Tánfāng Shǒuzhōng chánshī yǔlù 曇芳守忠禪師語錄
Two-juan Yuán yǔlù of Tánfāng Shǒuzhōng 守忠 曇芳守忠 (1275 – 1348), Yángqí-branch Línjì master; compiled by his principal dharma-heir 繼祖 Jìzǔ, abbot of Chángzhōulù Shànquán chánsì 常州路善權禪寺. Shǒuzhōng held five major abbacies — Jiànkānglù Chóngyīn chánsì 崇因禪寺 (from Dàdé 9 / 1305, fifteen years), Jiànkānglù Jiǎngshān Tàipíng Xīngguó chánsì 蔣山太平興國禪寺 (from Zhìzhì 1 / 1321), Jíqìnglù Jiǎngshān Dàchóngxǐ Wànshòusì 蔣山大崇禧萬壽寺 (a new foundation bestowed by the future Wénzōng 文宗 in Tàidìng 3 / 1326 and imperially retitled in Tiānlì 1 / 1328), Hángzhōulù Jìngshān Xīngshèng Wànshòu chánsì 徑山興聖萬壽禪寺 (as its 49th abbot, from Zhìzhèng 2 / 1342), and Dàlóngxiáng Jíqìngsì 大龍翔集慶寺 (from Zhìzhèng 5 / 1345) — which gave the collection its frequent alternate title Wǔhuì lù 五會錄 (“Records of Five Assemblies”). Xuzangjing X71 no. 1410; juan 1 gathers the first four abbacy-records (Chóngyīn, Jiǎngshān Tàipíng Xīngguó, Dàchóngxǐ Wànshòu, Jìngshān); juan 2 contains the Dàlóngxiáng record plus jìsòng, fózǔ zhēnzàn, zìzàn, fùlù, tíbá, and — valuably for biography — the xíngyèjì 行業記 by the disciple Kèxīn 克新 (Zhìzhèng 9 / 1349) and the tǎmíng 塔銘 by the eminent Yuán statesman-historian Ōuyáng Xuán 歐陽玄 (also Zhìzhèng 9 / 1349), calligraphed by Zhào Yōng 趙雍 with a seal-script title by Zhào Yǎn 趙儼.
Abstract
The compilation is anchored by the preface of Yú Jí 虞集 (1272–1348) — Yuán hànlín academician and leading cultural figure — styling himself “Wéixiào jūshì” 微笑居士 of Shǔjùn, dated Zhìzhèng 6 / 1346 at Línchuān, supplying the doctrinal framework in which the book has long been read: a genealogy from Yuánwù Kèqín 圜悟克勤 through Sōngyuán Chóngyuè 松源崇嶽, 無得通 Wúdé Tōng, 普度 Xūzhōu Pǔdù, and 德珍 Yùshān Dézhēn (běnshī 本師 to Shǒuzhōng, carrying the imperial title Fóguāng Hǎiyìn 佛光海印) down to Shǒuzhōng himself. Shǒuzhōng was a native of Dūchāng 都昌 in Nánkāng (Jiāngxī), lay surname Huáng 黃; he was tonsured at eleven under Yùshān Dézhēn at Yúnjūshān 雲居山, trained widely at Jiǎngshān, Tiānxǐ, Tàipíngsì, Xiūxiūān 休休菴 (under Měngshān Yì 蒙山異), and Jìngshān (under 淨伏 Hǔyán Jìngfú, as 綱維 for a year), and attained awakening under Dézhēn at Língyǐn on the “cypress tree in the courtyard” 庭前柏樹子 huàtóu. His career was shaped decisively by relations with Tuōhuān 脫歡 (江浙行省丞相 from 1321), with the future Wénzōng 文宗 (then 太子梁王, during the imperial progress to Jīnlíng in 1325, which led to the foundation of Chóngxǐ Wànshòu on Bǎozhūfēng), and with the Shùndì court (reception at the 奎章閣 in 1330, extensive imperial gifts, multiple title-investitures). Imperial titles he received include Fóhǎi Pǔyìn dàchánshī 佛海普印大禪師 (1328) and Dàzhōng dàfū Guǎngcí Yuánwù dàchánshī 大中大夫廣慈圓悟大禪師 (1329). He died at Dàlóngxiáng on the 28th of the 10th month of Zhìzhèng 8 (27 November 1348), shìshòu 74, sēnglà 56; his ashes were divided, with the principal stupa at Lóngpánān 龍蟠菴 (the “Immovable Stupa” 不動塔) and a second on Língxiāofēng 凌霄峯 at Jìngshān. Named dharma-heirs in the Zēngjí Xùchuándēnglù include 繼祖 of Shànquán, Lánjiāng Qīngchǔ 蘭江清濋, Shòuyán Chūn 壽巖椿, Xīyuán Dá 西源達, Yuánzōng Xìng 圓宗性, and Xīyǐn Zǔ 西隱祖.
Two features make this yǔlù exceptional among Yuán Chán collections. First, its dense documentary record: the tǎmíng by Ōuyáng Xuán and the xíngyèjì by Kèxīn — both completed within a year of the master’s death — together furnish an unusually complete paper trail for imperial-era Chán patronage, including specific titles, dates, gift-lists, and the diplomatic background to Shǒuzhōng’s 1330 audience at the Kuízhānggé 奎章閣 and his refusal of the Dàlóngxiáng foundership (which he redirected to Xiàoyǐn Dàxīn 笑隱大訢, then of Zhōng Tiānzhú). Second, its position in late-Yuán Jiāngnán cultural networks: the preface by Yú Jí and the calligraphy by Zhào Yōng (grandson of Zhào Mèngfǔ 趙孟頫) tie Shǒuzhōng directly to the highest register of Yuán literary-elite patronage, and explain the collection’s wide circulation under the Wǔhuì lù title.
Translations and research
No substantial secondary literature located in Western-language scholarship. Chinese and Japanese coverage is confined to biographical compendia (Zēng-jí Xù-chuándēng-lù juan 6; Xù-dēng zhèng-tǒng juan 24; Nán-Sòng Yuán-Míng chán-lín sēng-bǎo zhuàn; Shì-shì jī-gǔ lüè xù-jí 釋氏稽古略續集) and to studies of the Jiǎng-shān Chóng-xǐ and Dà-lóng-xiáng foundations — which, because of Shǒu-zhōng’s close connection with Wén-zōng as crown prince and then emperor, occupy a particular place in the historiography of Yuán imperial Buddhism.
Other points of interest
Ōuyáng Xuán’s tǎmíng preserves the unusually specific detail that when Shǒuzhōng’s cremation-yielded shèlì lodged in leaves in the surrounding grove, villagers gathered the branches and sold them in the marketplace (樵牧連枝。取鬻諸市). The inscription, a primary document of Yuán religious patronage, reports by name the court donation-lists transmitted through the Xuānzhèngyuàn 宣政院 and the Dàxǐ zōngyīnyuàn 大禧宗禋院, with specific metallic weights, bolts of nàshīshī 納失失 (nasij) brocade, and named artisan-donors (the court-painter Zhàoyuànpàn 趙院判 and the sculptor-officials ShàngLiú èrzǒngguǎn 尚劉二總管 executed the new Buddha-hall icons by imperial order).