Gǔ zūnsù yǔlù 古尊宿語錄
Sayings of the Ancient Venerable Masters — a monumental forty-eight-juan Southern-Sòng Chán collected-sayings anthology gathering the yǔlù 語錄 of classical Chán masters from the Táng and Sòng periods. Compiled by the Línjì-Yángqí monk Sēngtǐng Zézàngzhǔ 僧挺賾藏主 (active Shàoxīng era 1131–1162), who held the position of zàngzhǔ 藏主 (library-keeper) at Fúzhōu Gǔshānsì 鼓山寺 — whence the name Zézàngzhǔ 賾藏主 (“Zé the Library-Keeper”).
About the work
A forty-eight-juan Southern-Sòng Chán yǔlù comprehensive-anthology, X68 n1315. Non-commentary; commentedTextid omitted. The text was navigated via the companion table-of-contents KR6q0260 compiled by Mujaku Dōchū in Tokugawa Japan.
Structure: the collection gathers the yǔlù or selected-sayings of approximately 20+ major Chán masters from the Táng through the Northern Sòng. Contents include materials by classic masters such as Yúnmén Wényǎn 雲門文偃, Fǎyǎn Wényì 法眼文益, Wǔzǔ Fǎyǎn 五祖法演, and others. The collection’s comprehensiveness and authoritative selection made it one of the standard reference-works of Southern-Sòng Chán education.
The earlier Northern-Sòng compact version of this collection circulated as Gǔ zūnsù yǔyào 古尊宿語要 (20 masters); Zézàngzhǔ’s Southern-Sòng expanded recension into 48 juan became the canonical form.
Abstract
Sēngtǐng Zézàngzhǔ 僧挺賾藏主 (Shàoxīng-era active = 1131–1162): Southern-Sòng Línjì-Yángqí monk. Dharma-heir of Zhúān Shìguī 竹菴士珪. Held the position of zàngzhǔ (library-keeper) at Fúzhōu Gǔshānsì 福州鼓山寺, whence his characteristic name. Otherwise biographical details meagre; his principal surviving contribution is the present Gǔ zūnsù yǔlù compilation.
Dating: notBefore 1131 (Shàoxīng era begins); notAfter 1162 (Shàoxīng era ends / Gāozōng abdicates).
Translations and research
- Yanagida Seizan 柳田聖山. Multiple studies on the Gǔ zūnsù yǔlù corpus.
- Welter, Albert. The Linji Lu and the Creation of Chan Orthodoxy. Oxford. Treats the Sòng yǔlù-anthology tradition.
Other points of interest
The Gǔ zūnsù yǔlù is one of the indispensable primary-source collections for classical Táng-Sòng Chán scholarship. Its 48-juan scope preserves otherwise-unavailable teaching-materials for many Chán masters whose individual yǔlù have been lost or circulated only in fragmentary form. Modern scholars depend on it extensively for reconstructing Táng-Sòng Chán doctrinal and literary history.
Links
- CBETA X1315
- Kanseki DB
- 賾藏 DILA
- Companion table-of-contents: KR6q0260 by Mujaku Dōchū.