Deshan Xuanjian
Deshan Xuanjian 819-914 was a disciple of Longtan Chongxin. He came from ancient Jian Province in the north of modern Sichuan Province . As a youth he thoroughly studied the rules of the Vinaya and was an authority on the Diamond Sutra. He thus earned the nickname, Diamond Zhou. Deshan said to his fellow practitioners, It's like a feather falling into the ocean. The ocean's nature is unchanged. It's like throwing a seed against a sharp blade, the blade is not dulled by it. Whether one studies...
Lingyun Zhiqin
Lingyun Zhiqin n.d. was a disciple of Guishan Lingyou. He came from the ancient city of Changxi in Ben Province now the city of Xiapu on the coast of Fujian Province . He gained enlightenment when he saw a peach tree in bloom. He then composed a verse that gave evidence of his awakening. The lamp records offer this account. When Lingyun saw the peach blossoms, he composed a verse For thirty years I've sought the swordsman. Many times the leaves have fallen, the branches bare. After seeing the...
Moshan Liaoran
Moshan Liaoran n.d. was a disciple of Gao'an Dayu. Although little is recorded of her life and teachings, she is the primary remaining example of a prominent female teacher among the early records of the Zen school. She is known from a dialogue with a monk named Xian of Guanxi that is found in the lamp records. Guanxi Xian first studied with Linji Yixuan, hut left that teacher and set off traveling, eventually coming to Moshan's temple in ancient Ruizhou, the area of modern Gao'an City in...
Dasui Fazhen Shenzhao
Dasui Fazhen 878-963 was a disciple of Changqing Da'an. He came from ancient Zizhou now the city of Santai in Sichuan Province . He is recorded to have experienced great enlightenment while still quite young. After becoming a monk at Huiyi Temple, he traveled extensively and studied with the teachers Daowu Yuanzhi, Yunyan Tansheng, and Dongshan Liangjie, among others. Some accounts describe him as a diligent student and heir of the Guiyang Zen lineage, although both the Transmission of the Lamp...
Shishuang Qingzhu
Shishuang Qingzhu 807-88 was a disciple of Yaoshan Weiyan. He came from the city of Xingan near ancient Luling. He was ordained by Zen master Xishan Shaolong on Mt. Tai at the age of twenty-three, and then proceeded to study the Vinaya. Finding this path to be too slow, he traveled to Mt. Gui, where he studied with Guishan Lingyou and worked preparing food in the kitchen. In a famous exchange between Guishan and Shishuang, Guishan chided him for overlooking a grain of rice that had accidentally...
Dayang Jingxuan Jingyan
Dayang Jingxuan 943-1027 was a disciple of Liangshan Yuanguan, and a transmitter of the Caodong Zen lineage. He came from ancient Jiangxia now the city of Wuchang in Hubei Province . He left lay life to enter Chongxiao Temple in Jinling. There he studied under Zen master Zhitong. At the age of nineteen, after ordination, he left Jinling and traveled widely throughout the country. He first studied under Zen master Yuanjiao Liaoyi. Unsuccessful with that teacher, he continued his travels and...
Yangshan Huiji
Yangshan Huiji 807-83 was the main disciple of Guishan Lingyou. Yangshan came from ancient Shaozhou now the city of Shaoguan in Guangdong Province . His parents refused him permission to leave home and become a monk, so Yangshan demonstrated his resolve to them by cutting off two of his fingers, vowing that he would seek the true Dharma to repay his filial obligations. Accounts vary about where he first entered the clergy. It is likely that he first studied under Zen master Bu Yutong, the abbot...
Linji Yixuan Huizhao
Linji Yixuan d. 866 was a disciple of Huangbo Xiyun. Linji is a preeminent figure in the history of Zen. He came from the city of Nanhua in ancient Caozhou now the ity of Dongming in Shandong Province . As the founder of the Linji school of Zen in Japanese, Rinzai , his tradition remains, along with the Caodong school, as one of the two lineages that survive to the present day. After taking the vows of a monk, Linji studied the sutras, the Vinaya, and the various doctrines that were carried on...