Zhaozhou Congshen (Chinese: 趙州從諗; pinyin: Zhàozhōu Cōngshěn; Wade–Giles: Chao-chou Ts'ung-shen'; Japanese: 趙州従諗, romanized: Jōshū Jūshin) (778–897) was a Chán (Zen) Buddhist master who appears frequently in the koans of the Mumonkan and the Blue Cliff Record.
Zhàozhōu Cōngshěn | |
|---|---|
 Woodcut from Fozu zhengzong daoying (1880) | |
| Title | Ch'an-shih |
| Personal | |
| Born | 778 |
| Died | 897 (aged 118–119) |
| Religion | Buddhism |
| Nationality | Chinese |
| School | Ch'an |
| Zhaozhou Congshen | |||||||||||||||
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| Chinese name | |||||||||||||||
| Chinese | 趙州從諗 | ||||||||||||||
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| Vietnamese name | |||||||||||||||
| Vietnamese alphabet | Triệu Châu Tùng Thẩm | ||||||||||||||
| Hán-Nôm | 趙州從諗 | ||||||||||||||
| Korean name | |||||||||||||||
| Hangul | 조주종심 | ||||||||||||||
| Hanja | 趙州從諗 | ||||||||||||||
| Japanese name | |||||||||||||||
| Kanji | 趙州従諗 | ||||||||||||||
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Biography
editZhaozhou became ordained as a monk at an early age. At the age of 18, he met Nánquán Pǔyuàn (南泉普願 748–835; J: Nansen Fugan), a successor of Mǎzǔ Dàoyī (709–788; J. Baso Do-itsu), and eventually received the Dharma from him.[1] Zhaozhou continued to practice under Nanquan until the latter's death.
Subsequently, Zhaozhou began to travel throughout China, visiting the prominent Chan masters of the time before finally, at the age of eighty, settling in Guānyīnyuàn (觀音院), a ruined temple in northern China.[1] There, for the next forty years, he taught a small group of monks. This temple, now called Bailin Temple, was rebuilt after the Cultural Revolution and is nowadays again a prominent center of Chinese Buddhism.[2]
Influence
editZhaozhou is sometimes touted as the greatest Chan master of Tang dynasty China during a time when its hegemony was disintegrating as more and more regional military governors (jiédùshǐ) began to assert their power. Zhaozhou's lineage died out quickly due to the many wars and frequent purges of Buddhism in China at the time, and cannot be documented beyond the year 1000.
Zhaozhou is remembered for his verbal inventiveness and sense of humor.[3] One of his recorded sayings is:
A monk asked the Master, "What is a true statement?" Zhaozhou replied, "Your mother is ugly."[3]
Many koans in both the Blue Cliff Record and The Gateless Gate concern Zhaozhou, with twelve cases in the former and five in the latter being attributed to him. Mumonkan case (koan) 19 records a dialogue between Nanquan and Zhaozhou, with Jōshū asking Nansen "What is the Way [Tao]?", to which Nansen responds ordinary mind is the way,[note 1] a famous dictum of Mazu Daoyi (709–788) and the Hongzhou school. He is probably best known for the first koan in The Gateless Gate:
A monk asked Chao-chou, "Has the dog Buddha-nature or not?" Chao-chou said, "Wu."[4]
Japanese Zen monk Shunryū Suzuki refers to Zhaozhou (as Jōshū) in his book Zen Mind, Beginner's mind. He uses the following saying from Zhaozhou to illustrate the point that Zen practice should not have a particular purpose or goal: "A clay Buddha cannot cross water; a bronze Buddha cannot get through a furnace; a wooden Buddha cannot get through fire".[5]
Notes
edit- ^ See Ed Shozen Haber, Mumonkan Case 19, and Barry Magid, Ordinary Mind is the Way.
References
edit- ^ a b Green (1988), p. xx.
- ^ Zhu (2003).
- ^ a b Sullivan (2021), p. xxiii.
- ^ Dumoulin (2005), p. 167.
- ^ Suzuki (1973), p. 75.
Sources
edit- Dumoulin, Heinrich (2005). Zen Buddhism: A History. Volume 1: India and China. Translated by Heisig, James W. and Knitter, Paul. Bloomington, Indiana: World Wisdom.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: translators list (link) - Green, James, ed. (1988). The Recorded Sayings of Zen Master Joshu. Boston: Shambhala Publications. ISBN 1-57062-870-X.
- Sullivan, Matthew Juksan (2021). The Garden of Flowers and Weeds: A New Translation and Commentary on the Blue Cliff Record. Rhinebeck, NY: Monkfish Book Publishing Company. ISBN 9781948626491.
- Suzuki, Shunryu (1973). Dixon, Trudy (ed.). Zen mind, beginner's mind. New York: Weatherhill.
- Zhu, Caifang (2003), Buddhism in China Today: The Example of the Bai Lin Chan Monastery. In: Perspectives, Volume 4, No.2, June 2003 (PDF), archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-09-29
Further reading
edit- Hoffmann, Yoel (1978). Radical Zen: The Sayings of Joshu. Bantam Press.
External links
edit- Yang, Fenggang; Wei, Dedong, THE BAILIN BUDDHIST TEMPLE: THRIVING UNDER COMMUNISM (PDF), archived from the original (PDF) on June 6, 2010