all the states of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period Wcho shgu() [2.3.4]. Qian Liu started as a common soldier but rose to become an able and shrewd Tng military governor,and died at 80, the longest lived ruler of the period. His successsors wisely gave up expansionism, and focussed on

building a network of commercial, diplomatic and cultural relations which enriched the kingdom and ensured itssurvival despite its small size and relatively limited natural sources. See Cambridge Ency of China, 1991: 175.

25Further see Welter 2006a: 5 & 2006b: 186-207.26See Albert Welter, A Buddhist response to the Confucian revival, 1999.
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The scriptures are the words of the Buddha, and meditation (Chn) is the thought of the Buddha:there is no discrepancy whatsoever between what the Buddha conceives in his mind and what heutters with his mouth. (Znnng, T50-790a)27

Znnngs inspiration was Zngm(780-841) [4.3.3.1], a patriarch of both Chn and Huyn, andwho presented a harmonious syncretism of Chn and Buddhism as a whole.28

Zngmwas also the model for Yngmng Ynshu(904-975), the leading Wyu Chnauthority. Ynshu, as such, advocated the practice of Chn in accordance with Indian Buddhism, oppos-ing those who have become attached to emptiness, and (whose practice) is not compatible with the scrip-tures(T48.961b), following the words of Zhyand the Tintischool. According to Ynshu, it is nec-essary to engage in two types of meditation practice, namely, calmness (sh) and insight (l), inorder to awaken. Calmness may arise from common activities such as worship, etc.29Those who becomeattached to emptinessthat is, those who devoted themselves to cultivating insight at the expense ofengaging in mindfulness of common daily activitiesshould learn to calm their minds, for example, byfocussing on their breath. Meditation practice, in other words, should be harmonized between calm andinsight.

OPPOSING VIEWS. Some Chn teachers outside of the Wyu community saw the two conceptions ofharmony between Chn and the scriptures and a special transmission outside the scriptures as com-

peting epistemologies. The former was a form of rationalism, a view that scripture is a means of com-municating the truth, while the latter was a sort of mysticism, a view that enlightenment is beyond wordand thought, and that scripture is incapable of conveying it. Simply put, the early Sng Chn debate waswhether Chn was rationalist or an independent mystical tradition.

Sng Chn is generally presented as denying rationalism in favour of a special transmission outsidethe teachings that does not depend on written words,taking the two slogans as a couplet. Here, bothphrases point to the common principle that enlightenment, as experienced by the Buddha and transmittedthrough the patriarchs, is independent of verbal explanations, including the Buddhas teachings as scrip-ture and later doctrinal elaborations.

This view was rejected by Wyu Chn, which regarded the injunction, do not depend on writtenwords and the principle of a special transmission outside the teachings as opposing ideas. Wyu Chnaccepted Bodhidharmas warning against attachment to scriptures and doctrines, but did not accept that

this warning amounted to a categorical denial of scripture. However, as Chn became established in theSng, its priests and officials rose to challenge the Wyu Chn view, and insisted on an independenttradition outside the scriptures.

In short, the view that Chn was a special transmission outside the scriptures was a post-Tng inno-vation, a view rejected by the Wyu Chn tradition and generally unaccepted today, too. We will nowexamine how the Lnj line, during the Sng period, successfully argued for official recognition as aspecial transmission outside the teachings, claiming for Chn a unique identity in Chinese Buddhism.

5.1.2.4 CODNG ASCENT. Before the time of Dhu Znggo(1089-1163) [5.1.3], whenthegngnwas not yet a developed form, the predominant Chn practice form was the so calledsilent illumination meditation (mzho chn ) of the Codngschool [5.3.2], which hadbeen moribund then. However, during early 12thcentury, it had a suprising growth spurt and flourishedwell enough to attract the support of the literati. Apparently, this Codng renascence proved disruptive

of the other groups, especially the powerful Lnj, After all, literati and funds were finite, and the Co-dng success had diverted support and resources away from the Lnj.

27See Heine & Wright, The Koan, 2000: 89 f & Wright, The disputed place of a special transmission outside ofthe scriptures in Chan, 1996: 2-5 digital.

28Zanning also argued that Buddhism should be a part of mainstream Chinese culture (wn): see Albert Welter,A Buddhist response to the Confucian revival, 1999: 21-61.

29See Heine & Wright, The Koan, 2000: 90 f.
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Although the Codng ascent began even before Dhu, it was only when he came toFjinin1134, that he realized its extent, mainly as a result of Qnglio Zngju(also known asZhnxiQnglio1091-1152), the abbot of the prestigious Xufng s(Snow Peak Monastery) inFuzhousince 1130 (Jinyn4thyear).Dhu expressly resented the Codng success,especially concerned that the literati were caught up with silent illumination,30which was actually verytraditional meditation. Dhu vehemently denounced Qnglio and his meditation, and almost all his

attacks on silent illumination Chn were in the form of epistles to the literatior in his sermons given tothe literati.31

Dhus attacks against the Codng had one interesting characteristic: they were sharp but lackingany point. Take for example this characteristic excerpt from one of his epistles to the literati:

Heretical teachers teach literati to regulate the mind and to do quiet-sitting, completely separatingthemselves from all matters, ceasing and resting. This is clearly a case of using the mind to ceasethe mind, using the mind to rest the mind, and using the mind to apply the mind. Practicing in thisway, how can they not fall into the realm of [dead-end] dhyna and annihilation like the non-Buddhists and the Hnaynists? (Dhu ylT47.923b9-12)32

Throughout his attacks, he rarely specified what exactly was wrong with silent illumination Chn or

why its followers misunderstoodChn enlightenment.

33

There was a very good reason for Dhus verybiased and blanket attack on Codng. After all, the Codng system of silent illumination Chn was verylittle different from traditional meditation, and which was well taught by the Codng masters, especiallyHngzhZhngjuand Qnglio Zngju(both students of Dnxi Zchn,1064-1117).34

The point is that Dhu was notconcerned with the difference in meditation: there was very littlesignificant difference between his system and that of Codng. He attacked Codng especially for itsteaching silent illumination Chn to the literati. When he realized that too many members of the literatiwere studying under Codng masters, his concern reached panic level.35And so, as we shall see, just asShnhu[5.2.3] wasto the Northern School, Dhu was to Codng! [5.2.1.2]

Significantly, in his attacks, Dhu consistently presented his warnings against silent illuminationmeditationtogether with his advocacy of hisgngn meditation method.36As Morten Schltternotes:

Therefore there is little doubt that Ta-hui [Dhu] developed his Kung-an Introspection me-thod as a direct response to the Silent Illumination teachings of the Tsao-tung [Codng] tradi-tion, and mainly in order to entice literati away from these teachings. Ta-hui saw Kung-an Intro-spection Chan as an antidote to what he considered the passivity and lack of enlightenment ofSilent Illumination. To Ta-hui, Kung-an Introspection Chan was a shortcut to enlightenment, atechnique that both simplified kung-an practice and amplified its power and efficacy.

(Schltter 2000: 190)

30Dhuyl T47.1998A.885a24-885a3; also tr in Christopher Cleary, Swampland Flowers: the Letters andLectures of Zen Master Ta Hui, NY: Grove Press, 1977: 124 (with some inaccuracies). (Schltter 2000: 199 n 114)

31See Dhuspshu(mass sermons) andfy(Dharma talks) at T47.863-916, and his letters at

T47.916-943.32See also Araki,Daieo sho67; cited in Bielefeldt (tr),Dgens Manuals,1988: 101.33Even when he did try to explain his position, he was perfunctory and philosophical, eg When the actualization

of enlightenment (shju) merges with inherent enlightenment (bnju), then this is called Buddha(Dahui pju chnshpshuTX5.466b2-7; see alsoDhuyl,T47.888a12-18; Ishii, Sdaizensh, 2000:343; cfDhuyl,T47.878b27-c3 for parallel passage without criticism of silent illumination). SeeSchltter 2000:113, 116-126.

34SeeDnxi Zchnchnsh yl.35See Schltter 2000: 127-135.36See eg T47.884c-886a, 890a-892c, 901c, 923a, 933c, 937a-b.


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Even though Dhusgngn meditation was meant for monastics, he astutely and freely now prescribedit for the literato laity. His Machiavellian cunning worked, since thegngn meditation was easier to doand fit in more easily with the literatis busy lives. And the silent illumination method became so discre-dited through Dhus attacksthat it was neverused again in a positive sense.37Here again we have avery good example of how a great masters wrong viewwas piously taken up by the admiring laity in themanner warned by the (Ahitya) Thera Sutta(A 5.88). [5.2.3.10]

5.1.2.5JNGD CHUNDNG LANDFZ TNGJ. In critical studies of texts, internal evidence orlack of them, especially in a number of texts, can be helpful in ascertaining the facts. TheJngd zhun-dng l(The Jingde Era Record of the Lamp Transmission),38an influential transmissionrecord promoting the Fynlineage compiled by fellow Wyu monkDoyun(du), a Korean, isoddly inconsistent with the mood of harmony between Chn and the scriptures referred to in the writingsof Ynshu and Znnng. Although it was a Wyu work, it was strongly sectarian, emphasizing trans-mission verses and encounter dialogues.It is a style that was at odds with conventional Buddhism andharmony between Chn and the scriptures.In fact, its strong sectarian tone became the model for thenew style of Buddhist biography prevalent in Sng Chn, which emphasized lineage as the basis for sect-arian identity.

Even more interesting, as Albert Welterpoints out, are the two prefacesone by Yngy and theother by Doyunto theJngd zhundng l,but only one is appended to it. The preface by Yngy

(974-1020), a prominent Sng official who re-edited the text and provided it with the title by which weknow it today, is appended, and is the standard edition. However, the preface by the original compiler ofthe text, Doyun, was preserved separately.39

Yngy s preface reveals that Doyuns original transmission record had been edited by leadingSng officials, headed by Yngy himself. Since Doyuns original compilation is no longer extant, it isdifficult to assess how the text had been changed. Doyuns original title for the work, Fz tngj(Complete Chronicle of the Buddhas and the Patriarchs),40suggests harmony between Chn andthe Buddhist tradition, but Yngy s bowdlerized revision, theJngd zhundng l, showed otherwise.This disparity is clearly hinted at in their respective prefaces.

Doyuns Chn practice was consistent with Wyu Chn, especially in promoting a myriad prac-tices are employed according to differences among practitioners,as advocated by Ynshu. Yngy , onthe other hand, projected Chn as a special practice outside the scriptures,which promoted Chn exclu-

sivity and undermines pluralism. Yngy s reinterpretation of Chn showed the prominence that Chnhad in Sng society, and the role that the Sng literati played in determining Chn ideology. In fact,Yngy , more than any other figure, was responsible for establishing Chn as a special transmissionoutside the scripturesin official Sng Chn circles.

5.1.2.6THE TINSHNG GUNGDNG L. When we look at any scripture, especially when it is printedin a neat volume or set of volumes, we may have the impression that they were put altogether in the sameneat manner. But religious texts, even the early Buddhist canon, have a complicated history of being anopen canon at first, and then closed at some point in the religions history. Similarly, we often hear or

37Schltter 2000: 191. Codng however flourished as St Zenin Japan, through the lineage of Dgen(12001253) (who received Dharma transmission from Tintng Rjng(1163-1228), the 13thCodng patri-

arch), and is today the largest of the Japanese Zen schools (the other two being Rinzai and Obaku). Unlike Dhu[5.1.3.1], Dgen was more Sutra-based. For refs, seehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soto.For Dgens Shbgenz,seehttp://scbs.stanford.edu/sztp3/translations/shobogenzo/translations/zanmai_o_zanmai/translation.html.[5.1.3.3]

38T2076.51.196-467, completed in 1004 (1st year of Jngd, Sng dynasty). He was a mid-Kory periodmonk who built the Heungwangsa (in ancient Korea). The work has 2 prefaces, one by Yngy(1004,Sng dynasty, T2035-402c.23), and the other by Yi Saek (1372, Kory; app).

39Welter 1996: 5.40Fozu tongji (54 fasc), by Zhpn(1220-1275), completed in 1269 (T2035.49.129a-475c); an extensive

historical record of Buddhism from a Tinti perspective, written in the style of secular historical records, along withvarious historical, doctrinal, cosmological, and other expositions.
http://dharmafarer.net/http://dharmafarer.net/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sotohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sotohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sotohttp://scbs.stanford.edu/sztp3/translations/shobogenzo/translations/zanmai_o_zanmai/translation.htmlhttp://scbs.stanford.edu/sztp3/translations/shobogenzo/translations/zanmai_o_zanmai/translation.htmlhttp://scbs.stanford.edu/sztp3/translations/shobogenzo/translations/zanmai_o_zanmai/translation.htmlhttp://scbs.stanford.edu/sztp3/translations/shobogenzo/translations/zanmai_o_zanmai/translation.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sotohttp://dharmafarer.net/


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read about Chn and Bodhidharmas famous quatrain, and we think that must be a very ancient saying.But the reality, even more so the history, of such received wisdom is very complicated.

The history of institutional Buddhism in imperial China was closely link with the court. There is clearevidence of this in the Sng period, when the Lnj lineage asserted its supremacy with the publication ofthe Tinshng gungdng l. It was compiled by LZnx(988-1038)the son-in-law of emperor Tizng(r 976-998), brother-in-law of the emperor Zhnzng(r 998-1023), and

elder relative of the emperor Rnzng(r 1023-1064)so that even the text bore the reign title, Tin-shng , and the emperor himself contributed a preface.41

Upon completion, the Gungdng lwas admitted to the Buddhist canon, following the precedent ofthe Chundnglbefore it, and with it, Lnjs reputation was further enhanced. Lnjs teachingswere recorded in toto in the Gungdng lfor the first time. He became the official transmission linkdown from Mz (677-744), Bizhng (749-814) and Hungb (d 850) [5.3.2]. As Welter has noted,Hungb was not the only, or even the best candidate as Lnjs Dharma-master, nor was the route to Lnjthe only possible choice for Chn orthodoxy.42The point here is that the patriarchal status was one ofprestige, not spirituality.

According to the Tinshng gungdng l, the interpretation of Chn as a special transmission out-side the scriptureswas not the innovation of Bodhidharma or Lnj, as suggested in later tradition. Thefirst mention of a special transmission outside the scripturesin the Tinshng gungdng lwas in the

biography of Chn master YxinGushng(late 10th-early 11thcent), from the GungjioTemple on Mt Bonin Szhu,43a recipient of the patriarchs purple robe (zy)[5.2.2.2.]. He is reputed to be cold and severe, tough and frugal and that even patch-robed monks re-spected and feared him.44

Gushngused the phrase in connection with a sermon in which he tried to explain the meaning ofBodhidharmas coming from the west,

Dm x li When Bodhidharma came from the west and fchun dngt transmitted the Dharma in the eastern lands (ie, China), zhzh rnxn direct pointing to the human mind, jinxng chngf see ones nature and become a Buddha....

kungy xli de y What is the meaning of his coming from the west? jiowi bizhun A special transmission outside the scriptures.(TX78.1553.496a23-b2)

This same link between Bodhidharmas message and the interpretation of Chn as a special trans-mission outside the scripturesis found in the biography of Chn master Shshung(or Nnyn)Ch-yun()(987-1040) of Mt Nnynin Yunzhu(early 11thcent). As the teach-er of both Yngq fnghu(992-1049) and Hnglng Hunn(1002-1069), heads ofthe two branches that dominated the Lnj lineage since the Sng, the influence of Chyuns interpreta-tion was of great significance for the future of Sng Chn.

5.1.2.7THE BUDDHAS FLOWER AND MAH KYAPAS SMILE. The Tinshng gungdng ldid notlink the phrase a special transmission outside the scripturesto Bodhidharma, but it has a story that isinnovative. It is said that a special transmissionwas first made by Shakyamuni himself to Kayapa:

once Shakyamuni held up a flower, andKyapa responded with a smile at the assembly. This is one of

41On Renzongs pref, incl a tr, see Albert Welter,Monks, Rulers and Literati, 2006b: 186-188.42Welter 2006: 1 f.43See Welter 2006a: 6.44Orig from Jzhu(Hbi), and a Dharma successor of Shushn Shngnin(also pro-

nounced Xngnin) (926-993), Guisheng is the 5thgeneration after Lnj (Fz ldi tngziT2036.49.482a20). See Taigen Dan Leighton & S Okumura (tr),Dogens Pure Standards for the Zen Community,1996: 139.http://www.ancientdragon.org/dharma/articles/sacred_fools_and_monastic_rules#f6.
http://dharmafarer.org/http://dharmafarer.org/http://21dzk.l.u-tokyo.ac.jp/SAT/T2036_,49,0482a20:2036_,49,0482a25.htmlhttp://21dzk.l.u-tokyo.ac.jp/SAT/T2036_,49,0482a20:2036_,49,0482a25.htmlhttp://www.ancientdragon.org/dharma/articles/sacred_fools_and_monastic_rules#f6http://www.ancientdragon.org/dharma/articles/sacred_fools_and_monastic_rules#f6http://www.ancientdragon.org/dharma/articles/sacred_fools_and_monastic_rules#f6http://www.ancientdragon.org/dharma/articles/sacred_fools_and_monastic_rules#f6http://21dzk.l.u-tokyo.ac.jp/SAT/T2036_,49,0482a20:2036_,49,0482a25.htmlhttp://dharmafarer.org/


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the most famous Chn stories illustrating a key event advocating a silent transmission independent of thewritten word.45

Shakyamunis Dharma transmission to Kyapa is noted in theJngd zhundng las atransmission of the pure Dharma-eye, the wondrous mind of nirvana,but there is no mention of thefamous episode of the flower and Kayapas smile. The flower story was first mentioned in Chn trans-mission records in the Tinshng gungdng l, understandably a key text that established Sng Chn

identity in terms of a special transmission outside the scriptures.In the apocryphal story, Shakyamuni, acknowledging Kayapas smile upon presenting the flower to

the assembly, announces: I possess the treasury of the true Dharma-eye, the wondrous mind of nirvana. Ientrust it to Mah Kayapa.The treasury of the true Dharma-eye (zhngfyn zng),46the es-sence of Shakyamunis teaching, was not yet linked in any way to the expression a special transmissionoutside the scriptures,but would be soon. In fact, by Sng times, the expression the treasury of the trueDharma-eye

became a catchword of Chan ideology, but it no longer referred to the tripiaka. It signified,rather, a special collection(piaka; tsang) [zng] that comprised no texts at all but simply theeyeor formless essence of the dharmathe Buddha-mind or enlightenment itself. It was alsoused to refer to the sayings of Chan patriarchs, especially when collected and used as kung-an.

(Foulk 1999: 230 & n19)

The appearance in the same transmission record, the Tinshng gungdng l, of an interpretation ofChn as a tradition independent of Buddhist scripture, and a story about how that independent traditionbegan, showed how actively Chn promoters laboured to reconstruct their image in the early Sng. Thefirst version of the story to make explicit what was only implicitly drawn in the Tinshng gungdng lwas theDfn tinwng wn fjuyjng(The Scripture on the Heavenly LordMah,brahmAsking the Buddha About His Doubt).

According to theDfn tinwng wn fjuyjng version of the story, as Shakyamuni sat before theassembly holding the lotus-blossom given him by brahmin, Kayapa, without saying a word, broke into asmile. The Buddha then proclaimed, I possess the treasury of the true Dharma-eye, the wondrous mindof nirvana, miraculous Dharma-methods born of the formlessness of true form, not established on wordsand letters, a special transmission outside the scriptures, etc.and went on to entrust it to Kayapa.

This proclamation, as it were, directly linked the Buddhas teaching, the treasury of the true Dharmaeye, the wondrous mind of nirvana,etc, to the Chn identity as a special transmission outside the teach-ing.Ironically, scripture is used under the pretext of scriptural authorization! There is no evidence thattheDfn tinwng wn fjuyjng existed before the Sng, and it is widely regarded as apocryphalevidently the story of Shakyamuni and Kyapa was invented for the purpose of legitimizing the lineage.

This new persona of Chn as a special transmission outside the scriptureswas moulded through auniquely Chn literary form, thegngn (Jap: koan) or public notice, or more figuratively, casestudies. [5.1.3.1].The Wmngun(Gateless Gate),47compiled at the end of the Sng period,includes the story of the interaction between Shakyamuni and Kyapa as one of its case studies, follow-ing the version established in the apocryphalDfn tinwng wn fjuyjng. Through the inclusion ofthe story in the Wmngun, put the final touch, as it were, on Chn as a special transmission outside thescriptures,so that this is the received tradition to this day. Albert Welter concludes:

45See Albert Welter, Mahkyapas smile, 2000.46This is a tt; cf 5.1.3.2 where it is the title of Dahui Zonggaos only work.47The Gateless Gate(Wmngun; JapMumonkan) is a collection of 48 koan anecdotes compiled by

the Chinese Chn master Wmn Huki(1183-1260) and published in 1229. These are encountersbetween various well-known Chinese Chn figures highlighting a decisive moment in their teaching. These condens-ed episodes are each accompanied by a short comment and poem by Hui-kai himself. The whole Wmngun can

be downloaded fromhttp://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/zen/mumonkan.htm.
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What does all this suggest about the nature of the Chn tradition? Rather than the standardview of Chn as intrinsically representative of specific norms and values, I see the Chn traditionas the struggle between contending forces and interpretations. This process reveals Chn practi-tioners manufacturing their identities by forging their own histories, deciding what is important,what to include and exclude. There was no one uniform consensus regarding what Chn teachingrepresented. Even basic principles were disputed. Rather, there were contending views promoted

by recognized leaders. As power shifted from one branch to another, the orthodoxinterpreta-tion of Chn also changed, reflecting the views of masters representing different lineages. Thestudy also suggests that the dynamic forces shaping Chn interpretation were not exclusive toChan, or even Buddhist, participants. Chn developed in a larger secular world, where connect-ions to powerful warlords and officials, not to mention members of the imperial family, played adecisive role in determining what orthodoxview of Chn received official acceptance. Finally,these forces shaping the interpretation of Chn are not historically isolated to one particularperiod. They have functioned, in some form, throughout Chn history, and continue to shape ourunderstanding and interpretation of Chn teaching today. (Welter 1996: 7)

5.1.2.8CHN VIOLENCE. Chn Buddhism can be very violentin words and stories, at least.48Butwhere did this institutional violence come from? And is it to be taken literally? The history of Chn can

be viewed as how a Chinese Buddhism evolves from being a reflection of an early Indian teaching to thelight that is utterly Chinese. During the 8 thcentury, mostly through efforts initiated by the unscrupuloussouthern priest Shnhu [5.2.3], Chn become more Chinese than it was Buddhist. One way that Chnasserted its independence was to largely abandon the Indian religious terminology, as noted by Buswell:

One way to assert that independence was to express Buddhist doctrines in a new way, using lan-guage more in keeping with the Chinese preference for concrete, laconic description over theabstract, periphrastic formulations more common to Indian philosophy. (Buswell 1987: 334)

This is not to suggest that early Indian Buddhism does not useparadoxical language. Indeed, we canfind examples of provocative resonances even in small collections such as the Dhammapadaand theApadna,49for example:

Cut down the forest, but not the tree. From the forest arises fear.Having cut down the forest and growths, O bhikshus, you are forest-free! (Dh 283)

Having killed mother and father, wnd two kings, and having slaughteredA realm together with its governor the brahman wanders unafflicted. (Dh 294)

Let go of the front. Let go of the back. Let go of the middle. Crossing to the far shore,with the mind released from everything, do not again undergo birth and decay. (Dh 348)

The man without desire, who knows the unmade,who has cut off the link,who has got rid of the occasions (for quarrels and rebirth),who is an eater of what is abandoned by others

he is indeed the highest person. (Dh 97; DhA 7.8/2:187)The nature of the Chinese languagepictographic, monosyllabic and concretehas less penchant for

addressing the abstract. Chinese imageries tend to be measureable or nature-related (this latter, like the

48On Chn shouts and blows, see Chan education in the Sung, 1989: 68 f.49Mah Pajpat Gotam Ther Apadna (Ap 2.17.27-25/531). See Dh 97 = SD 10.6.


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verses of the Thera,gh and Ther,gth).50Abstract and conceptual terms in Chinese, especially relig-ious language, ultimately derived from the Indian Buddhist texts, for example, tathgata,garbha (wombof Buddhahood), tathat (suchness), dharma,dhtu (realm of reality), Buddhatva (Buddha-nature), andnirva.

The Chinese Buddhist mode of philosophical discourse is usually laconic and palpable (brief andappealing to the senses), and often enough, to extremes. See this Wmngun51case 21, Wumens Dry

dung-stick(rshy ynmn shju), for example:

A monk asked Ynmn, What is Buddha?52 Ynmn replied, A dry dung-stick!(gnshju; Jap kanshiketsu)

(Wmnguncase 21: T 48.295c5)

The author of this koan certainly did not find this inspiration from the early Indian texts: there is no suchimagery there. This philosophical earthiness is indigenous to China and is licenced by such examples asthe renowned description of the Dao inZhuangzi, in the chapter entitled Knowledge rambling in thenorth(Zhbiyu):

Dngguziwn yZhungzi Dongguozi asked Zhuangzi, saying,

.Suwi do, w h zi. Concerning the Dao, where is it to be found?

.Zhungzi yu:Wsubzi. Zhuangzi replied, Theres nowhere it is not found..

Dngguzi yu:Q rhu k Dongguozi said, You must be more specific.53.

Zhungzi yu:Zi luy. It is in lowly bugs (like crickets and ants).? Yu: H q xi xi? Is there a lower example?. Yu:Zi tbi. It is in barnyard grass.54? Yu: H qy xixi? Is there a still lower example.. Yu: Zi w p It is in a clay tile.

?Yu: H q y shnxi? Is there an extremely low example?

? Yu:Zi sh n. In that dung! Dngguzi b yng To this Dongguozi gave no reply. (Zhuangzi 22)55

5.1.2.9CHN LINEAGES. John McRaes instructive study, Seeing Through Zen(2003), explores thedistinctive and central role of lineagein Chn Buddhism. He notes that this genealogicalapproach is so

50Chad Hanson,Language and Logic in Ancient China,1983 notes that Classical Chinese philosophical theorieshad no role for abstractions (37). For a characterization of Indian locutionary styles, see Robert Gimello,Mysticism and its contexts, 1983: 74. HajimeNAKAMURA, Ways of Thinking of Eastern Peoples(ed Philip PWiener) 1964: 178-180.

51

The Gateless Gate(Wmngun, JapMumonkan) is a collection of 48 Chn koans compiled in theearly 13th century by the Chinese Chn master Wmn Huki () (1183-1260). Seehttp://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/zen/mumonkan.htm.(T2005.48.292c-299c)

52rh sh fhas the senses of What is Buddha? and How to be Buddha?53Here I follow Burton Watson.54Echinochloa crusgalli.

55See Kenneth Chen,Buddhism in China, 1964: 362. For Eng tr, seehttp://www.terebess.hu/english/chuang-tzu2.html#22;for Chin text (bilingual format), seehttp://chinese.dsturgeon.net/text.pl?node=2712&if=en),http://www.cnd.org/Classics/Philosophers/Zhuang_Zi/22.hz8.html,http://www.chinapage.com/philosophy/zhuangzi/zhuangzi-text.html.
http://dharmafarer.net/http://dharmafarer.net/http://www.yellowbridge.com/chinese/wordsearch.php?searchMode=P&word=xie2http://www.yellowbridge.com/chinese/wordsearch.php?searchMode=P&word=xie2http://www.yellowbridge.com/chinese/wordsearch.php?searchMode=P&word=xie2http://www.yellowbridge.com/chinese/wordsearch.php?searchMode=P&word=xie2http://www.yellowbridge.com/chinese/wordsearch.php?searchMode=P&word=xie2http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/zen/mumonkan.htmhttp://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/zen/mumonkan.htmhttp://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/zen/mumonkan.htmhttp://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/zen/mumonkan.htmhttp://www.terebess.hu/english/chuangtzu2.html#22http://www.terebess.hu/english/chuangtzu2.html#22http://www.terebess.hu/english/chuangtzu2.html#22http://www.terebess.hu/english/chuangtzu2.html#22http://chinese.dsturgeon.net/text.pl?node=2712&if=enhttp://chinese.dsturgeon.net/text.pl?node=2712&if=enhttp://chinese.dsturgeon.net/text.pl?node=2712&if=enhttp://www.cnd.org/Classics/Philosophers/Zhuang_Zi/22.hz8.htmlhttp://www.cnd.org/Classics/Philosophers/Zhuang_Zi/22.hz8.htmlhttp://www.chinapage.com/philosophy/zhuangzi/zhuangzi-text.htmlhttp://www.chinapage.com/philosophy/zhuangzi/zhuangzi-text.htmlhttp://www.chinapage.com/philosophy/zhuangzi/zhuangzi-text.htmlhttp://www.cnd.org/Classics/Philosophers/Zhuang_Zi/22.hz8.htmlhttp://chinese.dsturgeon.net/text.pl?node=2712&if=enhttp://www.terebess.hu/english/chuangtzu2.html#22http://www.terebess.hu/english/chuangtzu2.html#22http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/zen/mumonkan.htmhttp://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/zen/mumonkan.htmhttp://www.yellowbridge.com/chinese/wordsearch.php?searchMode=P&word=xie2http://www.yellowbridge.com/chinese/wordsearch.php?searchMode=P&word=xie2http://dharmafarer.net/


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central to Chns self-understanding that, while not without precedent, had unique features. It is relation-al (involving interaction between individuals rather than being based solely on individual effort), generat-ional (in that it is organized according to parent-child, or rather teacher-student, generations) and reiterat-ive (ie, intended for emulation and repetition in the lives of present and future teachers and students.(2003: 8)

Two important reasons may be proposed for the key role of lineage in Chn Buddhism.56The first is

where the Chn community did not rely on any one Mahyna text as its foundation scripture. The Hu-yn school, for example, took the Avatasaka Stra (Huyn Jng) as their key text; and the Nirvanaschool, the Nirva Stras (Nipn jng), and so on. Without a special text to identify itself with,the Chn school had to resort to the conception of lineage. But this is not a very strong reason.

The main reason for the Chn emphasis on lineage was a powerful Confucian influence regardinghow best Chn can legitimize itself, especially in an urban society where the powerful and the affluentdecided the rules [5.1.2.1]. Scholars like John Jorgensonand John McRaenote that the Chn lineageclosely paralleled Chinese funerary practice:

My contention is that Chn provided a format for Buddhist practice that matched the patronimplied by Chinese funerary customs. The starting point for this analysis is John Jorgensons ob-servation of the structural similarities between Chn lineage assertions of the eighth century and

funerary practice, in which the organization of halls venerating Chn patriarchs was seen to re-semble that of conventional ancestral halls.57From a broader perspective, the proliferation of Chn lineages mimics that of conventional

family genealogies, creating a parallel realm of filiation between living and dead. Indeed, whereconventional genealogies are devoted individually to separate family groups, Chn transmissionof the lamptexts create an entire universe of fictive relationships.

Thus each individual practitioner is securely placed within a generational successive network,and all of those succession relationships are concatenated into a massive network of interlockingidentities. Where conventional family genealogies were in dialogue both with each other and withcontemporary social practice, transmission of the lamptexts provide the Chn lineage systemwith its own global context for the idealization of religious identity.58

(McRae 2003: 148; reparagraphed)

McRae offers a detailed criticism of the Chn lineage tradition, but he also notes that it was so centralto Chn that it is hard to envision any claim to Chn bereft of lineage claims. For example, in JapaneseSt(Chin Codng), lineage charts are a central part of the Sanmatsu, the documents of Dharmatransmission, and which is regularly included in the daily chanting in Zen temples and monasteries.

In Japan, during the Tokugawa period (1600-1868), some questioned the lineage system and its legi-timacy. The Zen master Dokuan Genko (1630-1698), for example, openly questioned the necessity ofwritten acknowledgment from a teacher, which he dismissed as paper Zen.A number of Tokugawateachers did not adhere to the lineage system, and they were called mushi dokugo(wsh dw,independently awakened without a teacher) orjigo jisho(zw zzhng, self-awakened andself-certified).59

56In the Christian Bible, the genealogyof Jesus through Joseph is given by two passages from the Gospels, Matt

1:2-16 and Luke 3:23-38. Both of them trace Jesus line back to king David (a prophetic requisite for the Christ) andfrom there on to Abraham. Luke traces the line all the way back to Adam. These lists are identical between Abrahamand David, but they differ radically from that point onward. According to classics scholar Howard W Clarke, thetwo accounts cannot be harmonized and today the genealogy accounts are generally taken to be theologicalconstructs.

57See John Jorgenson, The Imperial lineage of Chan Buddhism,1987.58On conventional family genealogies, see Ebrey, Confucianism and Family Rituals, 1991.With additional study

of Sng-dynasty recorded sayings literature. We may recognize intralineage efforts to identify creation that parallelthose of individual family genealogies. [McRae]

59Seehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mushi_dokugo.
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Modern Chn-Seon-Zen Buddhists generally downplay the significance of the dynamics of the line-age system, encouraged in part by the revelations of academic researches into Chn history, and focusmore on the spiritual study and contemplative practice. There is also a tacit openness to other Buddhisttraditions, especially early Buddhism.60

5.1.3 Thegngn.5.1.3.0GNGN ANDKNHU CHN.Historically (that is, as understood by the Chn traditions), a

gngn(Jap: koan) was a brief saying, dialogue, or anecdote culled from the hagiographies (chuan-dng l) and discourse records (yl)61[5.1.3.4]. The practice of commenting on sayings ofthe patriarchs was first attested in mid-tenth century Chn literature.62Before that, passages from thepatriarchal records that were used for commentary were known as old cases (gz).63As Foulknotes, such a practice was not simply a means of elucidating the wisdom of ancient patriarchs for thesake of disciples or a larger audience. It was also a device for demonstrating the rank and spiritual author-ity of the master himself. (2000: 17).

Discourse records (yl) compiled from the latter half of the 11thcentury onwards often containseparate sections entitled Comments on old cases,that is,jgcitation of transactions (literally,proposals to buy), or ningraising an ancient precedent, ornintraising a point forquestion or analysis.The phrase ningis often found in the compound, ning sngg,which means toraise (nin)and analyze an ancient precedent, and then to write and attach ones own

verse to it. This is a well-known Chn-Seon-Zen literary genre.64Such cases or stories, when used ininstructions, were never quoted in full, but merely alluded to, which assumes the students or audiencesfamiliarity with them. Apparently, such exchanges were done orally.

By the mid-11thcentury, these discourse records include sections called verses on old cases (sngg, lit ancient eulogies). Unlike the well-known old cases, which were only alluded to, these versecommentaries (written ad hoc by Chn masters) were often cited in full alongside the root case (bnz), so that the audience would better appreciate the verse commentary. This also suggests that such vers-es were not as well known as the old cases.

The old cases came to be calledgngn(, Jap koan), but it is not exactly clear how this occur-red. The termgngnwas used figuratively at first. It was not even a Buddhist term, but came from themediaeval Chinese legal system. The term itself could refer to a Chinese magistrates desk; but it couldalso refer to a complex legal case, wheregng() means public, official, unbiased andn() meanslegal case.One of the oldest references to this is found in the mid-11th-century by XuduChngxin(d 1052) in his The Monks Xudus Verses on Old Cases (Xuduxin hshng sngg),65that is, the original 100 cases serving as the basis for the Blue Cliff Records.

60Buswell, eg, in is The Zen Monastic Experience, confesses, From what little reading I had done, I was notmuch impressed with Zen, and in fact even today, after practicing Sn for some fifteen years, I still see myself assomething of a closet Hnaynist. (1992: 18)

61These discourse records are those of Chn masters who flourished from the 10thcent onwards. Early examplesincl Ynmn Kungzhn chnsh gungl(T47.544c-576c), Fyn Wny (885-958)(T47.588a-594a); Fnyng Shnzho (947-1024) (T47.594-629c), Yngq Fnghu(993-1046)(T47.640a-646a), & Hnglng Hunn (1002-1069) (T47.629c-636b).

62The oldest reliable and datable text we have on this is the Ztng j (Collection From the Patriarchs Hall) (952): see YANAGIDASeizan (ed), Sodsh, Zengaki ssho4, Kyoto: Chbun, 1984.

63This term is from Buswell 1987:375. For a description of the rites and monastic setting of such a practice, see TGriffith Foulk, Myth, ritual, and monastic practice in Sng Chan Buddhism, 1993.

64One of the earliest examples are the discourse records of Xudu Chngxin(980-1052) (T47.669a-713b) & Yunw Kqn(1063-1135) (T47.713b-810c), both best known as the compilers of the BlueCliff Records (Byn l) [5.5.1].

65T48.2003.140a11; also called The Monk Xuduxians 100 Verses on Old Cases(Xuduxin hshng bizsngg): see Foulk 2000: 19+20. The term appears only once, in case 64, immediately fol-lowing case 63, Nnqun and the cat. See Foulk 2000: 19 f.


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Over a century later, Yunw Kqn(1063-1135), in his commentary on The MonksXudus Verses on Old Cases (preserved in his Blue Cliff Collection,Bynj ), clearly usesthe termgngnto refer to the dialogues themselves as texts. In his pointers (chush) and prosecommentaries (pngchng), Yunw calls the old casesgngnthroughout. As noted by Foulk,Yunw was implying that when Xudu collected and attached comments to them, he was taking on therole of a magistrate. 66

In its earliest usages, termgngnwas used to compare thespiritualauthority of a Chn master withthe legalauthority of a magistrate, not in reference to the old cases of the patriarchs (id). As such, wehave stories of Chn masters dealing thirty blows (snsh bang), when the student was guilty ofthe wrong response.67

By the end of the 13thcentury, during the Mongol Yan dynasty, the old cases were like legally bind-ing documents, the idea being that they should be regarded as authoritative standards for judging spirit-ual attainment (Foulk 2000: 18). This is very clear in Extensive Records of the Monk Zhngfng(Zhngfnghshng) by Zhngfng Mngbn(, 1263-1323), a Yan priest fol-lowing the tradition of Dhu Znggo [5.1.3.2]. Zhngfng gives this detailed definition of thegngn:

Gongan may be compared to the case records of the public law court. Whether or not theruler succeeds in bringing order to his realm depends in essence upon the existence of law. Gng

or public is the single track followed by all sages and worthy men alike, the highest principlewhich serves as a road for the whole world.nor records are the orthodox writings whichrecord what the sages and worthy men regard as principles.

The koans do not represent the private opinion of a single man, but rather, the highest prince-ple received alike by us and by the hundreds and thousands of bodhisattvas of the three realmsand the ten directions. This principle accords with the spiritual source, tallies with the mysteriousmeaning, destroys birth-and-death, and transcends the passions.

It cannot be understood by logic; it cannot be transmitted in words; it cannot be explained inwriting; it cannot be measured by reason. It is like a poisoned drum that kills all who hear it, orlike a great fire that consumes all who come near it....

The koans are something that can be used only by men with awakened minds who wish toprove their understanding. They are certainly not intended to be used merely to increase ones

lore and provide topics for idle discussion. The so-called venerable masters of Chn are the chiefofficials of the public law courts of the monastic community, as it were, and their collections ofsayings are the case records of points that have been vigorously advocated.

Occasionally, men of former times, in the intervals when they were not teaching, in sparemoments when their doors were closed, would take up these case records and arrange them, givetheir judgment on them, compose verses of praise on them and write their own answers to them.Surely they did not do this just to show off their erudition and contradict the worthy men of old.Rather, they did it because they could not bear to think that the great Dharma might becomecorrupt. Therefore they stooped to using expedient means in order to open up the wisdom eye ofthe men of later generations, hoping thereby to make it possible for them to attain the understand-ing of the great Dharma for themselves in the same way.

Zhngfnghshanggunglquoted in

Miura & Sasaki (tr),Zen Dust1966: 4-6; rev)Furthermore, it was Zhngfng who wrotethatgngnis an abbreviation forgngf zh nd(), that is, a public legal record in the Tng dynasty.68

66See T48.144b & Foulk 2000: 20.67See eg the mid-9thcent record on Hungb Xyn at T51.291c.68See Miura & Sasaki, The Zen Koan, 1965: 4-6; T Griffith Foulk, The form and function of koan literature,

2000: 21 f; John McRae, Seeing Through Zen, 2003: 172-173 n16.


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A watershed ingngnhistory occurred in the Sng dynasty, with the development of the Chn ofphrase-contemplation (knhu chn) [5.1.3.3]. The word or phrase (hutu) [5.1.3.5] tobe contemplated on was usually derived from a root case (bnz) of the ancient dialogues. The fore-most promoter of this new Chn technique was Dhu Znggo(1089-1163) [5.1.3.2], the mostfamous of the Sng priests. Foulk conjectures that Dhu, feeling that the silent illumination Chn (m-zho chn) was vainly trying to gain insight (gun, see,Skt vipayan) without first attaining

calm (zh, stop, Sktamatha). But, he notes, this was probably pure rhetoric. For, [i]f Ta-hui hadbeen interested only in promoting the cultivation of trance states [dhyna] as a means of cutting off dis-cursive thought, he could have avoided the words of the patriarch altogether and recommend other, entire-ly non-discursive objects of mental concentration, such as the devices (binch, Skt kasia). (2000:23).

The key fact remains, as Foulkpoints out, that thegngn is a literary genre. This also explains whya gongan does not make sense to the uninitiated. Gongans have power to function in the Chn mindand society because what identifies words or actions as expressions of the mental state of enlightenedpeople is never the semantic content of the words themselves, but only their attribution to a Chan patri-arch in a flame history [dngl] biography, a discourse record, or (subsequently) a koan collection.(2000: 39).

Thegngn(Jap koan) come a long way, and has today entered into popular vocabulary to mean aparadox, enigma, or enigma. There is even a Singapore website where the koan is recommended formothers (which may not really be a bad idea, after all)!69We shall also discuss below how the koan beuseful as a counselling tool [5.1.3.5]. But, first, let us discuss a topic that is closely related togngn andcounselling, that is, doubt.

5.1.3.1CHN AND DOUBT. Discounting metropolitan Chn [5.2.3.1], elitist Chn [5.1.2.6+7], andother unchanly Chns, traditional or spiritual Chnstresses on mindfulness, mental focus and liberationby transcending language and thought. Language and thought may be the most common way we functionor communicate, but they are not always the most effective means of personal experience or of communi-cating.Language(because it is a human construct) and thought(because it is a mental construct) are theinevitable grounds for doubt or feeling of doubt (yqng), as Chn often say, and doubt is one ofthe greatest hindrances to mental cultivation and spiritual realization. Yet the very same poison, properlyunderstood, is the door to wisdom.70

One of the most enduring and instructive aspects of Chn is its penchant for religious doubting; notthat doubting is good in itself, but that it is the beginning of inquiry that leads to liberating wisdom. Todoubt is to know that we are still unliberated, and entails seeking the conditions for the doubt. In thissense, doubting leads to knowing. But it is a dynamic kind of doubting, not that of perceiving our inabili-ties or weaknesses. Doubt arose in the young Bodhisattvas mind when he saw the first three sights of anold man, a sick man and a dead man (manifestations of the three great evils), but it also moved him toseek a solution for themand he became Buddha.

Doubt prevents enlightenment; it is like a closed door. To open the door of doubt is to destroy doubt.This is done by directly pointing to the human mind(jio wi bi zhun) [5.1.2.1], that is, bytranscending or bypassing the limitations of language and directly see true reality (a notion important inearly Buddhist meditation, too). The most famous way in which this was done was through the koan[5.1.3],71that is, stretching the limits of language so as to totally demolish it.

69http://www.singaporemoms.com/parenting/Koans#references.70See HSIEHDinghwa, Doubt as a unique Chn approach to cultivation and enlightenment, 2005.71Chingngn(); Kor kungan(); Jap kan (); Viet cng n; lit, a public notice, issued by, or

dealt with by a Chinese government office. Chn used it to refer to a specific Buddhist meditation method (todistinguish it from the traditional Indian methods ofsamatha-vipayan). Koans usually consists of the presenta-tion of a problem drawn from classical texts, or from teaching records and hagiographies of Tng and Sng periodChinese Chn masters. After the case is presented, a question is asked regarding a key phrase (hutu) in thestory, which usually presents a position that contradicts accepted Buddhist doctrinal positions or everyday logic. Its
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Dhu Znggo[5.1.3.2] took the idea of doubtvery seriously and warned his students that they mustalways doubt words,so as not to be fooled by them. In fact, they should doubt their very existence. Hesaid, Many students today do not doubt themselves, but they doubt others. And so it is said, Withingreat doubt there necessarily exists great enlightenment.72This was taken up five centuries later by thegreat Japanese Rinzai teacher, Hakuin (1685-1768), who also taught that great doubt was necessary forone to awaken to reality.

GOFNG YUNMIO. In China itself, even just before Dhu, his own teacher, Yunw Kqnstilltreated the feeling of doubt (yqng) in the traditional early Buddhist manner, as something harm-ful to faith, which should be diligently avoided at all timesbut especially so in the course ofgngninvestigation.73It was Yunws famous disciple, Dhu who, as we have seen, turned his teaching ondoubt on its head, re-conceiving it instead as the principal force driving one toward enlightenment.74

The most systematic presentation of Dhus knhu chn, however, is found in the Chnyo(The Essentials of Chn)75by the Yan-dynasty Lnj master, Gofng Yunmio(1239-1295). Gofngsmain work was to systematize knhu chnpractice into three principal parts he calledthe three essentials (snyo): (1) the faculty of great faith (dxngn); (2) great passionateintent (dfnzh); and (3) the great feeling of doubt (dyjng). Gofng treatedfaith as theessence (t) of doubt, and enlightenment as the function (yng) of doubt [2.3.8.2]drawing onthe popular apocryphalAwakening of Faith(Dshng qxn ln, T32.1667). [5.2.4.6]

Since the foundation of virtually all sinitic or East Asian Buddhism is that enlightenment is immanentin all beings,76Gofng explained that ultimately all that needed to be done to achieve enlightenment wassimply to havefaithwholeheartedly, that is, let go of the notion that we are not enlightened! His rationaleis found in the Chnyo: Faithis the essence(t) of doubt, enlightenment is the function (yng) ofdoubt. When faith is a hundred percent, so too is doubt. When doubt is a hundred percent, so too is en-lightenment.77This was of course Gofngs view, one which Dhu approved of.

5.1.3.2DHU ZNGGO. The 12th-century Chn master Dhu Znggo(1089-1163)78often referred to as Dhu, for shorta disciple of Yunw Kqn (1063-1135)79and the 12th

purpose is not to elicit a rational answer, but to serve as a focal point for a dynamic form of contemplation, whichresults in a non-dualistic experience. (AC Muller:http://buddhism-dict.net/cgi-bin/xpr-ddb.pl?51.xml+id(b516c-

6848).For a historical background ofgonganin China and Japan, see Heine & Wright The Kan: Texts and Con-texts in Zen Buddhism,2000.72(T47.1998A.886a27-28); Jap tr: Chgoku

zenshshi100.73Robert Buswell, The transformationof doubt, 2004: 231, see esp 227-230. For a comprehensive treatment,

see Ding-Hwa Hsieh, Yan-wu Ko-chins (1063-1135) teaching of ChnKung-anpractice, 1994. For a selectionof Yunws works, see JC Cleary & Thomas Cleary (trs),Zen Letters: Teachings of Yuanwu, Boston & London:Shambhala, 1994.

74Buswell 2004: 232; see esp Buswell, The short-cut approach of kan-hua meditation, 1987: 343-356. On theuse of the term enlightenment as a Chn term, see 5.5.4.

75More fully, Gofng Yunmio chnsh chnyo(TX70.1401.707a09).76Expressed in the idea of Buddha-nature (Fxng) [2.3.2].77X zh y y xnwi t,w y y wi yng; xn yu shfn, y yu shfn; y de shfn, w de shifn;

(TX70.1401.707a8-9).78The basic source for Dahuis life isDhu pju chnsh ninp(Chronological biography

of Dahui), compiled by his disciple, Zyng. There is also an inscription written by ZhngJn,Dhupju chnsh tmngcompiled by Zuyong, incl in Dhu pju chnsh yl

(T1998a = 47.811b-943a, esp 836-837). The Dialogue of Pointing to the Moon,Zhyu lChih-yueh lu,compiled by Chu Ju-chi Qrj of the Ming Qrj,also contains some additional information not found inthe above, chuan 31 (T4.2097-2106 of the Taipei repr ed). See McRae 2003: 123-126, which is based on Levering1978. For Dahuis correspondences, seehttp://iriz.hanazono.ac.jp/archive/dahuishu.zip.For a summary, see alsohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahui_Zonggao.
http://dharmafarer.org/http://dharmafarer.org/http://buddhism-dict.net/cgi-bin/xpr-ddb.pl?51.xml+id(%27b516c-6848%27)http://buddhism-dict.net/cgi-bin/xpr-ddb.pl?51.xml+id(%27b516c-6848%27)http://buddhism-dict.net/cgi-bin/xpr-ddb.pl?51.xml+id(%27b516c-6848%27)http://buddhism-dict.net/cgi-bin/xpr-ddb.pl?51.xml+id(%27b516c-6848%27)http://buddhism-dict.net/cgi-bin/xpr-ddb.pl?51.xml+id(%27b516c-6848%27)http://buddhism-dict.net/cgi-bin/xpr-ddb.pl?51.xml+id(%27b516c-6848%27)http://iriz.hanazono.ac.jp/archive/dahuishu.ziphttp://iriz.hanazono.ac.jp/archive/dahuishu.ziphttp://iriz.hanazono.ac.jp/archive/dahuishu.ziphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahui_Zonggaohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahui_Zonggaohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahui_Zonggaohttp://iriz.hanazono.ac.jp/archive/dahuishu.ziphttp://buddhism-dict.net/cgi-bin/xpr-ddb.pl?51.xml+id(%27b516c-6848%27)http://buddhism-dict.net/cgi-bin/xpr-ddb.pl?51.xml+id(%27b516c-6848%27)http://dharmafarer.org/


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generation of the Lnj line of Chn, was best known as a keen advocate of thegngnor koan ()[5.1.2.7] for achieving Chn enlightenment. Dhu had humble beginnings: when he was 10, a fire wipedout his family fortune.80In 1101, when he was 13, he abandoned his classical education that had hardlybegun to become a monk.

Dhu was tonsured at 16 and formally ordained (received the precepts) the following year. As anintellectually brilliant young monk, he was drawn to the works of the innovative Ynmn Wnyn

(864-949).81While reading through a Mahyna text, he was said to have had a profound religiousexperience.82The following year, he began his wanderings to study under different teachers, sometimessampling several teachers in a single year. Most of these teachers were from the Codngschool,whose system he purportedly mastered within two years, but only to denounce them later! [Below &5.1.2.4]

In 1116 (when Dhu was 27), he met the retired Northern Sng primeminister and lay Buddhist scholar, Zhng Shngyng(1043-1122),83anda little later, Hn Zcng(c1086-1135), a relative of the imperial family,both of whom would be important influences in his life. In due course, he wasrecommended to study under Yunw Kqn, joining his assembly in 1125. Hevowed to himself,84

I will give this master nine summers as the limit. If his teaching doesnot differ from that of other masters, and if he gives me his approval easily.I will then write a treatise denouncing Chn Buddhism, instead of taxingmy spirit and wasting precious time on it. I will devote myself to a sutra ora treatise, and cultivate virtue so that I can be reborn as a Buddhist.

(Ziyong,Nianpu, Hsuan-ho 6th year, p 17b)

After only six weeks, he had an enlightenment experience during one ofYunws sermons.85However, getting his enlightenment certified by Yunwwas another matter. Yunw told him to work on the koan, The East Moun-tain walks over the water. On one of the sessions, Yunw rebuked Dhu, Your great problem is thatyou do not doubt the words enough! (by yj, sh wi dbng,). He was then given anew koan, To be and not to beit is like a wisteria leaning on a tree (y j wj, rtng ysh,). He reported to his master three or four times daily, only to be told he was wrong each time.

After some six months, he made a total of 49 such attempts. Only in the fifth month of 1125, did hegain the Chn breakthrough.86Even if this account was exaggerated, it showed that either Dhu was avery patient and determined student, or that Yunw was making sure that he had weaned Dhuspride.Considering that Dhu was still as samsaric as before, perhaps even more so at this point, this accountwas to blandish him which would further enhance the prestige of his lineage.

79Yunws comys on koans are compiled in the famousByn l(The Blue Cliff Record)[5.5.1].80Yu 197: 213. It is likely that this early misfortune had such an impact on him, that he would be esp concerned

with cultivating connections with the gentry (shdf). However, Dahui was not unique here, as the variousdistinguished teachers of his time (incl Yunw Kqn) were of the same disposition: see Buswell 1987: 323. On the

shidafu(shih-ta-fu), see Watanabe, Local shih-ta-fu in the Sung, 1986.81See Urs App,Master Yunmen, 1994.82Probably what is known assavegain early Buddhism: see Mah,parinibbna S (D 16.5.8/2:140) + SD 9

Intro (7c), and alsoAtammayat = SD 19.13 (6.1.2).83See Levering, Da-hui Zong-gao and Zhang Shang-ying, 2000b.84In our own times, we could hear such a remark from a zealous young Buddhist speaker, as Venerable so-and-

so is a highly attained teacherhe is able to remember my name, after meeting me only once!85See Levering, Chan enlightenment for laymen, 1978: 24 f; McRae 2003: 124 & n9; & Levering, The Edu-

cation of Ta-hui Tsung-kao, 2006.86Ziyong,Nianpu, Hsuan-ho 7th year, p 18a.

5.1.3.2 Dhu Znggo(1089-1163)


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In the same year (1125), Dhu was awarded the purple robe (zy) [5.2.2.2] by Lushun, theMinister of the Right (yudchn).87The following year, however, the Jrchen Tartars (Nzhn) captured the Northern Sng88capital, Binjng(modern Kaifeng, Henan), along with the imperialhousehold. The capital was moved south, marking the beginning of the Southern Sng(Nn Sng1127-1279). Dhu also moved south and continued teaching both monks and laymen. It was at this timethat he began his severe criticisms of the Codng (Jap: St) school, ridiculing it as the heretical Chn

of silent illumination (mzho xichn).Dhus strong denunciation of the Codng school reminds us of Shnhus evangelical attacks on

Shnxi [5.2.1.2] and promoting Hunng in the 8thcentury [5.2.3.7]. However, while Shnhu wasagainst a wholeschool(the Northern school), Dhu, however, only attacked a meditationsystemhewas against sitting meditationand in its place promoted thegngn. However, there is an importantsimilarity in both cases: their denunciations (which are documented) were aimed at attracting attentionand legitimization to their own lineage by gaining the support of the gentry and literati.89

As an accomplished intellectual priest, Dhu became very popular with the literati and gentry, aswell as Chn priests. In 1137, at the age of 49, the Southern Sng prime minister, ZhngJn, a pupilof Dhu, appointed him as abbot of Jng shnmonastery in the Southern Sng capital of Lnn(west of Hngzhu). Within a few years his community grew to two thousand, and among his layfollowers were many high ranking officials. Dhu became the acknowledged Buddhist leader of the

Southern Sng dynasty.(Yu 1979: 216)His connections with the gentry would be his own undoing (for a while, anyway). A high official he

was close toa follower named Zhng Jichng90fell out of favour with the new prime minis-ter, and consequently Dhu, too, lost his imperial honors and ordination certificate (he was laicized). In1141 (at 52) he escaped to Hngzhu(inHnn), where he was caught, and exiled to live withthe army at Jichng, living there for 14 years.91

87The 3rdhighest court rank of feudal China and Japan, who was in charge of military affairs, justice, the treasury,and the imperial privy.

88Bi Sng(960-1127).The emperor then was Huzng(1082-1135; r1100-1125), a great patron ofthe arts and a great artist himself, but an indulgent Daoist romantic. The Sng joined forces with the Jurchen Tartarsto defeat the Liao. After the Liao were defeated, the Jurchens turned on Sng. Huizong abdicated, leaving the critic-al state of affairs in the hands of his largely unprepared son, Qnzng(, 1100-1161; r1126-1127). The Jurchencaptured the capital, Kaifeng, and took the two emperors and their families prisoners, exiling them to Manchuria.Gozng (1107-1187; r1127-1162), the only son of Huzng was away from Kaifeng, thus spared capture, fledsouth and set up the Southern Sng (1126-1279).

89Dhus attacks against the Codngsitting meditation is reminiscent of the virulent reactions of the 20th-centscholar monks of Vajirrma , Colombo (Sri Lanka)esp Soma Thera, Kassapa Thera, and Kheminda Therawhocastigated [Mahsis Sri Lankan] centers for teaching unorthodox methods that threatened the true Dhamma andendangered both the institution of Buddhism and Buddhist themselves (George D Bond, The Buddhist Revival inSri Lanka,1988: 163). What is interesting here is that these scholar monks were notmeditation teachers at all, andtheir rhetoric was an worried reaction against the phenomenal success of Mahasis methods which (as in Shnhusand Dhus cases), could (and probably did) divert fundsand followers away from them. See also Robert Sharf1995: 263-265, 256.

90Zhang was a vice-president belonging to a party of courtiers who advocated war at the borders, and who hadoffended Qngu, the leader of the peace faction. According to one account, Dahui himself was the direct causeof this catastrophe. In order to celebrate Zhng jichngs deep understanding of Buddhism, Dahui gave a speciallecture at his monastery on Jing Shan where he made reference to the Bow of the Divine Arm (shnbgng) as a figure of speech. However, there was border unrest at that time and this very weapon was under discussion for

possible use in the campaign. Qingui thought that Dahui was purposely ridiculing the court and as such laicized andbanished him to Hengzhou. See Shsh jgljun4 (T49.889).Dhu Ninp, Shoxng,11th year, pp 40b-41a.

91Now called Hngyng(), the second largest city of Chinas Hunan Province.


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When he reached 62, he was transferred to Mixin(present-day Mizhu, NE Gungdng), then notorious for plagues and bad weather, and lived there for five years. Some fifty of Dhuspriests died there in a plague (Ferguson 2000: 441). Throughout these difficult years, Dhu continuedteaching the Lnj tradition, attracting both gentry and commoners. Finally, in 1155, Dhu (at 77) waspardoned and allowed to return to his former monastery at Jng shnwhere he continued teaching until hedied five years later in 1163. Zhngjn, his pupil who made him abbot of the Jng shnmonastery, eulog-

ized, aptly in worldly Sng language, that he had the will of a loyal subject and the heart of a compass-ionate bodhisattva. Unlike the Hnayna sravakas and pratyeka-buddhas, he is not tired of samsara and hedoes not selfishly desire nirvana.92

Dhu wrote only one work, a collection of koans of preceding Chn masters, entitledZhngfynzng(the Treasury of the True Dharma Eye).93He also compiled with a fellow monk named Ta-kuei, a work entitled, Chnln boxn(Jewel Teachings of the Chn Monastic Tradition), ananthology of instructions of Chn abbots on the virtues and ideals of monastic life. His sermons and let-ters were collected by his disciples into thirtyjuan, entitledDhu pju chnsh yl(T1998).

DHUS WOMEN DISCIPLES.A significant contribution of Dhu is that he not only gave Dharmatransmission to the nun Miodo(fl 1134-1155?),94but also designated her as his primary Dharmaheir. Although Miodo was not the first woman Chn master, she was the first who was historically

documented. It is said that she lived as a laywoman in a monastery for a while. Her Chn enlightenmentin 1134 had a great impact on Dhus teaching. A few stories about her illustrate the fear that monks hadof sex and how this held them back: she once appeared naked in the meditation-hall (chntng;Jap:zendo) in order to show them that the disturbance was in their own minds. She received imperialapproval to be a teacher and abbot, and was eventually ordained.95

Dhu had another nun pupil, Miozng(alias Wzh1095-1170),96ordained in 1162, whowas also outspoken and controversial. From 1163 (a year after ordination) to her death,she was abbess ofZshununnery, in Pngjingprefecture(Pngjing f, Szhuin Jiangsu). She also receiv-ed the purple robe.97Both women were recorded in the imperially sanctioned lineage text, Essentials ofthe Society of Linked Lamps (Lindng huyo).98

5.1.3.3DHU ZNGGOANDKNHUCHN. Tng-dynasty Chn and Sng-dynasty Chn were verydifferent in character.99Doctrinally, Tng Chn taught intrinsic enlightenment (bnjumn),while Sng Chn taught experiential [acquired] enlightenment (shjumn). The seeker of ex-periential enlightenment, having awakened from delusion, went on to cultivate or experience enlighten-

92Ninpu, Shao-hsing 26th year, p 52b.93Cf 5.1.27 where it is a tt. This work is different from the better known Treasury of the True Dharma Eye or

Shbgenzof Dgen, the St Zen patriarch (1200-1253), which is 95-fasc collection on Zen practice and enlight-enment: seehttp://scbs.stanford.edu/sztp3/translations/shobogenzo/translations/zanmai_o_zanmai/translation.html.[5.1.2.4n]

94She was daughter of Hung Shng(1044-1130), Minister of Rites to emperor Huizong just after his acces-

sion in 1101; later Prefect of Fuzhou (1111-1118). See Levering, Miao-tao and her teacher Ta-hui, 1999: 190-193.95Miriam Leveringhas done groundbreaking research on Miaodaoand on the role of women in Chn Buddhism(Miao-tao and her teacher Ta-hui, 1999).

96She was grand-daughter of prime minister Su Sung (1020-1101), and married scholar-official Hs Shou-yan(du). In her 30s, she lost interest in worldly affairs, and studied under many Chn masters before meeting Dhu.

97See Chia-tai pu-teng lu(TX137.136b617-137a8); also Wu-teng hui-yan (TX138.401b10-402a2), compiledby the Yan Nien-chang (1280-1323), with detailed dates of Miazongs ordination and death (see T49.700b7-c25).See Bernard Faure, The Power of Denial,2003: 131.

98Miozng (TX136.362d-363c) & Miodo (TX363c-364a). See Levering 1999: 189.99On the Sng emphasis on the literary (wn), see [5.1.2.2].
http://dharmafarer.net/http://dharmafarer.net/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sh%C5%8Db%C5%8Dgenz%C5%8Dhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sh%C5%8Db%C5%8Dgenz%C5%8Dhttp://scbs.stanford.edu/sztp3/translations/shobogenzo/translations/zanmai_o_zanmai/translation.htmlhttp://scbs.stanford.edu/sztp3/translations/shobogenzo/translations/zanmai_o_zanmai/translation.htmlhttp://scbs.stanford.edu/sztp3/translations/shobogenzo/translations/zanmai_o_zanmai/translation.htmlhttp://scbs.stanford.edu/sztp3/translations/shobogenzo/translations/zanmai_o_zanmai/translation.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sh%C5%8Db%C5%8Dgenz%C5%8Dhttp://dharmafarer.net/


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ment. This practice was unique to Sng Chn and is referred to as phrase-observing meditation (kn-huchn)100[5.5.2.3], made famous by Dhu Znggo.

Dhu exerted a very strong influence in Korean Seon through the works of Jinul(Zhn, 1158-1210) and Japanese Zen through Dgen(Doyun, 1200-1253) [5.1.2.4]. Dhu often used the fam-ous koan on Zhozhus Dog, the very first one in the Wmngun101[5.1.2.8]

Zhozhuhshang,ynsng wn A monk asked the monk Zhozhu: Guzihiyufxng y w Has a dog the Buddha-nature or not? Zhu yn:W Zhu answered, Wu!

(Y Zhozhu guzi;Wmnguncase 1)

Zhozhus Dog is an excellent example showing that koans only work, or work best, with theChinese or Chinese-based languages (those of East Asia). This koan is best used in the original Chineseversion, if any Chn enlightenment is to be experienced. The huatouis in the word w, which should notbe translated. Having understood the koan, we then simply let the wsettle into our consciousness. Themind will open to it just like that.102

The purpose of the koan is to break the mental mould of thought constructions or mental rut causedby language. The reason is clear: the pictographic nature of the Chinese language easily reifies an idea

[2.6-2.7], and at least in pre-modern times, not suited for abstract thinking [2.7.1], unlike an alphabet-based language (like Sanskrit and Pali). Understandably, pre-modern Chinese civilization was betterknown for its practical philosophical and scientific ideas rather than abstract philosophy or religions.

Dhus style of instruction using koans profoundly influenced all the Lnj (Jap: Rinzai) teachersafter him both in China and Japan. Although he viewed koan practice as the most effective way to Chnenlightenment, he saw this practice in his time as becoming a superficial literary study. In a characteristic-ally Chn fashion, he ordered the suppression of his own teachers masterly collection of koans, the BlueCli ff Record(Byn l; Jap: Hekiganroku)103[5.5.1], burning all copies and the wooden printingblocks, effectively taking the venerated text out of circulation for the next two centuries.

If we follow Dhus track record so far, it is not difficult to see hisbook-burning as being less thanmagnanimous. Book-burning had occurred before in Chinathe most notorious being the one ordered bythe first emperor, Qn Sh Hung(259-210 BCE), who, to silence critics of his autocratic

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40b.5 Transmission Outside the Scriptures

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