Zhèngfǎ yǎnzàng 正法眼藏
Treasury of the True-Dharma Eye (Chinese tradition; distinct from the later famous Japanese Shōbōgenzō of Dōgen 道元) — a three-juan Chán-doctrinal anthology by Dàhuì Zōnggǎo 大慧宗杲 (1089–1163), the dominant Southern-Sòng Línjì-Yángqí master and inventor of the kànhuà chán 看話禪 method. Zōnggǎo compiled classical Chán cases with his own added commentary (zhuóyǔ 著語 “appended remarks”).
About the work
A three-juan Chán gōng’àn anthology with compiler’s own commentary, X67 n1309. Non-commentary on a single parent text; commentedTextid omitted.
The title Zhèngfǎ yǎnzàng — “Treasury of the True-Dharma Eye” — is the classical Chán self-designation for the transmitted Buddha-dharma: the phrase Śākyamuni is reported to have used in the niānhuā wéixiào 拈花微笑 (flower-holding smile) transmission-to-Mahākāśyapa story. Zōnggǎo’s compilation adopts this classical title for his own organised assembly of Chán material.
The title’s later reception: Dōgen’s Japanese Shōbōgenzō 正法眼藏 uses exactly the same Chinese title. Dōgen studied in China at Tiāntóngsì (where he received dharma-transmission from Rújìng 如淨 in 1227) and would have been aware of Zōnggǎo’s earlier Chinese Zhèngfǎ yǎnzàng; his choice of the same title for his own Japanese work is explicitly continuing the same lineage-claim.
Abstract
See Dàhuì Zōnggǎo’s existing person note for biographical details. The Zhèngfǎ yǎnzàng is one of Zōnggǎo’s several gōng’àn-anthology compilations, alongside his more famous sermons and the Zōnggǎo 宗杲 yǔlù.
Dating: notBefore c. 1140 (Zōnggǎo’s mature productive period); notAfter 1163 (his death).
Links
- CBETA X1309
- Kanseki DB
- Japanese parallel-titled work: Dōgen’s Shōbōgenzō (Japanese Sōtō masterwork; Japan canonical tradition).