Zhaozhou Congshen

Zhàozhōu Cōngshěn
Woodcut from Fozu zhengzong daoying (1880)
Title	Ch'an-shih
Personal
Born	778 China
Died	897 (aged 118–119)
Religion	Buddhism
Nationality	Chinese
School	Ch'an

Zhaozhou Congshen
Chinese name
Chinese	趙州從諗
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhàozhōu Cōngshěn Wu Suzhounese Zau6tseu1 Tshon1sen3 Yue: Cantonese Jyutping Ziu6zau1 Cung1sam2
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
Transcriptions Romanization Jōshū Jūshin

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.

Biography

Zhaozhou 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. 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. There, for the next fourty 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.

Influence

Zhaozhou 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. One of his recorded sayings is:

A monk asked the Master, "What is a true statement?" Zhaozhou replied, "Your mother is ugly."

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, 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."

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".

Sources

• 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

• Hoffmann, Yoel (1978). Radical Zen: The Sayings of Joshu. Bantam Press.

External links

• Yang, Fenggang; Wei, Dedong, THE BAILIN BUDDHIST TEMPLE: THRIVING UNDER COMMUNISM (PDF), archived from the original (PDF) on June 6, 2010