Chan: Difference between revisions

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. The establishment of Chan is traditionally attributed to Bodhidharma,, who was likely an Indian monk. 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.

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 in the Anthology of the Patriarchal Hall (952), though other versions of his life-story exist. The historian J. A. G. Roberts in his book "The Complete History of China" notes that Chan Buddhism most likely was an indigenous development within China .

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.

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.

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