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Linji School
The Línjì school () is a school of Chan Buddhism named after Linji Yixuan (d. 866). It took prominence in Song dynasty, Song China (960–1279), spread to Japan as the Rinzai school and influenced the nine mountain schools of Korean Seon. History Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period (907–960/979 CE) Before the Song dynasty, the Linji school was rather obscure and very little is known about its early history. The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period () (907–960/979 CE) was an era of political upheaval between the fall of the Tang dynasty and the founding of the Song. During this period, five dynasties quickly succeeded one another in the north, and more than twelve independent states were established, of which only ten are traditionally listed. This division into various regions and kingdoms led to a diversification of Chan factions, reflected in the Five Houses of Chán. The Fayan school was especially influential in the Southern Tang (937-975) and Wuyue (907-978 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Statue Of Linji Yixuan
A, or a, is the first Letter (alphabet), letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''English alphabet#Letter names, a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes''. It is similar in shape to the Ancient Greek letter alpha, from which it derives. The uppercase version consists of the two slanting sides of a triangle, crossed in the middle by a horizontal bar. The lowercase version is often written in one of two forms: the double-storey and single-storey . The latter is commonly used in handwriting and fonts based on it, especially fonts intended to be read by children, and is also found in italic type. In English, ''English articles, a'' is the indefinite article, with the alternative form ''an''. Name In English, the name of the letter is the ''long A'' sound, pronounced . Its name in most other languages matches the letter's pronunciation in open syllables. History The earliest know ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hua Tou
''Hua Tou'' (simplified Chinese: 话头; traditional Chinese: 話頭, Korean: ''hwadu'', Japanese: ''watō'') is part of a form of Buddhist meditation known as ''Gongfu'' 工夫 (not to be confused with the Martial Arts 功夫) common in the teachings of Chan Buddhism, Korean Seon and Rinzai Zen. ''Hua Tou'' can be translated as 'word head', 'head of speech' or 'point beyond which speech exhausts itself'. A ''Hua Tou'' can be a short phrase that is used as a subject of meditation to focus the mind. Origins ''Hua Tou'' are based on the encounter-dialogues and ''koan'' of the interactions between past masters and students, but are shorter phrases than koans. The Hua Tou method was invented by the Chinese Zen master Dahui Zonggao (1089–1163) who was a member of the Linji school. Dahui was interested in teaching the lay community, particularly the educated Chinese scholar-officials. Support of those "literati" was essential for the survival of the individual lineages, since ap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Huangbo Xiyun
Huangbo Xiyun (, ) (died 850) was an influential master of Chan Buddhism during the Tang dynasty. He was part of the Hongzhou school of Chan founded by Mazu. Huangbo was a student of Baizhang Huaihai (720–814), and the teacher of Linji Yixuan (J. Rinzai) (died 866) (Wade–Giles: Lin-chi I-hsüan; Japanese: Rinzai Gigen). Biography Sources Very little about Huangbo's life is known for certain as, unlike other '' Transmission of the Lamp'' literature, there is no biographical information included with Huangbo's collection of sayings and sermons, the ''Chuanxin Fayao'' (傳心法要, "Essentials of Mind Transmission") and the ''Wanling Lu'' (宛陵錄, "Record of Wan-ling"; Japanese: ''Enryōroku''). He was born in Fuzhou, China. The records indicated that Huangbo was extraordinarily tall. Monastic life Huangbo began his monastic life on Mount Huangbo in Fujian province, receiving the Buddhist name Xiyun (Hsi-yun). As was the custom of the times, he traveled around seeking ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mazu Daoyi
Mazu Daoyi (709–788) (, Japanese: Baso Dōitsu) was an influential abbot of Chan Buddhism during the Tang dynasty. He is known as the founder of the Hongzhou school of Zen. The earliest recorded use of the term "Chan school" is from his ''Extensive Records''. He is most famously known for his two teaching statements: "This Mind is Buddha" (''jixin shi fo'') and "Ordinary Mind is the Way."Jinhua Jia (2012), ''The Hongzhou School of Chan Buddhism in Eighth- through Tenth-Century China,'' SUNY Press, pp. 67-68. Biography His family name was Ma – Mazu meaning ''Ancestor Ma'' or ''Master Ma''. He was born in 709 northwest of Chengdu in Sichuan. During his years as master, Mazu lived in Jiangxi, from which he took the name "Jiangxi Daoyi". In the '' Transmission of the Lamp'', compiled in 1004, Mazu is described as follows: According to the ''Transmission of the Lamp'', Mazu was a student of Nanyue Huairang (677-744) at Mount Heng in Hunan A story in the entry on Nanyue H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hongzhou School
The Hongzhou school () was a Chinese Chán, Chinese school of Chán of the Tang period (618–907), which started with Mazu Daoyi and included key figures Dazhu Huihai, Baizhang Huaihai, his student Huangbo Xiyun, Nanquan Puyuan and his student Zhaozhou Congshen. The name ''Hongzhou'' refers to the Tang dynasty province that was located in the northern part of present-day Jiangxi, Jiangxi province (the area around Nanchang). Mazu taught here during his last years and some of his disciples also taught in this region. During the Song dynasty (960–1279), many texts were written which constructed encounter dialogues that included Hongzhou school masters as the main characters. These texts present them as iconoclastic and antinomian figures. However, modern scholars do not consider these later Song sources as reliable depictions of these historical figures. History file:Youmin Si Buddhist Temple (30774310193).jpg, Youmin Temple in Nanchang, Mazu's main Hongzhou monastery during his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinese Writing
Written Chinese is a writing system that uses Chinese characters and other symbols to represent the Chinese languages. Chinese characters do not directly represent pronunciation, unlike letters in an alphabet or syllabograms in a syllabary. Rather, the writing system is ''morphosyllabic'': characters are one spoken syllable in length, but generally correspond to morphemes in the language, which may either be independent words, or part of a polysyllabic word. Most characters are constructed from smaller components that may reflect the character's meaning or pronunciation. Literacy requires the memorization of thousands of characters; college-educated Chinese speakers know approximately 4,000. This has led in part to the adoption of complementary transliteration systems (generally Pinyin) as a means of representing the pronunciation of Chinese. Chinese writing is first attested during the late Shang dynasty (), but the process of creating characters is thought to have begun centurie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinese Culture
Chinese culture () is one of the Cradle of civilization#Ancient China, world's earliest cultures, said to originate five thousand years ago. The culture prevails across a large geographical region in East Asia called the Sinosphere as a whole and is extremely diverse, with customs and traditions varying greatly between regions. The terms 'China' and the geographical landmass of 'China' have shifted across the centuries, before the name 'China' became commonplace. Chinese civilization is historically considered a dominant culture of East Asia. Chinese culture exerted profound influence on the philosophy, customs, politics, and traditions of Asia. Chinese characters, Chinese ceramics, ceramics, Chinese architecture, architecture, Chinese music, music, History of Chinese dance, dance, Chinese literature, literature, Chinese martial arts, martial arts, Chinese cuisine, cuisine, Chinese art, arts, Chinese philosophy, philosophy, etiquette, Religion in China, religion, Legalism (Chin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinese Literature
The history of Chinese literature extends thousands of years, and begins with the earliest recorded inscriptions, court archives, building to the major works of philosophy and history written during the Axial Age. The Han dynasty, Han (202 BC220 AD) and Tang dynasty, Tang (618–907 AD) dynasties were considered golden ages of poetry, while the Song dynasty, Song (960–1279) and Yuan dynasty, Yuan (1271–1368) were notable for their lyrics (''ci''), essays, dramas, and plays. During the Ming dynasty, Ming and Qing, mature novels were written in written vernacular Chinese, an evolution from the preeminence of Literary Chinese patterned off the language of the Chinese classics. The introduction of widespread woodblock printing during the Tang and the invention of movable type printing by Bi Sheng (990–1051) during the Song rapidly spread written knowledge throughout China. Around the turn of the 20th century, the author Lu Xun (1881–1936) is considered an influential voi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Transmission Of The Lamp
''The Jingde Record of the Transmission of the Lamp'' (), often referred to as ''The Transmission of the Lamp'', is a 30 volume work consisting of putative biographies of the Chan Buddhist and Zen Buddhist patriarchs and other prominent Buddhist monks. It was produced in the Song dynasty by Shi Daoyuan (). Other than the '' Anthology of the Patriarchal Hall'', it represents the first appearance of "encounter dialogues" in the Chan tradition, which in turn are the antecedents of the famous kōan stories. The word ''Jingde'' (), the first two characters of the title, refers to the reign name of Emperor Zhenzong of Song, which dates the work to between 1004 and 1007 CE. It is a primary source of information for the history of Chan Buddhism in China, although most scholars interpret the biographies as largely hagiography. The lives of the Zen masters and disciples are systematically listed, beginning with the first seven buddhas (Gautama Buddha is seventh in this list). The "Lamp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yunmen School
Yunmen Wenyan or Ummon (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 * Yunmen Dajuan (), a legendary ritual dance from the Yellow Emperor era, see Yayue ''Yayue'' () was a form of classical music and dance performed at the royal court and temples in ancient China. The basic conventions of ''yayue'' were established in the Western Zhou. Together with law and rites, it formed the formal represent ... and History of Chinese dance * Cloud Gate Dance Theater (), Taiwanese modern dance group {{Disambiguation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yunmen Wenyan
Yunmen Wenyan (; Romanization of Japanese, romaji: ''Ummon Bun'en''; 862 or 864 – 949 CE), was a major Chinese Chan Buddhism, Chan master of the Tang dynasty. He was a Dharma transmission, dharma-heir of Xuefeng Yicun. Yunmen founded the Yunmen school, one of the Five Houses of Chán, five major schools of Chán (Chinese Zen). The name is derived from ''Yunmen'' monastery of Shaoguan, Shaozhou where Yunmen was abbot. The Yunmen school flourished into the early Song Dynasty, with particular influence on the upper classes, and eventually culminating in the compilation and writing of the ''Blue Cliff Record''. The school would eventually be absorbed by the Linji school later in the Song. The lineage still lives on to this day through Chan Master Hsu Yun (1840–1959). Biography Early years Yunmen was born in the town of Jiaxing near Suzhou, Jiangsu, Suzhou and southwest of Shanghaipg 230, Dumoulin 1994. to the Zhang family, apparently in 864 CE. His birth year is uncertain. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shitou Xiqian
Shítóu Xīqiān (700–790) () was an 8th-century Chinese Chán (Zen) Buddhist teacher and author. All existing branches of Zen throughout the world are said to descend either from Shitou Xiqian or from his contemporary Mazu Daoyi. Biography Life The details of Shítóu's life are found in traditional biographies. His years of life are conventionally given as 700 to 790. He was born in Gaoyao County in Guangdong with the surname Chen. At a young age, he became a student of the great Zen patriarch Huineng for a short time prior to the latter's death. Shítóu later became a disciple of Huineng's successor, Qingyuan Xingsi. After becoming, in turn, Xingsi's successor, Shítóu resided and taught at Nantai Temple on Mt. Nanyue Heng in Hunan. There he lived on top of a large rock, hence his first name Shítóu, which translates to "Stone-head." After his death, he was given the honorary posthumous name ''Wuji Dashi'' (無際大師). Physical remains There have been a seri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
