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無依道人錄

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Text ID
KR6q0192
Date
1665–1667
Dynasty
清

Wúyī dàorén lù 無依道人錄

Record of the Daoist-of-No-Dependence

A two-juan lay-Buddhist yǔlù-style Chán sermon collection by Xú Chāngzhì 徐昌治 (1582–after 1672), hào Wúyī dàorén 無依道人 (“Daoist-of-No-Dependence”), the veteran lay Buddhist best known for his anti-Christian anthology Pì xié jí 闢邪集 (1639) and the Xǐng shì lù KR6q0191 (1652). Compiled from Xu’s teaching-responses by his dharma-heir Chāowù 超悟; prefaced by Sēngjiàn 僧鑑 of Náncūn 南村 in the dīngwèi 丁未 year of Kāngxī = Kāngxī 6 = 1667 (on the 16th of the seventh month).

About the work

A two-juan lay-Buddhist yǔlù-style collection of Chán-style teachings, J23 B127. Non-commentary; commentedTextid omitted. The text’s form is modelled on the classical Chán yǔlù 語錄 (“recorded sayings”) genre, but with a decisive innovation: the primary teaching-figure is not an ordained master but a lay practitioner (jūshì 居士). Xu’s lay-teaching status — he never took monastic ordination despite his decades-long Chán practice — positions the text within the distinguished tradition of lay yǔlù exemplars that Sēngjiàn’s preface explicitly invokes: Vimalakīrti 淨名 (in the time of Śākyamuni), Yáng Xuànzhī 楊衒之 (in the time of Bodhidharma), Páng Yùn 龐蘊 (in the time of Mǎzǔ Dàoyī 馬祖道一), plus the later nuns and laywomen Zǒngchínī 總持尼, Língxíng pó 凌行婆, Yúdàopó 俞道婆.

Structural form: the text gathers Xu’s Chán-style teaching-responses to visitors and disciples — typically short pithy formulations or apothegmatic utterances in the classical Chán-encounter mode — arranged topically or thematically.

Sēngjiàn’s preface articulates Xu’s distinctive position as jūshì hédān fǎ rèn 居士荷擔法任 (“a layman shouldering dharma-responsibility”), situating him as a contemporary exemplar of the lay-Chán lineage that transmits the dharma outside the monastic institution proper. The preface specifically connects Xu to the lineage from Mìān Xiánjié 密菴咸傑 (1118–1186) → Tiánsùān 田素菴, with Xu as the seventh-generation lay-continuer of this line.

Abstract

See Xú Chāngzhì’s person note for biographical details. The Wúyī dàorén lù represents Xu’s mature Chán teaching-voice, compiled from his late-life responses to student-practitioners — at approximately age 85 at the time of Sēngjiàn’s preface. Xu continued to be active as a lay Chán teacher well beyond the typical retirement age, which reflects both his longevity (he lived at least into his 90s) and the living-strength of his mature teaching community.

Chāowù 超悟 (DILA likely unregistered): Xu’s dharma-heir (or senior disciple) and compiler of the present yǔlù. Lifedates unrecorded. No substantial biographical material preserved.

Sēngjiàn 僧鑑 of Náncūn 南村 (DILA likely unregistered): late 17th-century Chán monk, preface-writer for the Wúyī dàorén lù. The preface-signature reads DàQīng Kāngxī suìcì dīngwèi qī yuè jì wàng Náncūn sìzǔ shāmén Sēngjiàn bài zhuàn 大清康熙歲次丁未七月既望南村嗣祖沙門僧鑑拜撰. His identification as sìzǔ shāmén 嗣祖沙門 (“dharma-succession monk”) suggests he was in a recognised Chán master-lineage, though his specific lineage-affiliation is not noted.

Dating: notBefore c. 1665 (reasonable anchor for the compilation’s completion; Chāowù would have been gathering Xu’s teaching over years of discipleship, finalising the compilation in anticipation of publication); notAfter 1667 (Sēngjiàn’s preface, Kāngxī dīngwèi qī yuè jì wàng 康熙丁未七月既望 = 16th day of the seventh month of Kāngxī 6). The publication and canonical inclusion would have followed shortly after.

Translations and research

  • Goodrich, L. Carrington, and Chaoying Fang. 1976. Dictionary of Ming Biography. Entry on Xu Changzhi.
  • Standaert, Nicolas (ed.). 2001. Handbook of Christianity in China: Volume One. Brill. Contextualises Xu’s anti-Christian work (Pì xié jí) and his broader Buddhist programme.
  • Brook, Timothy. 1993. Praying for Power. Context on Míng-Qīng lay Buddhism.
  • No substantial study located specifically on the Wúyī dàorén lù.

Other points of interest

The Wúyī dàorén lù is an unusual document in the Kanripo corpus: a properly-formatted yǔlù for a lay Buddhist. Lay yǔlù were rare; most collected-sayings volumes are for ordained masters. Xu’s position — late-Míng loyalist, seasoned anti-Christian polemicist, and serious Chán practitioner — allowed him to accumulate enough monastic-institutional respect to receive this typically-monastic honorific genre-treatment. Sēngjiàn’s preface makes this explicit, positioning Xu as the rightful continuer of the classical lay-master tradition from Vimalakīrti through Páng Yùn.

The Wúyī dàorén lù is also a late-career summation of Xu’s position: after his youthful anti-Christian writings (Pì xié jí, 1639), his Chán-historical work (Zǔtíng zhǐnán KR6q0048), his didactic-moral compilation (Xǐng shì lù KR6q0191, 1652), and finally his late yǔlù (1667), the corpus traces the arc of a late-imperial lay-Buddhist intellectual-spiritual career from polemic through scholarship to mature teaching.

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