Fǎyún Fǎxiù () or Fǎyún Yuántōng ( ) was a

Chan Chan may refer to: Places *Chan (commune), Cambodia *Chan Lake, by Chan Lake Territorial Park in Northwest Territories, Canada People *Chan (surname), romanization of various Chinese surnames (including 陳, 曾, 詹, 戰, and 田) *Chan Caldwel ...

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

monk of

Song Dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

China. A follower of the

Yunmen School Yunmen Wenyan (c. 860–949) was a Zen Buddhist master. Yunmen may also refer to: *Yunmen school of Chan Buddhism, named after Yunmen Wenyan *Yunmen, an acupuncture point on the lung meridian * Yunmen Subdistrict () of Hechuan District, Chongqing ...

, Faxiu had many friends among the educated elite, including scholars, writers, and painters, such as

Huang Tingjian Huang Tingjian (; 1045–1105) was a Chinese calligrapher, painter, and poet of the Song dynasty. He is predominantly known as a calligrapher, and is also admired for his painting and poetry. He was one of the Four Masters of the Song Dynasty () ...

Su Shi Su Shi (; 8 January 1037 – 24 August 1101), courtesy name Zizhan (), art name Dongpo (), was a Chinese calligrapher, essayist, gastronomer, pharmacologist, poet, politician, and travel writer during the Song dynasty. A major personality of ...

, Wang Shen,

Wang Anshi Wang Anshi ; ; December 8, 1021 – May 21, 1086), courtesy name Jiefu (), was a Chinese economist, philosopher, poet, and politician during the Song dynasty. He served as chancellor and attempted major and controversial socioeconomic reforms k ...

, and

Li Gonglin Li Gonglin (李公麟, 1049–1106), style name ''Boshi'' (), art name Longmian Jushi (龍眠居士, Householder of Sleeping Dragon), was a Chinese antiquarian, painter, and politician during the Northern Song Dynasty. Born into a scholarly ...

. He is also remembered for a quotation recorded by his student

Changlu Zongze Changlu Zongze ( ) (died c. 1107) was a Chinese Chan Buddhism, Chan Buddhist monk noted for writing the ''Chanyuan Qinggui'', or ''The Rules of Purity in the Chan Monastery''. Written in 1103, it was the earliest comprehensive book of monastic rule ...

in the

Chanyuan Qinggui The ''Chanyuan qinggui'' (; ) or ''The Rules of Purity in the Chan Monastery'', is a highly influential set of rules for Zen monasteries compiled by the Chinese monk Changlu Zongze in 1103. Although many other monastic codes aimed at the Zen school ...

, or ''The Rules of Purity in the Chan Monastery''. In that influential text, he is quoted as saying that practitioners who meditate with closed eyes are in the "ghostly cave under the dark mountain". Dahong Baoen, a student of

Touzi Yiqing Touzi Yiqing (; ), sometimes also Touzi Qing Huayan, was a Zen Buddhist monk during the early Song Dynasty. Biography Touzi Yiqing was born in a city known at the time as Qingshe, which is near the present-day city of Yanshi in Henan Province. An ...

, is said to have practiced with Faxiu, who recognized his promise in Zen practice. Faxiu was a close friend of the Song Dynasty painter

, who depicted him in a painting called "Elegant Gathering in the Western Garden". As an apparently moralistic teacher, Faxiu taught his lay students in terms of karmic retribution, and he specifically urged Gonglin to give up painting horses lest he be reborn as one. Faxiu suggested he should instead repent by painting the Bodhisattva of compassion, Avalokiteśvara. He also was in contact with

, whose writing he criticized for its "seductive language". Juefan Huihong, a contemporary monk, recorded that Faxiu had a famously bad temper. He wrote of Faxiu:

...he had a severe, cold expression. is imposingrage ives the impression thathe would spit aterat people. In his life he regarded cursing as the business of Buddhism.

In 1084, Faxiu was appointed to be the first abbot of Fayun Chan Monastery by Emperor Shenzong of Song, which is the origin of the "Fayun" in his name. The Great Hall there was furnished with the help of his friends, with

providing the inscription for the great bell, and Li Gonglin sculpting the main Buddha image. The ''Conglin shengshi'', or ''Glorious matters from the monasteries'', written in 1199 by

Guyue Daorong Zhongguyue () is a township-level division of Pingshan County, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China. See also *List of township-level divisions of Hebei *Guyue Bridge The Guyue Bridge () is an arch bridge located in Yiwu, Zhejiang province, China. In ...

, presents a supposed dialogue between Faxiu and his teacher Tianyi Yihuai. In it, Yihuai asks Faxiu what the essence of the

Avatamsaka Sutra The ' (IAST, sa, 𑀅𑀯𑀢𑀁𑀲𑀓 𑀲𑀽𑀢𑁆𑀭) or ''Buddhāvataṃsaka-nāma-mahāvaipulya-sūtra (The Mahāvaipulya Sūtra named “Buddhāvataṃsaka”)'' is one of the most influential Mahāyāna sutras of East Asian B ...

is, to which Faxiu replies "

dharmadhatu Dharmadhatu (Sanskrit) is the 'dimension', 'realm' or 'sphere' (dhātu) of the Dharma or Absolute Reality. Definition In Mahayana Buddhism, dharmadhātu ( bo, chos kyi dbyings; ) means "realm of phenomena", "realm of truth", and of the noumenon ...

". Yihuai then asks what the essence of dharmadhatu is. Faxiu responds "

Mind The mind is the set of faculties responsible for all mental phenomena. Often the term is also identified with the phenomena themselves. These faculties include thought, imagination, memory, will, and sensation. They are responsible for various m ...

". Unrelenting, Yihuai asks what the essence of Mind is, to which Faxiu finds himself unable to respond. Faxiu later traveled to the Longmian Mountains to practice with Fushan Fayuan.

References

{{Reflist Song dynasty Buddhist monks 1027 births 1090 deaths