ZONGGAO

Dahui Zonggao (Miaoxi; posthumous name Pujue; 1089–1163), a Chan master in the Yangqi branch of the Linji school in Song China (960–1279), played a pivotal role in the development of Chan gong'an (kŌan) practice. Zonggao was born in Xuancheng in Anhui Province in southeast China. He left home in 1101 to join the monastic order, and in 1105 he received full ordination as a Buddhist monk. After seeking instructions from various Chan teachers, he became a disciple of the Linji master Yuanwu Keqin (1063–1135), the author of the famous gong'an anthology, the Biyan lu (Blue Cliff Record).

As one of the most influential Chan masters of his time, Zonggao had close associations with many powerful Confucian scholar-officials. His connection with the antipeace party led to his involvement in Song court factional strife, which resulted in his exile from 1143 to 1156 to the remote Hunan and Guangdong provinces. After the exile, however, Zonggao regained his prominence. He was summoned by the emperor to the court, where he was presented with a purple robe and given the cognomen Dahui (Great Wisdom). He spent his last years at Mount Jing in Zhejiang and died in 1163.

Dahui Zonggao is best known for his contribution to the evolution of Chan gong'an meditation. He advocated the use of huatou, the critical phrase of a gong'an, as a meditative object, and he emphasized the peculiar role of doubt in his teaching of huatou investigation. He believed that the practice of huatou was not only the most effective means to enlightenment but also a Chan practice that laypeople could easily adopt in the midst of their mundane activities. It was under Daihui Zonggao that gong'an Chan came to be known as kanhua Chan (Chan of investigating the [critical] phrase).

The chronology of Dahui Zonggao's life was recorded in detail by one of his disciples and attached to the Dahui Pujue chanshi yulu (Discourse Record of the Chan Master Dahui Pujue). Other works attributed to Dahui Zonggao include Zongmen wuku (Arsenal of the Chan School) and Zhengfayan zang (Treasury of the True Dharma Eye).

See also:Chan School

Bibliography

Buswell, Robert E., Jr. "The 'Short-cut' Approach of K'an-hua Meditation: The Evolution of a Practical Subitism in Chinese Ch'an Buddhism." In Sudden and Gradual: Approaches to Enlightenment in Chinese Thought, ed. Peter N. Gregory. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1987.

Cleary, Christopher, trans. Swampland Flowers: Letters and Lectures of Zen Master Ta Hui. New York: Grove Press, 1977.

Levering, Miriam L. "Ch'an Enlightenment for Laymen: Ta-hui and the New Religious Culture of the Sung." Ph.D. diss. Harvard University, 1978.

Dinghwa Hsieh