Kuei-yang-tsung

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Kuei-yang-tsung (Jap., Igyō-shu). One of the Goke-shichishū (‘five houses, seven schools’) of early (Tang period) Ch'an/Zen. Its name is derived from two mountains (Kuei and Yang) where the temples of its founders were located. Kuei-shan Ling-yu (771–853 CE) was appointed head of Ta-kuei monastery when Pai-chang Huai-hai set a jug of water before his pupils: ‘If you cannot call this a water-jug, what can you call it?’ Kuei-shan kicked the jug over and walked away, demonstrating his enlightened state. His wordless action characterizes Kuei-yang-tsung, in which action and silence are connected to each other, to create the sudden and direct encounter with truth. Among Kuei-shan's important successors were Hsiang-yen Chih-hsien and Yang-shan Hui-chi.