Yúngǔ héshàng yǔlù 雲谷和尚語錄
Recorded Sayings of the Venerable Yún-gǔ by 宗敬 (編), 道傑 (編), 惟能 (編), 宗㞧 (編), 祖祿 (編)
About the work
Two-juan recorded-sayings (yǔlù) of the late-Southern-Sòng Línjì-school Chán master known by the sobriquet Yúngǔ 雲谷 (“Cloud Valley”); his personal fǎmíng 法名 is nowhere given in the surviving text. Compiled by five of his cānxué 參學 (training disciples) — 宗敬 Zōngjìng, 道傑 Dàojié, 惟能 Wéinéng, 宗㞧 Zōngyù, and 祖祿 Zǔlù — each responsible for the record of a different abbacy. Xùzàngjīng X73 no. 1454.
Abstract
The yǔlù is organized by monastery, covering Yúngǔ’s four successive abbacies during the Bǎoyòu 寶祐 — Xiánchún 咸淳 years:
- Píngjiāngfǔ Shèngshòu chánsì 平江府聖壽禪寺 (in Sūzhōu), entered on the 8th month of Bǎoyòu 4 (1256) — “compiled by the training-disciple Zōngjìng.” The enthronement lāoxiāng 拈香 includes the standard dedication to the reigning emperor (Lǐzōng 理宗).
- Jiāxīngfǔ Běnjué chánsì 嘉興府本覺禪寺.
- Jiànníngfǔ Kāiyuán chánsì 建寧府開元禪寺 (in Fújiàn).
- Píngjiāngfǔ Hǔqiūshān Yúnyán chánsì 平江府虎丘山雲岩禪寺 — the capstone position; abbacy at Yúnyán (also known as Hǔqiū Shàolóngsì 虎丘紹隆寺) at Hǔqiū, Sūzhōu, which had been in the Yángqí line since 紹隆 Shàolóng’s installation and which had been occupied by major Yángqí masters including Wúzhǔn Shīfàn’s successors.
Juan 2 (“下”) brings together xiǎocān 小參 (informal instruction), gàoxiāng pǔshuō 告香普說 (universal discourse on ascending the high seat), jìzàn 偈讚, and xiǎo fóshì 小佛事 (short funerary and ritual sermons — fèngtǎ 入塔, diànchá 奠茶, huǒ 火 = cremations, fùyī 付衣 for tonsure), plus a colophon (bá 䟦) by Yúngǔ on the pǔshuō of his grand-teacher (shīwēng 師翁) Sōngyuán Chóngyuè 松源崇岳 (1132–1202) as transcribed by 謙首座 Xiè shǒuzuò. This bá establishes Yúngǔ’s lineage: Sōngyuán Chóngyuè (great-teacher, shīwēng) → Yìngān Tánhuá 應庵曇華 (ancestor-teacher, shīzǔ) — locating him two generations below Sōngyuán in the Yángqí 楊岐 branch.
A postscript (dated 戊辰九月朔日 = 1st of IX month of a wùchén year, almost certainly Xiánchún 4 = 1268), signed by a Shàngǔ 善䝩 (?) defends the inclusion of Yúngǔ’s chángē 禪歌 and lyric-style passages against the accusation that these are “not real Chán,” arguing that “if one has genuine seeing, it makes no difference whether this recorded-sayings exists or not; if one has no seeing, it makes no difference either” (改寫).
Dating. The text was composed across Yúngǔ’s four abbacies between 1256 and (presumably) the mid-1260s; the postscript appears datable to 1268. notBefore 1256 / notAfter 1268.
Identification. DILA’s person authority has no independent entry for Yúngǔ of X1454 — the master is attested only via this yǔlù. He must not be confused with the Míng-era Yúngǔ Fǎhuì 雲谷法會 (1500–1579), teacher of Hánshān Déqīng 德清, who belonged to a very different lineage (法舟道濟 sìfǎ) and flourished three centuries later. The Bǔxù gāoshēng zhuàn 補續高僧傳’s “雲谷會傳” is the Míng master, not this one.
Translations and research
No substantial secondary literature located. The work receives brief notice in Zengaku daijiten 禪學大辭典 and in the CBETA jīng-lù 經錄 but has not been the subject of focused modern scholarship.