Zhaozhou Congshen ( zh, c=趙州從諗, p=Zhàozhōu Cōngshěn, w=Chao-chou Ts'ung-shen'; ; 778–897) was a

Chán Chan (; of ), from Sanskrit '' dhyāna'' (meaning "meditation" or "meditative state"), is a Chinese school of Mahāyāna Buddhism. It developed in China from the 6th century CE onwards, becoming especially popular during the Tang and Song d ...

(

Zen Zen (; from Chinese: ''Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka phil ...

)

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

master who appears frequently in the

koan A ( ; ; zh, c=公案, p=gōng'àn ; ; ) is a story, dialogue, question, or statement from Chinese Chan Buddhist lore, supplemented with commentaries, that is used in Zen Buddhist practice in different ways. The main goal of practice in Z ...

s of the Mumonkan and the

Blue Cliff Record The ''Blue Cliff Record'' () 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; ).K. Sekid ...

Biography

Zhaozhou became ordained as a

monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

at an early age. At the age of 18, he met Nánquán Pǔyuàn (南泉普願 748–835; J: Nansen Fugan), a successor of Mǎzǔ Dàoyī (709–788; J. Baso Do-itsu), and eventually received the Dharma from him. Zhaozhou continued to practice under Nanquan until the latter's death. Subsequently, Zhaozhou began to travel throughout

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, visiting the prominent Chan masters of the time before finally, at the age of eighty, settling in Guānyīnyuàn (觀音院), a ruined temple in northern China. There, for the next forty years, he taught a small group of monks. This temple, now called Bailin Temple, was rebuilt after the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

and is nowadays again a prominent center of Chinese Buddhism.

Influence

Zhaozhou is sometimes touted as the greatest Chan master of

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

China during a time when its hegemony was disintegrating as more and more regional military governors ('' jiédùshǐ'') began to assert their power. Zhaozhou's lineage died out quickly due to the many wars and frequent purges of Buddhism in China at the time, and cannot be documented beyond the year 1000. Zhaozhou is remembered for his verbal inventiveness and sense of humor. One of his recorded sayings is: Many koans in both the ''

'' and ''

The Gateless Gate ''The Gateless Barrier'' (Mandarin: 無門關 ''Wúménguān''; Japanese: 無門関 ''Mumonkan''), sometimes translated as ''The Gateless Gate'', is a collection of 48 Chan (Zen) koans compiled in the early 13th century by the Chinese Zen mast ...

'' concern Zhaozhou, with twelve cases in the former and five in the latter being attributed to him. Mumonkan case (

) 19 records a dialogue between Nanquan and Zhaozhou, with Jōshū asking Nansen "What is the Way /nowiki>''Tao''">Tao.html" ;"title="/nowiki>''Tao">/nowiki>''Tao''/nowiki>?", to which Nansen responds ordinary mind is the way, a famous dictum of Mazu Daoyi (709–788) and the Hongzhou school. He is probably best known for the first koan in ''The Gateless Gate'': Japanese Zen monk Shunryū Suzuki refers to Zhaozhou (as Jōshū) in his book '' Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind''. He uses the following saying from Zhaozhou to illustrate the point that Zen practice should not have a particular purpose or goal: "A clay Buddha cannot cross water; a bronze Buddha cannot get through a furnace; a wooden Buddha cannot get through fire".

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