Gāofēng Yuánmiào chánshī chányào 高峰原妙禪師禪要
One-juan “Chán Essentials” digest compiled from the teachings of Gāofēng Yuánmiào 原妙 高峰原妙 (1238–1296) — a pithy practice-manual centred on kànhuà 看話 (“critical-phrase investigation”) rooted in Dàhuì Zōnggǎo’s program but streamlined into the sānyào 三要 / “three-essentials” formula that became standard in later Línjì and in the Japanese Rinzai kōan training system. Xuzangjing X70 n1401. Compiled by Hóng Qiáozǔ 洪喬祖 — a lay cānxué disciple present at Xīfēng from a date predating the compilation — from transcripts made by 持正 Chízhèng. Preface by Qiáozǔ himself (opening of the extant text) explains the compilation principle: Yuánmiào’s two decades of shìzhòng are the “nets” and “robes”; he has gathered the “ropes” (gāng 綱) and “collars” (lǐng 領), the directive-organising phrases, into a focused text under the title Chányào at the request of Yǒngzhōng shàngrén 永中上人 of Gūsū.
The Chányào is one of the most influential practice-manuals in the Chinese and inter-Asian Chán tradition. In Japan it is foundational for the Hakuin-style kōan pedagogy; in Korea it is one of the core texts of the traditional Sŏn curriculum, routinely paired with Tàigǔ Bou’s verses and Qīnggǒng’s mountain-living poems (KR6q0332). It has been translated into English (and several other modern languages); see in particular Chan Master Sheng Yen 聖嚴, Attaining the Way: A Guide to the Practice of Chán Buddhism (Shambhala, 2006), and Jeffrey Broughton’s framing of the kànhuà tradition in The Chan Whip Anthology (2015). The companion Gāofēng Yuánmiào chánshī yǔlù (KR6q0333) preserves the fuller sermons behind the compressed formulations here.