Early Chan in Tang China (c. 600–900) Chan Buddhism

1 chan in tang china (c. 600–900)

1.1 east mountain teachings
1.2 yuquan shenxiu
1.3 southern school – huineng , shenhui

early chan in tang china (c. 600–900)
east mountain teachings

the period of dayi daoxin (580–651) , daman hongren (弘忍 601–674) came called east mountain teaching due location of residence of daman hongren in huangmei county, modern anhui. term used yuquan shenxiu, important successor hongren. east mountain community specialized meditation training centre. hongren plain meditation teacher, taught students of various religious interests , including practitioners of lotus sutra, students of madhyamaka philosophy, or specialists in monastic regulations of buddhist vinaya . establishment of community in 1 location change wandering lives of bodhiharma , huike , followers. fitted better chinese society, highly valued community-oriented behaviour, instead of solitary practice.

yuquan shenxiu

yuquan shenxiu (神秀, 606?–706) important successor hongren. in 701 invited imperial court zhou empress wu zetian, paid him due imperial reverence. first lineage documents produced in period:

[t]he genealogical presentation of chan transmission first recorded on paper in years of metropolitan chan activity. earliest recorded instance of in epitaph faru, student of hongren s died in 689, , second decade of 8th century, later followers of hongren had produced 2 separate texts describing transmission bodhidharma shenxiu.

the transition east mountain 2 capitals changed character of chan:

[i]t when hongren s successors moved environment of 2 capitals, literate society , incomparably larger urban scale, well-written texts required disseminating teaching.

southern school – huineng , shenhui

huineng tearing sutras

according tradition, sixth , last ancestral founder, huineng (惠能; 638–713), 1 of giants of chan history, , surviving schools regard him ancestor. dramatic story of huineng s life tells there controversy on claim title of patriarch. after being chosen hongren, fifth ancestral founder, huineng had flee night nanhua temple in south avoid wrath of hongren s jealous senior disciples.

modern scholarship, however, has questioned narrative. historic research reveals story created around middle of 8th century, beginning in 731 shenhui, successor huineng, win influence @ imperial court. claimed huineng successor of hongren instead of shenxiu, recognized successor. in 745 shenhui invited take residence in heze temple in capital, dongdu (modern luoyang) in 753, fell out of grace , had leave dongdu go exile.

the prominent of successors of shenhui s lineage guifeng zongmi. according zongmi, shenhui s approach officially sanctioned in 796, when imperial commission determined southern line of ch represented orthodox transmission , established shen-hui seventh patriarch, placing inscription effect in shen-lung temple .

doctrinally, shenhui s southern school associated teaching enlightenment sudden while northern or east mountain school associated teaching enlightenment gradual. polemical exaggeration since both schools derived same tradition, , so-called southern school incorporated many teachings of more influential northern school. both schools died out, influence of shenhui immense later chan schools traced origin huineng, , sudden enlightenment became standard doctrine of chan.

shenhui s influence traceable in platform sutra, gives popular account of story of huineng reconciles antagonism created shenhui. salient shenhui himself not figure in platform sutra; written out of chan history. platform sutra reflects growing popularity of diamond sūtra (vajracchedikā prajñāpāramitā sūtra) in 8th-century chinese buddhism. thereafter, essential texts of chan school considered both laṅkāvatāra sūtra , diamond sūtra. laṅkāvatāra sūtra, endorses buddha-nature, emphasized purity of mind, can attained in gradations. diamond-sutra emphasizes sunyata, must realized totally or not @ . david kalupahana associates later caodong school (japanese sōtō, gradual) , linji school (japanese rinzai school, sudden) schools yogacara , madhyamaka philosophies respectively. same comparison has been made mcrae. madhyamaka school elaborated on theme of śūnyatā, set forth in prajnaparamita sutras, diamond sutra belongs. shift laṅkāvatāra sūtra diamond sutra signifies tension between buddha-nature teachings, imply transcendental reality, versus śūnyatā, denies such transcendental reality.