Chan (; of ), from Sanskrit dhyāna (meaning "meditation" or "meditative state" in Buddhism), is a Mahāyāna Chinese Buddhist tradition. It developed in China from the 6th century CE onwards, becoming especially popular during the Tang and Song dynasties.. By the Ming and Qing dynasties, it had become one of the most influential forms of Buddhism practiced in China. In contemporary times, it remains one of the most prominent traditions of Chinese Buddhist practice in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and overseas Chinese communities.
Chan is the originating tradition of several schools in the Sinosphere, each known by the Sino-Xenic loan forms of the Chinese character for Chan: 禅. It spread south as Thiền in Vietnamese, then north as Korean Seon, and, in the 13th century, east as Zen in Japanese.
A major part of Chan is the practice of meditation, direct insight into one's own Buddha-nature (, jianxing), and the personal expression of this insight in daily life for the benefit of others. Some common Chan techniques include the zuochan (meditation done in a sitting posture like the lotus position), contemplation of gong'ans and huatous as well as the nianfo (which usually involves chanting the phrase Namo Amituofo). Most Chan monasteries also typically partake in traditional Buddhist practices like chanting sutras and dharanis (mantras), the taking of Bodhisattva Precepts, walking meditation, rituals and ceremonies, monasticism, and scriptural study.
With an emphasis on Buddha-nature thought, original enlightenment, and sudden awakening, Chan teaching draws from numerous sources, including Sarvāstivāda meditation, the Mahayana teachings on the Bodhisattva path, Yogācāra, and the Tathāgatagarbha (Buddha-nature) as taught in the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra and the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, and the Huayan school. The Prajñāpāramitā literature, as well as Madhyamaka thought, have also been influential in the shaping of the apophatic and sometimes iconoclastic nature of Chan rhetoric.
History
The historical records required for a complete, accurate account of early Chan history no longer exist.
Periodisation The history of Chan in China can be divided into several periods. Chan, as we know it today, is the result of a long history, with many changes and contingent factors. Each period had different types of Chan, some of which remained influential, while others vanished.
Andy Ferguson distinguishes three periods from the 5th century into the 13th century: The Legendary period, from Bodhidharma in the late 5th century to the An Lushan Rebellion around 765 CE, in the middle of the Tang dynasty. Little written information is left from this period. It is the time of the Six Patriarchs, including Bodhidharma and Huineng, and the legendary "split" between the Northern and the Southern School of Chan. The Classical period, from the end of the An Lushan Rebellion around 765 CE to the beginning of the Song dynasty around 950 CE. This is the time of the great masters of Chan, such as Mazu Daoyi and Linji Yixuan, and the creation of the yü-lü genre, the recordings of the sayings and teachings of these great masters. The Literary period, from around 950 to 1250, which spans the era of the Song dynasty (960–1279). In this time, gong'an collections were compiled: collections of sayings and deeds by the famous masters, appended with poetry and commentary. This genre reflects the influence of scholar-officials on the development of Chan. This period idealized the previous period as the "golden age" of Chan, producing the literature in which the spontaneity of the celebrated masters was portrayed.
Although John R. McRae (d. 2011) had reservations about the division of Chan history in phases or periods, he nevertheless distinguishes four phases in the history of Chan: Proto-Chan (c. 500–600), Southern and Northern Dynasties (420 to 589) and Sui dynasty (589–618). In this phase, Chan developed in multiple locations in northern China. It was based on the practice of dhyana and is connected to the figures of Bodhidharma and Huike. Its principal text is the Two Entrances and Four Practices, which is attributed to Bodhidharma. According to McRae, no known lineage theory existed in Proto-Chan, and the connection between it and the Early Chan tradition (consisting of the East Mountain Teaching, Heze School, and Oxhead school) is unclear. Early Chan (c. 600–900), Tang dynasty (618–907). In this phase, Chan took its first clear contours. Prime figures are the fifth patriarch, Daman Hongren (601–674), his dharma-heir Yuquan Shenxiu (606?–706), the sixth patriarch Huineng (638–713, the protagonist of the quintessential Platform Sutra), and Shenhui (670–762), whose works elevated Huineng to the status of sixth patriarch. Prime factions are the East Mountain Teaching, Heze school, and Oxhead school. Middle Chan (c. 750–1000): from the An Lushan rebellion (755–763) until the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (907–960/979). In this phase, the well-known Chan of the iconoclastic masters developed. Prime figures are Mazu Daoyi (709–788), Shitou Xiqian (710–790), Linji Yixuan (died 867), and Xuefeng Yicun (822–908). Prime factions are the Hongzhou school and the Hubei faction. An important text is the Anthology of the Patriarchal Hall (952), which contains many "encounter-stories" and the canon genealogy of the Chan-school. Song dynasty Chan (c. 950–1300). In this phase, Chan took its definitive shape, including the picture of the "golden age" of the Chan of the Tang dynasty, and the use of gong'ans for individual study and meditation. Prime figures are Dahui Zonggao (1089–1163) who introduced the huatou practice, and Hongzhi Zhengjue (1091–1157), who emphasized silent illumination. Prime factions are the Linji school and the Caodong school. The classic gong'an collections, such as the Blue Cliff Record, were assembled in this period, which reflect the influence of the scholars. In this phase, Chan was transported to Japan and exerted a great influence on Seon in Goryeo via Jinul.
Neither Ferguson nor McRae gives a periodisation for Chinese Chan following the Song dynasty, though McRae mentions [5.] "at least a postclassical phase or perhaps multiple phases".
Introduction of Buddhism in China (c. 200–500)
Sinification of Buddhism and Taoist influences When Buddhism came to China, it was adapted to the Chinese culture and understanding. Theories about the influence of other schools on the evolution of Chan vary widely and rely heavily on speculative correlation rather than on written records or histories. Numerous scholars have argued that Chan developed from the interaction between Mahāyāna Buddhism and Daoism.
Buddhist meditation was practiced in China centuries before the rise of Chan, by people such as An Shigao (c. 148–180 CE) and his school, who translated various dhyāna sutras, which were influential early meditation texts mostly based on the meditation teachings of the Kashmiri Sarvāstivādins (circa 1st–4th centuries).Deleanu, Florin (1992); Mindfulness of Breathing in the Dhyāna Sūtras. Transactions of the International Conference of Orientalists in Japan (TICOJ) 37, 42-57. The five main types of meditation in the Dhyana sutras are anapanasati (mindfulness of breathing); paṭikūlamanasikāra meditation, mindfulness of the impurities of the body; maitri meditation; the contemplation on the twelve links of pratītyasamutpāda; and the contemplation on the Buddha's thirty-two Characteristics.Ven. Dr. Yuanci, A Study of the Meditation Methods in the DESM and Other Early Chinese Texts , The Buddhist Academy of China. Other important translators of meditation texts were Kumārajīva (334–413), who translated The Sutra on the Concentration of Sitting Meditation, amongst many other texts; and Buddhabhadra. These Chinese translations of mostly Indian Sarvāstivādin Yogacara meditation manuals were the basis for the meditation techniques of Chinese Chan.
Buddhism was exposed to Confucian, Daoist and local folk religious influences when it came to China. Goddard quotes D.T. Suzuki, calling Chan a "natural evolution of Buddhism under Taoist conditions". Buddhism was first identified to be "a barbarian variant of Taoism", and Taoist terminology was used to express Buddhist doctrines in the oldest translations of Buddhist texts, a practice termed geyi, "matching the concepts".
The first local converts were Daoists. They developed high esteem for the newly-introduced meditation techniques, and blended them with neidan (Daoist meditation). Representatives of early Chinese Buddhism like Sengzhao and Tao Sheng were deeply influenced by the Daoist keystone works of Laozi and Zhuangzi. Against this background, especially the concept of ziran (naturalness) was inherited by early Chan disciples: they equated – to some extent – the ineffable Tao and Buddha-nature, and thus, rather than feeling bound to the abstract "wisdom of the sūtras", emphasized Buddha-nature to be found in "everyday" human life, just as the Dao. Daoists initially understood emptiness, śūnyatā, to be akin to the concepts wuji ('ultimate of beinglessness') and wuwei (non-action).
The emerging Chinese Buddhism nevertheless had to compete with Daoism and Confucianism: One point of confusion for this new emerging Chinese Buddhism was the two truths doctrine. Chinese thinking took this to refer to two ontological truths: reality exists on two levels, a relative level and an absolute level. Indian Madhyamaka philosophy also understood the two truths also as two epistemological truths: two different ways to look at reality. Based on their understanding of the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, the Chinese supposed that the teaching of Buddha-nature was, as stated by that sutra, the final Buddhist teaching, and that there is an essential truth above sunyata and the two truths.
Divisions of training When Buddhism came to China, there were three divisions of training: The training in virtue and discipline in the precepts (Skt. śila), The training in mind through meditation (Skt. dhyāna) to attain a luminous and non-reactive state of mind, and The training in the recorded teachings (Skt. Dharma).
It was in this context that Buddhism entered into Chinese culture. Three types of teachers with expertise in each training practice developed: Vinaya masters specialized in all the rules of discipline for monks and nuns, Dhyāna masters specialized in the practice of meditation, and Dharma masters specialized in the mastery of the Buddhist texts.
Monasteries and practice centers were created that tended to focus on either the Vinaya and training of monks or the teachings focused on one scripture or a small group of texts. Dhyāna (Chan) masters tended to practice in solitary hermitages, or to be associated with Vinaya training monasteries or the dharma teaching centers. The later naming of the Zen school has its origins in this view of the threefold division of training.
McRae goes so far as to say:
Legendary or Proto-Chan (c. 500–600)
Mahākāśyapa and the Flower Sermon
The Chan tradition ascribes the origins of Chan in India to the Flower Sermon, the earliest source for which comes from the 14th century. It is said that Gautama Buddha gathered his disciples one day for a Dharma talk. When they gathered together, the Buddha was completely silent and some speculated that perhaps the Buddha was tired or ill. The Buddha silently held up and twirled a flower and his eyes twinkled; several of his disciples tried to interpret what this meant, though none of them were correct. One of the Buddha's disciples, Mahākāśyapa, gazed at the flower and smiled. The Buddha then acknowledged Mahākāśyapa's insight by saying the following:
First six patriarchs (c. 500 – early 8th century)