![Chan Master Hanshan Deqing Ming Dynasty](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/Chan_Master_Hanshan_Deqing_Ming_Dynasty.png)
Hānshān Déqīng () (1546–1623), formerly transliterated Han-Shan Te-Ch’ing, was a leading
Buddhist monk and poet of
Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peo ...
China who widely propagated the teachings of
Chán
Chan (; of ), from Sanskrit '' dhyāna'' (meaning " meditation" or "meditative state"), is a Chinese school of Mahāyāna Buddhism. It developed in China from the 6th century CE onwards, becoming especially popular during the Tang and ...
and
Pure Land Buddhism
Pure Land Buddhism (; ja, 浄土仏教, translit=Jōdo bukkyō; , also referred to as Amidism in English,) is a broad branch of Mahayana Buddhism focused on achieving rebirth in a Buddha's Buddha-field or Pure Land. It is one of the most wid ...
.
Life
According to his autobiography, Hanshan Deqing entered a monastic school in
Nanjing
Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...
’s Bao’en temple at the age of twelve. While there he studied literature as well as religious subjects and began writing poetry when he was 17. Two years later he was ordained as a Chan monk under the Buddhist name of Cheng Yin. When the monastery burned down in 1566, he busied himself for some years in keeping the community together and raising money for repairs. Then in 1571 he set out as a religious wanderer, going from monastery to monastery in search of instruction and growing in meditative attainment. After four years he settled on
Mount Wutai but by 1583 he had become famous as a Buddhist Master and set out travelling to remote areas again. It was at this time that he prefixed his name with that of Hanshan Peak so as to return to anonymity.
In consequence of having organized a successful ceremony to ensure the birth of a male heir to the throne while he was still at Mount Wutai, Hanshan obtained the patronage of the emperor's mother. With her support he was able eventually to establish a new monastery at
Mount Lao
Mount Lao, or Laoshan (), is a mountain located near the East China Sea on the southeastern coastline of the Shandong Peninsula in China. The mountain is culturally significant due to its long affiliation with Taoism and is often regarded as on ...
on the coast of the
Shandong Peninsula
The Shandong (Shantung) Peninsula or Jiaodong (Chiaotung) Peninsula is a peninsula in Shandong Province in eastern China, between the Bohai Sea to the north and the Yellow Sea to the south. The latter name refers to the east and Jiaozhou.
Geo ...
. But when relations between the
Wanli Emperor
The Wanli Emperor (; 4 September 1563 – 18 August 1620), personal name Zhu Yijun (), was the 14th Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigned from 1572 to 1620. "Wanli", the era name of his reign, literally means "ten thousand calendars". He was th ...
and his mother broke down over the choice of heir, Hanshan was caught in a conflict which also included tensions between
Daoists
Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the '' Tao ...
and Buddhists. In 1595, he was put on trial and imprisoned, then afterwards exiled to the
Guangdong
Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...
area. While there, he made himself socially useful and also helped restore
Nanhua Temple
Nanhua Temple () is a Buddhist monastery of the Chan Buddhism, one of Five Great Schools of Buddhism where Huineng, the Sixth Patriarch of Chan Buddhism, once lived and taught. It is located in the town of Maba (), Qujiang District, southeast ...
at Caoxi which, since the time that
Huineng
Dajian Huineng (); (February 27, 638 – August 28, 713), also commonly known as the Sixth Patriarch or Sixth Ancestor of Chan (traditional Chinese: 禪宗六祖), is a semi-legendary but central figure in the early history of Chinese Chan Buddhi ...
was entombed there, had been converted into a meat market. Some of the monks at the temple made a false accusation of embezzlement of the restoration funds against him and, though he was acquitted, he did not return there.
Between 1611 and 1622 Hanshan resumed his wanderings from monastery to monastery and also continued writing the religious expositions and commentaries he had begun during his exile. Shortly before his death in 1623 he returned south to Caoxi, where his body was eventually enshrined.
Religious teaching
Hanshan Deqing is regarded as one of the great reformers of
Chinese Buddhism
Chinese Buddhism or Han Buddhism ( zh, s=汉传佛教, t=漢傳佛教, p=Hànchuán Fójiào) is a Chinese form of Mahayana Buddhism which has shaped Chinese culture in a wide variety of areas including art, politics, literature, philosophy, ...
during the later Ming dynasty, renowned as a lecturer and commentator and admired for his strict adherence to the precepts. Like many of his contemporaries, he advocated the dual practice of the Chán and Pure Land methods and advocated the use of the ''
niànfó'' (念佛) technique to purify the mind for the attainment of self-realization. He also directed practitioners in the use of mantras, as well as scripture reading.
Regarding the use of meditation subjects, or ''gōng'àn'' (公案; Jp. ''
koan
A (; , ; ko, 화두, ; vi, công án) is a story, dialogue, question, or statement which is used in Zen practice to provoke the "great doubt" and to practice or test a student's progress in Zen.
Etymology
The Japanese term is the Sino-J ...
''), Deqing taught:
According to Jiang Wu, for Chan masters such as Hanshan Deqing, training through self-cultivation was encouraged, while clichéd or formulaic instructions were despised. Eminent monks who practiced meditation and asceticism without proper Dharma transmission were acclaimed as acquiring "wisdom without teacher." Jiang Wu writes that Deqing questioned the value of Dharma transmission and believed that the enlightenment of the mind was more important than nominal claims of transmission.
Writing
Hanshan Deqing's poetry is also made an instrument of religious instruction through the use of an elegant and accessible style. It spans from the long doctrinal reflection “Contemplating Mind” to
antithetical quatrains composed of balanced couplets:
::When the bow's stiff, its string is first to snap;
::The sharper a blade is, the easier to chip.
::Trouble results from a talkative tongue,
::Harmful deeds reflect a hardened heart.
Several of these poems describe the experience of meditation in the hard conditions of a mountain hermitage; others are moral in tone, counselling an attitude of acceptance and the way to social and inner harmony.
In addition, Hanshan was author of numerous discourses and commentaries.
An online selection
/ref>
Notes
Literature
* Hsu Sung-Peng (1979), ''A Buddhist Leader in Ming China. The Life and Thought of Han-shan Te-Ch'ing'', University Park and London: The Pennsylvania State University Press
* Cheung, Richard, trans. (1993)
''The Autobiography and Maxims of Master Han Shan''
Honolulu: Hsu Yun Temple; Hong Kong: H.K. Buddhist Book Distributors OCLC 473731126
* To, Lok (1993)
Pure Land of the Patriarchs, Zen Master Han-Shan Te Ch'ing
NY: Sutra Translation Committee of the USA and Canada
* Zhuang, Yunyan Hiu (2014)
''La pensée de Hanshan Deqing (1546-1623) : une lecture bouddhiste des textes confucéens et taoïstes''
Religions. Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales- INALCO PARIS - LANGUES O’, 2014. Français. NNT : 2014INAL0014. tel-01155109
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanshan, Deqing
Chan Buddhist monks
Chinese Zen Buddhists
Zen Buddhist spiritual teachers
1546 births
1623 deaths
Rinzai Buddhists