Chan
From Free net encyclopedia
- Chan can also be a variation of 陳 (Chen), a Chinese family name.
| 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 |
| Kanji | 禅 |
| Vietnamese Name | |
| Quoc Ngu | Thiền (Thiền na) |
| Chu han | 禅那 |
Chán is a major school of Chinese Mahāyāna Buddhism. In Japan and the west, the school is known as Zen. It is known for its emphasis on meditation and everyday life ahead of philosophical and scriptural pursuits.
History
According to tradition, the school was founded by the semi-legendary Indian monk Bodhidharma who, according to the Anthology of the Patriarchal Hall (952 CE), arrived in China c. 527 CE and taught at the Shaolin Monastery. Bodhidharma is traditionally believed to be the twenty-eighth patriarch in a lineage that extended all the way back to Shakyamuni Buddha by way of Mahakasyapa. 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, Hui Neng.
Due to the conflicting stories of Bodhidharma that were recorded over the centuries, and the fact that none of the extant writings of the Shaolin temple from the time of the 6th-7th century CE mention him, modern theory suggests that Chan began to develop gradually in different regions of China as a grass-roots movement. According to this view, Chan was a reaction to a perceived imbalance in Chinese Buddhism toward the blind pursuit of textual scholarship with a concomitant neglect of the original essence of Buddhist practice: meditation and the cultivation of right view.
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 in a technique unique to Chan Buddhism known as gung-an practise, 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 more simple Hua-tou technique, which often integrated insight practices into pureland 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 gung-an cases which would be studied by later generations of students down to the present.
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During the Tang dynasty, Chan Buddhism grew to become the largest sect in Chinese Buddhism and has over the years, 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 in many Chinese Buddhist monasteries. In time, much of this distinction was lost, and many masters teach both Chan and Pure Land. Chan Buddhism enjoyed something 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.
After further centuries of decline, Chan was again revived in the early 20th century by Hsu Yun, who stands out as the defining figure of 20th century Chinese Buddhism and whom many wellknown Chan teachers today trace their lineage back to, including Shengyen 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)
- Thien (Vietnam)
- Buddhism in China
- Universal Dialectic
- Shaolin (martial arts)
- Kung Fu
- Dialectical monism
- Hsu Yun
- Yunmen Wenyan
- Southern Chande:Chan