Shímén wénzìchán 石門文字禪
The Shí-mén Letters-and-Chán (Collected Works of Shì Huì-hóng) by 釋惠洪 (撰), 釋覺慈 (編)
About the work
Shímén wénzìchán 石門文字禪 (the title’s wénzìchán — literary Chán — is itself the name of Huìhóng 釋惠洪 釋惠洪’s controversial program of integrating Chán practice with classical literary refinement; the Shímén is Huìhóng’s hermitage / his hào) in 30 juǎn is the principal Northern-Sòng monastic literary collection. Edited posthumously by his disciple Shì Juécí 釋覺慈 釋覺慈 and entered into the Buddhist canon (dàzàng); the Sìkù WYG version is the Buddhist-canon re-cutting. The structural division: gǔshī in juǎn 1–8; páilǜ + 5-character lǜshī in juǎn 9; 7-character lǜshī in juǎn 10–13; 5- and 6-character juéjù in juǎn 14; 7-character juéjù in juǎn 15–16; jì (gāthās) in juǎn 17; zàn (eulogies) in juǎn 18–19; míng + cí + fù in juǎn 20; jì (records) + xù + jìyǔ in juǎn 21–24; tí (colophons) in juǎn 25–26; bá in juǎn 27; shū + tǎmíng in juǎn 28–29; xíngzhuàng + zhuàn in juǎn 30. The collection is a structural inverse of the standard biéjí: poetry and jì / zàn dominate the volume — reflecting the Chán-monastic compositional habits.
Tiyao
The Sìkù tíyào: Shímén wénzìchán in 30 juǎn by Sòng sēng (monk) Huìhóng. Hóng has Lěngzhāi yèhuà, already cataloged. This collection is what his ménrén Juécí edited; the Shìshì (Buddhist) collected it into the Dàzàng Zhīnà zhùshù — this běn is the Shìzàng cut. Xǔ Yǐ 許顗’s shīhuà praised his zhùzuò like a wénzhāng jùgōng (great worker of literature) — Zhòngshū (Mèng Yáochén) and Cānliáo and others all cannot match. Chén Zhènsūn’s Shūlù jiětí also says his wén jùnwěi, bù lèi fútúshì yǔ (his prose vigorous and grand, not resembling Buddhist-monk speech). Fāng Huí’s Yíngkuí lǜsuǐ rather attacks him. Calmly considered: Huìhóng’s failing is in qiúmíng guòjí (over-eagerness for fame); his Lěngzhāi yèhuà even forged Huáng Tíngjiān poems to highly self-promote — hence rather ridiculed by his contemporaries. Further: he was personally a zītú (black-clothed = Buddhist) but liked composing qǐyǔ (silken-words = sensual lyrics); the Nénggǎizhāi mánlù records his Shàngyuán sù Yuèlùsì poem reaching to làngzǐ héshàng (libertine-monk) designation. Yet his poetry’s biānfú (compass) though narrow, is qīngxīn yǒuzhì (clear-fresh with character), in-and-out of SūHuáng manner — at times approximating; in Yuányòu / Xīníng generations, he likewise tǐngrán (firmly) self-stands — really not fully to be excluded. The collection has Jìyīn zìxù (Jìyīn / Huìhóng’s self-preface) one piān, recounting his lifetime chūchù (career) rather fully — but Cháo Gōngwǔ records Zhāng Shāngyīng on hearing of his name requesting him to zhù (reside) at Xiázhōu Tiānníngsì — alone is not mentioned — perhaps his Zhūyá banishment had its origin from this — hence avoided and not written. Generally his qiānlián gōudǎng (entanglement-implication-association) and Dàoqián 釋道潛’s implication with Sū Shì are similar; but Shāngyīng’s character is not Shì’s match; Huìhóng’s character is also not Dàoqián’s match. Only with respect to cízǎo (literary diction) — alongside the Cānliáozǐ jí — both are sufficient to míng yī jiā (form their own school) and that is all. Qiánlóng 41 (1776) 10th month, respectfully collated.
Abstract
Shímén wénzìchán is the most extensive surviving Northern-Sòng monastic literary collection — over a thousand pieces across the standard genres. Methodologically Huìhóng’s wénzìchán program — literary Chán, the deliberate cultivation of cízǎo and Chán together — is a foundational Northern-Sòng monastic poetics statement; the program had vocal opponents (some Chán schools insisting on bùlì wénzì, not-establishing-words — the Zǔshī chán lineage) but became the dominant late-Northern-Sòng / Southern-Sòng monastic mode. The Sìkù editors’ carefully balanced evaluation — acknowledging Huìhóng’s character defects (the Lěngzhāi yèhuà forgeries; the làngzǐ héshàng charge from the Yuèlùsì poem) while preserving his literary achievement — is one of the more nuanced biéjí tíyào. The Jìyīn zìxù (preserved at the head) is one of the few Northern-Sòng monastic autobiographies — and the Sìkù editors’ careful note that the Zhūyá banishment associated with Zhāng Shāngyīng is not mentioned (a deliberate omission) is a model of kǎojù. Dating bracket: Huìhóng’s death (1128) to the Sìkù re-collation (1776).
Translations and research
- Keyworth, George A. 2001. “Transmitting the Lamp of Learning in Classical Chan Buddhism: Juefan Huihong (1071–1128) and Literary Chan.” Ph.D. diss., UCLA. The standard English-language treatment.
- Lin, Fu-shih. 2008. “Buddhist Recluses in Su Shi’s Coterie.” Asia Major. Background.
- Cài Zhèng-sūn 蔡正孫. Shī-lín guǎng-jì — preserves Huì-hóng materials.
- Sūn Chāng-wǔ 孫昌武. 1988. Sòng-dài fó-jiào yǔ shī-rén shēng-huó 宋代佛教與詩人生活.
Other points of interest
The Lěngzhāi yèhuà — Huìhóng’s shīhuà, separately cataloged — is famous for its (forged) Huáng Tíng-jiān-attributed poems; the Sìkù editors flag this here. The wénzìchán concept itself — Chán mediated through literary diction — became the central Southern-Sòng monastic poetics program and is the touchstone for later figures including Cānliáozǐ 釋道潛, Shì Hóngfù 釋洪復, and (downstream) Shì Dàhuì 釋大慧.
Links
- Huihong (Wikidata)
- Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, §28.1 (Sòng biéjí); §52 (Buddhism in China).