Chan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the Chinese surname Chan (in Cantonese), see Chan (surname). For the Global TV station in British Columbia, see CHAN-TV. For "-chan" as a suffix to a name, see Japanese titles.
| Chán | |
|---|---|
| Chinese Name | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Chán |
| Wade-Giles | Ch'an |
| Shanghainese | Zeu [zø] |
| Cantonese IPA | sɪm4 |
| Cantonese Jyutping | sim |
| Hanzi | 禪 |
| Jiantizi | 禅 |
| Sanskrit Name | |
| Romanization | Dhyāna |
| Devanāgarī | ध्यान |
| Pali Name | |
| Romanization | Jhāna |
| Devanāgarī | झान |
| Sinhala | ඣාන |
| Korean Name | |
| Revised Romanization | Seon |
| McCune-Reischauer | Sŏn |
| Hangul | 선 |
| Hanja | 禪 |
| Japanese Name | |
| Romaji | Zen |
| Hiragana | ぜん |
| Kanji | 禅 |
| Vietnamese Name | |
| Quốc ngữ | Thiền (Thiền na) |
| Chữ Hán | 禅那 |
Chán is the Chinese name for the school of Mahāyāna Buddhism known in Japanese as Zen.
Bodhidharma (c. 6th century CE) was the Buddhist monk traditionally credited as the founder of Chán (Zen) Buddhism in China. Very little contemporary biographical information on Bodhidharma is extant, and subsequent accounts became layered with legend, but most accounts agree that he was a South Indian monk who journeyed to southern China and subsequently relocated northwards. The accounts differ on the date of his arrival, with the earliest account claiming that he arrived during the Liú Sòng Dynasty (420–479) and later accounts dating his arrival to the Liáng Dynasty (502–557). The accounts are, however, generally agreed that he was primarily active in the lands of the Northern Wèi Dynasty (386–534).
Bodhidharma's arrival in China is dated to the Liu Song Dynasty (420–479) in the Continued Biographies of Eminent Monks (645) and to 527[1] in the Anthology of the Patriarchal Hall (952). Other versions of his life-story exist.
Over the centuries, Chan became increasingly adapted to the Chinese intellectual environment. From China it eventually spread to Korea, Japan, and Vietnam (and elsewhere), and emerged as a distinct East Asian school of Buddhism that is known for its reluctance to rely on written texts.
Chan is also known for its emphasis on meditation and everyday life ahead of philosophical and scriptural pursuits, although not to the point of abandoning serious study completely. The word Chán is a transliteration of the Sanskrit word Dhyana.[2]
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[edit] History
Bodhidharma's arrival in China is variously dated to the Liu Song Dynasty (420–479) in the Continued Biographies of Eminent Monks (645) and to 527[3] in the Anthology of the Patriarchal Hall (952).
Bodhidharma ultimately settled in the kingdom of Wei where he took as disciples Daoyu and Huike.
Bodhidharma is recorded as having come to China to teach a "special transmission outside scriptures" which "did not rely upon words". His insight was then transmitted through a series of Chinese patriarchs, the most famous of whom was the Sixth Patriarch, Huineng.
After the time of Hui Neng (circa 700 CE), Chan began to branch off into numerous different schools, each with their own special emphasis, but all of which kept the same basic focus on meditational practice, personal instruction and grounded personal experience. During the late Tang and the Song periods, the tradition truly flowered, as a wide number of eminent teachers, such as Mazu, Baizhang, Yunmen and Linji developed specialized teaching methods, which would become characteristic of each of the "five houses" of mature Chinese Chan. In the 12th century, particularly due to masters such as Dahui Zonggao, this crystalised as a technique unique to Chan Buddhism known as gong'an (koan) practice, a method where the practitioner inquires into a seemingly paradoxical recorded dialogue between teacher and student, by raising "The Great Doubt" to engender awakening. Later on this was further developed into the simpler Hua-tou technique, which often integrated insight practices into Pure Land Buddhist training, by having the practitioner inquire "who is reciting the Buddha's name?"
The teaching styles and words of these classical masters were recorded in such important Chan texts as the Biyan Lu; (Blue Cliff Record) and the Wumenguan; (Gateless Passage), recording classic teaching gong'an cases which would be studied by later generations of students down to the present.
During the Tang dynasty, Chan Buddhism grew to become the largest sect in Chinese Buddhism and has over the years, and, despite its "transmission beyond the scriptures", produced the largest body of literature in Chinese history of any sect or tradition.
Chan continued to be influential as a religious force in China, although some energy was lost with the syncretist Neo-Confucian revival of Confucianism starting in the Song period. While traditionally distinct, Chan was taught alongside Pure Land Buddhism in many Chinese Buddhist monasteries. In time much of this distinction was lost, and many masters taught both Chan and Pure Land. Chan Buddhism enjoyed something of a revival in the Ming Dynasty under luminaries such as Hanshan Deqing (憨山德清), who wrote and taught extensively on both Chan and Pure Land Buddhism; Miyun Yuanwu (密雲圓悟), who came to be seen posthumously as the first patriarch of the Obaku Zen school; as well as Yunqi Zhuhong (雲棲株宏) and Ouyi Zhixu (藕溢智旭).
After further centuries of decline, Chan was revived again in the early 20th century by Hsu Yun, who stands out as the defining figure of 20th century Chinese Buddhism. Many well known Chan teachers today trace their lineage back to Hsu Yun, including Sheng-yen and Hsuan Hua, who have propagated Chan in the west where it has grown steadily through the 20th and 21st century.
It was severely repressed in China during the recent modern era with the appearance of the People's Republic, but has more recently been re-asserting itself on the mainland, and has a significant following in Taiwan and Hong Kong and among Overseas Chinese.
[edit] Disputes
Recent opinions concerning the Song Dynasty have questioned the common "Period in Decline" belief. This is due to the Historiography of the Song Dynasty. Many important texts that convey Tang Dynasty stories were written during the Song Dynasty. Because of this, most scholars study Chan through the lens of Song Dynasty understandings. The Song Dynasty also produced the most stable forms of Chan practice, which are still being used today.
[edit] References
- ^ Broughton, Jeffrey L. (1999). The Bodhidharma Anthology: The Earliest Records of Zen. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0520219724. p. 2.
- ^ Soeng Mu (2004). Trust in Mind: The Rebellion of Chinese Zen, p. xiii. Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0861713915.
- ^ Broughton, Jeffrey L. (1999). The Bodhidharma Anthology: The Earliest Records of Zen. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0520219724. p. 2.
[edit] See also
- Dhyana
- Zen (Japan)
- Seon (Korea)
- Thiền (Vietnam)
- Buddhism in China
- Universal Dialectic
- Shaolin (martial arts)
- Kung Fu
- Dialectical monism
- Hsu Yun
- Yunmen Wenyan
- Southern Chan
