Jífēi chánshī quán lù 即非禪師全錄
Complete Record of Chán Master Jífēi
A substantial twenty-five-juan Chán yǔlù of Jífēi Rúyī 即非如一 (1616–1671), the major Línjì-Yángqí-lineage master who emigrated to Japan in 1657 at the invitation of his master Yǐnyuán Lóngqí 隱元隆琦 (1592–1673) and became one of the co-founders of the Ōbakushū 黃檗宗, the third major school of Japanese Zen. Compiled by his senior dharma-heirs led by Míngdòng 明洞 et al.
About the work
A twenty-five-juan quán lù (“complete record”), J38 B425. Non-commentary; commentedTextid omitted.
The 25-juan scale reflects Jífēi’s substantial teaching-career in both China (Fújiàn Xuěfēng Chóngshèngsì 雪峰崇聖寺, before 1657) and Japan (Chángqí Shèngshòushān 聖壽山 and Chóngfúsì 崇福寺 from 1657; Guǎngshòusì 廣壽寺 from 1664; etc.). The collection includes formal hall-sermons, gōng’àn commentary, letter-correspondence, poetry, tomb-inscriptions (including Jífēi’s own xíng yè jì 行業記 in juan 25 — a principal biographical source), and miscellaneous compositions from across his bi-national career.
Abstract
Jífēi Rúyī 即非如一 (1616/6/27 – 1671/6/26; Wànlì 44/5/14 – Kāngxī 10/5/20, age 56, per the xíng yè jì in Jífēi quán lù juan 25). Hào Jífēi 即非 (“Instantly-Not”); also Guǎngshòu Jífēi 廣壽即非 (for his Japanese Guǎngshòusì abbacy) and Xuěfēng Jífēi 雪峰即非 (for his Fújiàn Xuěfēngsì abbacy). Lay surname Lín 林; descended from the Sòng scholar-official Lín Xīyì 林希逸 (Jiànzhāi xiānshēng 鬳齋先生). Native of Fúqīng 福清 (Fújiàn).
Tonsured at 17 under Xīlái Hào 西來灝 at Lóngshānsì 龍山寺; received full precepts at 20. Studied under Shíyǔ Míngfāng 石雨明方 and Cháozōng 朝宗 and others before finally coming to Mìyún Yuánwù’s dharma-heir Yǐnyuán Lóngqí 隱元隆琦 at Huángbòshān 黃檗山, where he received dharma-transmission. Abbot at Xuěfēng 雪峰.
Japan emigration (1657): Responding to Yǐnyuán’s 1655 emigration and his 1657 invitation, Jífēi crossed to Japan as one of the senior lieutenants of the Ōbaku founding-community. Abbot at Chángqí Shèngshòushān (Nagasaki), Chóngfúsì 崇福寺, later Guǎngshòusì 廣壽寺 in the Bungo domain. Died at Chángqí on 1671/6/26, with reported miraculous post-mortem phenomena (intact skull-bone, five-coloured relics).
Compiler Míngdòng 明洞: Jífēi’s senior dharma-heir; lead editor of the 25-juan quán lù. Lifedates unrecorded.
Dating: notBefore c. 1640 (Jífēi’s early Chán-teaching period after ordination); notAfter 1671 (his death; the quán lù was finalised and published in the years immediately following).
Translations and research
- Baroni, Helen J. 2000. Obaku Zen: The Emergence of the Third Sect of Zen in Tokugawa Japan. University of Hawai’i Press. The standard English-language study of the Ōbakushū, with extensive treatment of Jífēi as one of the co-founders.
- Wu, Jiang. 2015. Leaving for the Rising Sun: Chinese Zen Master Yinyuan and the Authenticity Crisis in Early Modern East Asia. Oxford. Focuses on Yǐnyuán; Jífēi appears as a close lieutenant.
- Lín Guāncháo 林觀潮. 2010. 《即非如一》. Chinese-language monographic study.
Other points of interest
The Quán lù is a major primary source for the formation of the Ōbakushū — the third school of Japanese Zen (alongside Sōtō and Rinzai) founded by Chinese monastic-emigrant masters in the mid-17th century. Jífēi’s role alongside Yǐnyuán at Uji-Ōbakusan and his later Japanese abbacies make him a central figure in the Sino-Japanese transmission of late-imperial Chán to Tokugawa Japan.
The text’s inclusion in the Jiāxīng Canon (rather than in a Japanese canonical collection) preserves Jífēi’s teaching-voice within the Chinese Buddhist canonical tradition, complementing his substantial Japanese reception in the Ōbaku temple-archives.
Links
- CBETA J38nB425
- Kanseki DB
- Lineage-mastery: Fèiyǐn Tōngróng’s note notes the Yǐnyuán emigration; Jífēi is part of this same lineage.
- Standard study: Baroni 2000 Obaku Zen.