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Writing and Criticism on the Zen Buddhism in Zen Notes During the Song Dynasty



Author(s)

Huang Jing-Jia

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DOI:10.17265/2159-5836/2020.11.009

National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan

Zennotes in the Song Dynasty are based on the use of scattered essays to record trivial fragments of Zen Buddhist monks’ daily life, including Hui Hong’s Lin Jian Lu, Da Hui Pu Jue Chan Shi Zong Men Wu Ku edited by Dao Qian, Xiao Ying’s Luo Hu Ye Lu and Yun Wo Ji Tan, Dao Rong’s Cong Lin Sheng Shi, and Huan Wu’s Ku Ya Man Lu. Through Zennotes, it is possible to learn more about the life of Zen Buddhist masters in the Song Dynasty and the actual development of Zen Buddhism, which were seldom investigated in past studies. Firstly, this study explains the cultural environment generated by Zennotes and the creative development of Zennotes in the Song Dynasty, and then discusses the main content of Zennotes. Zennotes highlight the characters through the description of specific events and make the images and characters of Zen Buddhist monks become vivid on paper. They are the most direct historical material for mastering Zen Buddhist monks in the Song Dynasty. Secondly, Zennotes in the Song Dynasty record anecdotes about Zen Buddhist monks and the literati talking about Zen at that time, demonstrating the lively and witty interactions between the two. Lastly, the authors of Zennotes often revealed their personal concerns about the growth and decline of temples in the narrative. Based on the above, Zennotes have the value of historical recordings of trivia, and they are first-hand historical materials for constructing the history of Zen in the Song Dynasty.

Zennotes, essays of the Zen, Song Dynasty, Zen Buddhist historical materials, Interactions between literati and monks, Zen Buddhist monks