Historical Dictionary of Chan Buddhism

by Youru Wang

  Keqin’s sermons, informal talks (xiaocan), written instructions (fayu), verses, and commentaries on gong’an were collected by his disciples in a 20-fascicle text, Yuanwu Fuguo Chanshi Yulu, in addition to his Biyan Lu. Keqin’s contribution to the gong’an literature and the practice of using gong’an were remarkable. He has been seen as a precursor to the kanhua Chan, which was developed by his disciple, Dahui Zonggao. However, Keqin was more concerned with the intuitive or non-conceptualizing way of using gong’an as living words (huoju) and understanding the meaning beyond the words. He did not go so far, unlike Dahui, as to emphasize meditating on a single phrase of a gong’an (huatou) and to see it as the only practice that could lead to enlightenment.

  YUANYING (1878–1953)

  A Chan master during modern times, Yuanying was a native of Gutian in Fujian. His family name was Wu, and his dharma name was Hongwu. He lost his parents in his youth and was raised by his uncle. At the age of 19, he entered his monastic life at Yongquan Temple on Mount Gu of Fuzhou, and he was ordained under the master Miaolian (d.u.) the following year. He then studied with the Chan master Yankai (1852–1922) at Tianning Temple in Changzhou for four years and with Jing’an at Tiantong Temple in Ningbo for six years. He also studied the Tiantai doctrines with Daojie (1870–1934), Dixian (1858–1932), and others. In 1906, he became the dharma heir of the Linji master Ciyun (1826–1910) at the Temple of Seven Pagodas in Ningbo.

  From the age of 31, he lectured at various places including Fujian, Zhejiang, Beijing, and Southeast Asia, and took abbacy at a number of famous monasteries, including Tiantong Temple in Ningbo, Xuefeng Temple and Yongquan Temple in Fuzhou, Yuanming Lecture House in Shanghai, and Jile Temple in Malaysia. In 1929, Yuanying and Taixu established the Association of Chinese Buddhism, and Yuanying was elected its president seven times. During World War II, Yuanying was very active in fund-raising and organizing Buddhist temples to aid the Chinese troops’ fight against the Japanese invasion. He was put in jail and tortured by Japanese troops in Shanghai and led a hunger strike against that treatment. In 1945, he established the Yuanming College of Specialization in the Lengyan Jing in Shanghai. In 1953, he became the president of the newly organized Association of Chinese Buddhism. He left behind 20 works, which were collected into the Yuanying Fahui (Collected Works of Dharma of Yuanying). He was a well-known expert in the study of the Lengyan Jing. His synthesis of Chan and the doctrines, Chan and Pure Land, and his practice of Buddhist activism are part of his enduring legacy.

  YULIN TONGXIU (1614–1675)

  A Chan master of the Linji school in the early Qing dynasty, Tongxiu was a native of Jiangyin in present-day Jiangsu. His family name was Yang. At the age of 19, he entered his monastic life, was ordained by his teacher Tianyin Yuanxiu (1575–1635), and received the dharma transmission from Yuanxiu. At the age of 23, he became the abbot of Bao’en Temple at Wukang in present-day Zhejiang. In 1658, he was invited by Emperor Shunzhi (r. 1643–1661) to preach at the Palace of Ten Thousand Goodness and was granted the title “Chan Master of Great Awakening” (Dajue Chanshi). In 1660, Emperor Shunzhi further appointed him National Teacher (guoshi). In his work [Answering] Questions from Guests (Ke Wen), which reflected his teaching activities at the imperial court, Tongxiu conveyed the perspective of maintaining the transcendent spirit with a strong this-worldly orientation by explaining that, from emperor to commoner, every person can realize one’s own nature, if one can fully understand the world, be cautious with the world, and detach oneself from the world. Tongxiu is famous for practicing the Confucian virtue of filial love (xiao) by building a hut for his widowed mother next to his temple to take care of her. His teachings were preserved in the Recorded Sayings of National Teacher Yulin Tongxiu of 12 fascicles. However, it was reported that he was involved in occupying a Chan temple and driving out the Caodong monks by using his privileged relationship with the government, which caused much criticism.

  YULU

  The most common English translation of this Chinese term is “recorded sayings” or “record of sayings.” It designates a genre of literary text that recorded a teacher’s, or a master’s, spoken words, oral instructions, and conversations with others, by someone who was present at the occasion, in most circumstances, a student. Although a text of yulu was compiled by a listener and attributed to the speaker, it was on principle distinguished from any authored written texts. The origin of the yulu genre in Chinese literary culture can be tracked back to Confucius’s Analects (Lunyu), which is the record of the words of Confucius and therefore could be seen as the earliest text of a yulu.

  Many Chan texts used the title yulu, and the yulu is one of the best-known genres of Chan literature. Although the Song Gaoseng Zhuan (The Song Edition of Biographies of Eminent Monks) from 988 included the earliest mention of the yulu of individual Chan masters, the Jingde Chuandeng Lu, from 1004, acknowledged for the first time the use of selected materials from the yulu texts of various regions for its own editorial purposes. It is quite clear that around the beginning of the 11th century, Chan yulu texts had been widely circulating. Many yulu texts also went by other names such as yuben, yanjiao, guangyu, guanglu, bielu, and yuyao. By the end of the Song, several hundred had emerged, and the number continued to grow. Contemporary scholars believe that the yulu of many famous Tang Chan masters that were published in the Song could have been based on materials that originated in the Tang. However, it was only in the Song that the yulu came into its own as a mature and favored genre and became a critical component in Chan’s formation of identity and a vital factor in the success of Chan Buddhism.

  A typical or mature yulu text contained two basic elements of recorded oral teachings and biographical information. Oral teachings mainly were public sermons and encounter dialogues. Biographical information was often placed in the section of xinglu (record of activities). Some yulu texts also included written letters, treatises, and poems (jisong). In modern scholarship, the yulu is not defined as a distinctive genre of Chan literature, but rather is used broadly to refer to all Chan texts. Contemporary scholarship has now started to separate the yulu from other genres of Chan literature. According to a more recent study of the yulu literature in the Song, there were two general types of the yulu text. The first is called “yulu proper.” It usually included an individual master’s conventional oral instructions, such as sermons and encounter dialogues, recorded by disciples. A great number of such “yulu proper” texts exist, but most of them have no independent editions, such as the Jiangxi Mazu Daoyi Chanshi Yulu (often called Mazu Yulu). The second is called “yulu collections.” Such collections existed as independent works with yulu (sometimes guanglu or simply lu) in their titles. The yulu collections included not only the texts of yulu proper, but also sometimes a few authored written texts by the Chan master himself, which were not records at all, such as those in the Hongzhi Lu. These yulu collections of individual masters could also be placed together in a larger compilation, while still maintaining the emphasis on individual masters, such as in the Mazu Sija Lu (the extant Ming edition titled Sijia Yulu), a collection of the four masters Mazu, Baizhang, Huangbo, and Linji, and in the Guzunsu Yulu, a collection of 20 masters’ recorded sayings. Thus, the genre of yulu collections is distinguished from the genre of the transmission of the lamp literature or the lamp histories, which placed emphasis on lineages rather than on individual masters, even though they may have been partly based on some individual yulu. Furthermore, any single-authored written Chan work cannot be counted simply as a yulu text in terms of this definition of the yulu genre, unless it has been part of a yulu collection.

  YUMO BU’ER

  The Chinese words here mean “speaking and silence are non-dualistic.” This is an important but neglected classical Chan notion on the use of language, found in Huangbo Xinyun’s Wanling Lu and expressed similarly by other Chan masters. The non-duality of speaking and silence avoids establishing any hierarchical relationship between the two sides and makes it illegitimate t
o privilege silence over speaking, or vice versa. The notion sees speaking and silence as mutually conditioned, involved, and exchangeable rather than isolated, independent, and exclusive of each other. As a result, the clear-cut demarcation between silence and speaking is obscured. Silence is seen to play a role in communication and expression; speaking is found to be able to practice its self-erasing, to work on the limits of speaking, or to be against the inadequacy of speaking itself. This helps develop new strategies for Chan communication to better serve its soteriological purposes and avoid misleading people and any reification of Buddhist teaching. Based on this non-duality, Huangbo Xiyun made his famous paradoxical statement that the Buddha never stops speaking, and that, though the Buddha has spoken for 45 years, he virtually never says a word.

  See also .

  YUNJU DAOYING (?–902)

  A Chan master in the Tang dynasty and the disciple of Dongshan Liangjie, Daoying was a native of Yutian (in present-day Hebei). His family name was Wang. He entered his monastic life in his youth and was ordained in Tingshou Temple in Fanyang at the age of 25. After finding out that he had no interest in the study of precepts, he decided to study Chan. At first, he stayed with the Chan master Wuxue (d.u.) on Mount Cuiwei for three years. Having learned of the fame of Dongshan Liangjie, he became Liangjie’s disciple, and his realization was verified by his teacher. Liangjie named him the leader of his disciples. After leaving Liangjie, Daoying went to Jie Hermitage on Three Peaks to practice and preach. Later, he lived on Mount Yunju in Jiangxi for 30 years. His activities were supported by the Zhongling monarch Zhongchuan (?–906) and the general Chengrui (?–903). Daoying had more than 1,000 followers and 28 dharma heirs. The unbroken continuation of the Caodong school relied essentially on Daoying’s lineage.

  YUNMEN GUANGLU

  Short title for the Chinese text Yunmen Kuangzhen Chanshi Guanglu (The Extended Records of Chan Master Yunmen KuangZhen). It is the main source for the teaching of Master Yunmen Wenyan, the founder of the Yunmen School. Contemporary scholars consider it to be a relatively reliable Chan text. The oldest extant edition is included in a Song collection of Chan yulu called Guzunsu Yulu (Record of the Sayings of Old Worthies), dated from 1267, more than 300 years after Yunmen’s death. However, this edition includes three prefaces written for some earlier but lost editions of the Guanglu. One of the prefaces indicates that the earliest lost edition dates back to 1035. Moreover, the earliest stone inscription from Yunmen’s monastery, dated from 959, has mentioned recording and circulating Yunmen’s words. Zutang Ji (Patriarch’s Hall Collection), dated from 952 (three years after Yunmen’s death), also contains a considerable amount of material about Yunmen, while material in later texts of the transmission of the lamp literature underwent more editorial alteration. Although scholars cannot decide how close the extant edition is to the original words of Yunmen, a critical study of this text has been undertaken by comparing its contents with other available early texts to determine its reliability.

  The extant oldest edition of Yunmen Guanglu includes three fascicles. The first fascicle consists of 320 cases under the title “Responses to Occasions.” Among them, about 50 are sermons of various lengths. Others are dialogues. Scholars believe that this part includes the oldest materials of the recorded sayings of Yunmen. The fascicle also includes some verses attributed to Yunmen. The second fascicle includes 185 cases of more informal instructions, including commentary on old stories, under the title “Essential Words from inside the [Master’s] Room,” and 290 cases of “Statements with Answers in Place of the Audience.” The third fascicle includes “Critical Examinations” and “Pilgrimage Record.” The latter shows clear signs of later editorial work. The fascicle also has other related documents. The whole text was edited by Yuanjue Zongyan (d.u.), a Chan master in the eighth generation of the Yunmen lineage. However, the above-mentioned earlier and lost editions have different editors.

  YUNMEN SANJU

  Original Chinese expression for “three kinds of sentence of Yunmen,” which describes the three characteristics of the teaching style and methods of the Yunmen school, founded by Yunmen Wenyan. The first sentence is called “permeating heaven and earth,” which refers to the inclusive and penetrating nature of the Yunmen school’s teachings and is based on the realization that all things in the universe are the manifestations of Buddha-nature or true suchness without ever hindering each other. The second sentence is “cutting through all streams [of delusion],” which means to vigorously and ruthlessly cut off all conventional ways of thinking and dualistic conceptualizing. The third sentence is “following the waves and adapting to the currents,” which symbolizes the therapeutic function and skillful adaptation of the teachings to all situations of students. These three characterizations reveal the primary context of many concrete examples of this school’s teaching style and pedagogical means, which are preserved in the records of Yumen and his disciples, although they themselves are open to different interpretations, due to their highly suggestive and indirect nature.

  YUNMEN SCHOOL (Ch. Yunmen zong)

  Named after the late Tang and Five Dynasties Chan master Yunmen Wenyan, this is one of the “five houses” of Chinese Chan Buddhism, which emerged during the Five Dynasties and became popular in the Song dynasty. The distinguished teaching style and methods of this school (menting shishe), influenced by its founder Yunmen, are traditionally described by the formula “three kinds of sentence of Yunmen (Yunmen Sanju).” The formula characterizes the inclusive and penetrating nature of the teachings, which are based on the realization that all things in the universe are the manifestations of Buddha-nature or true suchness without ever hindering each other. It also emphasizes vigorously cutting off all conventional ways of dualistic thinking and conceptualizing. Finally, it highlights the therapeutic function and adaptation of the teachings to all kinds of situations of students.

  Concrete examples of the methods include not only physical actions of chasing, beating, and hitting objects with a staff, but also using paradox, irony, sarcasm, tautology, and vulgar vocabulary to produce shock effects and present the greatest challenge to students. One of the famous methods is the “one-word barrier (yiziguan),” in which no matter what kind of question is being posed, the answer is just one word. Elusive and beyond simply negative or positive expressions, this is a strategy to use the fewest words to overcome the limitation of words. Yunmen himself was also a precursor in the use of gong’an, and many of his remarks became gong’an for later generations. The school’s prosperity during the Song has much to do with its contribution to the use of gong’an.

  Yunmen’s disciples were all over south China. The Jingde Chuandeng Lu counted 61 main disciples among them, including Baiyun Zixiang (d.u.), Deshan Yuanmi (d.u.), Xianglin Chengyuan (908–987), and Dongshan Shouchu. Deshan Yuanmi’s line generated Fori Qisong, who was famous in refuting Confucian scholars’ attacks on Buddhism by authoring his Essays in Assisting the Teachings of Buddhism (Fujiao Bian). Xianglin Chengyuan’s line brought about Xuedou Chongxian, whose Verses on One Hundred Old Cases (Songgu Baize) was an important development of the gong’an literature. These and other great masters contributed to the prosperity of the school in the Northern Song, including its spread from south to north and into the capital, Kaifeng. The school began to decline during the Southern Song and did not survive after Song.

  YUNMEN TEMPLE (Ch. Yunmen Si)

  Located on Mount Yunmen in Ruyuan County in present-day Guangdong Province in China, it was built in 923 during the Five Dynasties by Yunmen Wenyan, the founder of the Yunmen school, and originally called Guangtai Chan Temple. Later, its name was changed to Zhengzhen Temple, Dajue Temple, and finally Yunmen Temple. Because Yunmen Wenyan established his own school here, it was regarded as the temple of the patriarch of Yunmen (Yunmen zuting). In 1943, the abbot Xuyun rebuilt the temple, and it was greatly enlarged. The temple preserved two stone inscriptions about Yunmen Wenyan, written in 958 and 964, which have provided important informa
tion for the study of Yunmen Wenyan, his school, and its social environment. During the early 1990s, the temple underwent another renovation and expansion.

  YUNMEN WENYAN (864–949)

  A prominent Chan master in the late Tang dynasty and the Five Dynasties, he was considered the founder of the Yunmen school, one of the “five houses” of Chinese Chan Buddhism. Born into a family of Zhang in Jiaxing in present-day Zhejiang Province, he started his monastic life in the Kongwang temple of his hometown at an early age, concentrating on the study of Buddhist precepts. On his journey seeking great masters, he met Muzhou Daozong (d.u.), who was also known as Chen Zunsu, a legendarily bizarre disciple of the famous Huangbo Xiyun, and this encounter triggered his enlightenment. Several years later, on Muzhou’s recommendation, he moved on to study with the renowned Xuefeng Yicun. In his late 30s, Yunmen left Yicun and continued to visit many other masters.

  In 919, at the age of 55, he became the abbot of Lingshu temple in Shaoguan in present-day Guangdong Province, acquiring the full support of Emperor Liu Yan (r. 917–942) of the Southern Han. Later, Yunmen and his disciples built another temple, with imperial permission, at Mount Yunmen, with which his name was forever connected. He taught there for two dacades. He also received a number of imperial titles, including “Master of Genuine Truth” (Kuangzhen Dashi). According to the Jingde Chuandeng Lu, Yunmen had 61 main disciples, including Deshan Yuanmi (d.u.), whose lineage produced Fori Qisong, and Xianglin Chengyuan (908–987), whose lineage produced Xuedou Chongxian. Several generations of Yunmen’s disciples were active and made the Yunmen school quite popular during the Five Dynasties and Northern Song, although the school did not survive past the Song.