Blue Cliff Record

The Blue Cliff Record (Chinese: 碧巖錄; pinyin: Bìyán Lù; Japanese: 碧巌録; rōmaji: Hekiganroku; Korean: 벽암록; romaja: Byeokamrok; Vietnamese: Bích nham lục) is a collection of Chan Buddhist kōans originally compiled in Song China in 1125, during the reign of Emperor Huizong, and then expanded into its present form by Chan master Yuanwu Keqin (1063–1135; Japanese pronunciation: Engo).^[1]

The book includes Yuanwu's annotations and commentary on 100 Verses on Old Cases (頌古百則), a compilation of 100 kōans collected by Xuedou Chongxian (980–1052; 雪竇重顯, Setcho).^[1] Xuedou selected 82 of these from The Jingde Record of the Transmission of the Lamp, with the remainder selected from the Yunmen Guanglu (雲門廣録, Extensive Record of Yunmen Wenyan, 864–949).

History

Name and origin

The Blue Cliff Record derives its name from the temple where Yuanwu Keqin wrote most of his commentaries, the Blue Cliff Cloister (碧巖院, Bìyán Yuàn) in Hunan.^[2] The work was originally called Xuedou's Juko (ju, verse; ko, old koans) before its Blue Cliff Record title was attributed.^[1]

Yuanwu first presented it as a series of lectures to his students between 1111 and 1117. It appears these lectures occurred during the traditional 90-day summer retreats, as can be seen from his introduction to the 100th Case, where he writes: "All summer I've been verbosely making up complications... and tripping up all the monks in the land."^[2] Written a hundred years before The Gateless Gate, the Blue Cliff Record contains appended verses to each koan, added by Xuedo to point out their hidden meaning. Yuanwu 's commentaries were added to tempt students trying to understand Zen conceptually and intellectually instead of by their own immediate experience.^[1]

The composite work consisting of the one hundred cases, along with poetry added by Xuedou and prose commentary by Yuanwu, is collectively known as the Blue Cliff Record.^[3]

Later developments

Yuanwu's successor, Dahui Zonggao (1089–1163), wrote many letters to lay students teaching the practice of concentrating on koans during meditation, but Dahui did not explain and analyze koans. Oral tradition holds that Dahui noticed students engaged in too much intellectual discourse on koans, and then burned the wooden blocks used to print the Blue Cliff Record to "rescue disciples from delusion".^[4]

The text was reconstituted only in the early 14th century by a layman, Zhang Mingyuan (張明遠, Chō Mei-en).^[4]^[5] One of Zhang's sons became ill during this time, and others believed that it was an omen meaning that Zhang should not have re-released the book. However, an elder named Feng Zizhen (馮子振) comforted Zhang and encouraged him for his work.^[6] Some of Yuanwu's capping phrases and possibly some of Xuedong's capping phrases were lost due to the incomplete source material available to Zhang.^[7]

On its republication, the Blue Cliff Record again became one of the most influential works of Zen literature.^[7]

Dogen and Japan

Another key legend regards Dōgen (1200–1253), who brought the Caodong school of Chan to Japan as the Sōtō sect of Zen. After an extended visit to China for the purpose of studying Chan, on the night before his planned return to Japan, Dogen came across the Blue Cliff Record for the first time, and stayed up all night making a handwritten copy of the book. Given the size of the book, this story is most likely apocryphal; but Dogen is still credited with introducing the collection to Japan,^[8] where it had a wide circulation.^[9] The Blue Cliff Record became the central text in Japanese Zen by the Muromachi period of 1336 to 1573.^[7]

Literary qualities

The Blue Cliff Record was a subtle and literary text, with wide-ranging philosophical implications, in contrast to the more straightforward nature of The Gateless Barrier.^[10] The Gateless Gate is normally studied before Blue Cliff Record because it is a shorter, simpler text, but all the cases in both texts are independent and could be studied in any sequence.^[11]

List of chapters

Below is a list of chapters from Thomas Cleary's 1998 English translation of the Blue Cliff Record.^[12]

The Emperor Wu Questions Bodhidharma
The Ultimate Way Is without Difficulty
Master Ma Is Unwell
Deshan Carrying His Bundle
Xuefeng's Grain of Rice
Every Day Is a Good Day
Huichao Asks about the Buddha
Cuiyan's Eyebrows
Zhaozhou's Four Gates
The Phony Notice on Overcoming Demons
Gobblers of Dregs
Three Pounds of Flax
The School of Kāṇadeva
An Appropriate Statement
An Upside-Down Statement
The Man in the Weeds
The Living Meaning of Chan
The Seamless Monument
One Finger Chan
The Living Meaning of Chan
Lotus Flower, Lotus Leaves
The Turtle-Nosed Snake
The Summit of the Peak of Wonder
Guishan and Iron Grindstone Liu
The Hermit's Staff
Sitting Alone on the Mountain
The Body Exposed in the Autumn Wind
The Truth That's Never Been Spoken
It Goes Along With It
Big Radishes
Magu Carrying His Ringed Staff
Elder Ding Stands Motionless
Zifu's Circle
Where Do You Come From?
The Dialogue of Mañjuśrī and Wuzhuo
Roaming in the Mountains
There's Nothing in the World
The Workings of the Iron Ox
The Flowering Hedge
Like a Dream
One Who Has Died the Great Death Contents
Good Snowflakes
No Cold or Heat
Knowing How to Beat the Drum
Zhaozhou's Shirt
The Sound of Raindrops
Six Do Not Take It In
Overturning the Tea Kettle
The Golden Fish That Has Passed through the Net
Every Atom Samadhi
What Is It?
The Stone Bridge
Wild Ducks
Yunmen Extends Both Hands
Daowu's Condolence Call
One Arrow Smashes Three Barriers
The Stupid Oaf
Zhaozhou Can't Explain
Why Not Quote It Fully?
The Staff Changes into a Dragon
One Atom
Within There Is a Jewel
Nanquan Kills a Cat
Nanquan Questions Zhaozhou
An Outsider Questions the Buddha
Getting Huangchao's Sword
Great Adept Fu Expounds a Scripture
What's Your Name?
Nanquan's Circle
Guishan Attends Baizhang
You Shut Up Too
Baizhang Questions Yunyan
The Permutations of Assertion and Denial
Jinniu's Rice Pail
Wujiu's Unjust Beating
Have You Eaten?
Yunmen's Cake
Sixteen Bodhisattvas Bathe
All Sounds
A Newborn Baby
Shooting the Elk of Elks
The Stable Body of Reality
The Ancient Buddhas and the Pillars
Vimalakirti's Door of Nonduality
A Tiger's Roar
The Kitchen Pantry and the Main Gate
Medicine and Disease Subdue Each Other
Three Invalids
The Hands and Eyes of Great Compassion
The Body of Wisdom
Yanguan's Rhinoceros
The Buddha Ascends the Seat
Daguang Does a Dance
Not Seeing
Three Poisons
Three Turning Words
The Diamond Sutra's Scornful Revilement
Tianping's Travels
The Ten Body Controller
Baling's Sword

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d K. Sekida, Two Zen Classics (1977) p. 18-20
^ ^a ^b Sullivan, Matthew Juksan (2021). The Garden of Flowers and Weeds: A New Translation and Commentary on the Blue Cliff Record. Rhinebeck, NY: Monkfish Book Publishing Company. pp. xxxvii–xxxviii. ISBN 978-1948626491.
^ Yuanwu (2021). The garden of flowers and weeds : a new translation and commentary on the Blue Cliff record. Matthew Juksan Sullivan. Rhinebeck, New York. pp. xxx–xxxi. ISBN 978-1-948626-50-7. OCLC 1246676424.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^ ^a ^b Heine, Steven (2016). Chan Rhetoric of Uncertainty in the Blue Cliff Record. Oxford University Press. p. 286. ISBN 978-0-19-939777-8.
^ K. Sekida, Two Zen Classics (1977) p. 19
^ 藍, 吉富. "大慧宗杲焚燒《碧巖錄》事件的歷史評述" (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2016-07-01. 張明遠聞說之後，詢之於海粟老人馮子振。馮氏除了安慰他之外，並以佛教口吻讚美他印書這一善行。
^ ^a ^b ^c Sullivan, Matthew Juksan (2021). The Garden of Flowers and Weeds: a New Commentary on the Blue Cliff Record. Monkfish Book Publishing Company. pp. xli. ISBN 9781948626491.
^ H. Tanabe, Philosophy as Metanoetics (1986) p. 126
^ M. Y Zeami, On the Art of the N_ Drama (1984) p. 121
^ Z. Shibayama, The Gateless Barrier (2000) p. xv
^ K. Sekida, Two Zen Classics (1977) p. 17
^ Cleary, Thomas (1998). The Blue Cliff Record. BDK English Tripiṭaka. Vol. 75. Berkeley, California: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research. ISBN 0-9625618-8-6.

External links

[18-20-1] K. Sekida, Two Zen Classics (1977) p. 18-20

[:0-2] Sullivan, Matthew Juksan (2021). The Garden of Flowers and Weeds: A New Translation and Commentary on the Blue Cliff Record. Rhinebeck, NY: Monkfish Book Publishing Company. pp. xxxvii–xxxviii. ISBN 978-1948626491.

[3] Yuanwu (2021). The garden of flowers and weeds : a new translation and commentary on the Blue Cliff record. Matthew Juksan Sullivan. Rhinebeck, New York. pp. xxx–xxxi. ISBN 978-1-948626-50-7. OCLC 1246676424.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

[Heine-4] Heine, Steven (2016). Chan Rhetoric of Uncertainty in the Blue Cliff Record. Oxford University Press. p. 286. ISBN 978-0-19-939777-8.

[5] K. Sekida, Two Zen Classics (1977) p. 19

[6] 藍, 吉富. "大慧宗杲焚燒《碧巖錄》事件的歷史評述" (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2016-07-01. 張明遠聞說之後，詢之於海粟老人馮子振。馮氏除了安慰他之外，並以佛教口吻讚美他印書這一善行。

[:1-7] Sullivan, Matthew Juksan (2021). The Garden of Flowers and Weeds: a New Commentary on the Blue Cliff Record. Monkfish Book Publishing Company. pp. xli. ISBN 9781948626491.

[8] H. Tanabe, Philosophy as Metanoetics (1986) p. 126

[9] M. Y Zeami, On the Art of the N_ Drama (1984) p. 121

[10] Z. Shibayama, The Gateless Barrier (2000) p. xv

[11] K. Sekida, Two Zen Classics (1977) p. 17

[12] Cleary, Thomas (1998). The Blue Cliff Record. BDK English Tripiṭaka. Vol. 75. Berkeley, California: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research. ISBN 0-9625618-8-6.

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