鴛湖用禪師語錄

Yuānhú Yòng chánshī yǔlù 鴛湖用禪師語錄

Recorded Sayings of Chán Master Yuān-hú Yòng by 妙用 (說), 悟進 (等編), 悟元 (等編)

About the work

Two-juan short yǔlù of Yuānhú Miàoyòng 妙用 鴛湖妙用 (1587–1642), fǎhuì 法諱 Miàoyòng 妙用, zì Xuánwēi 玄微, hào Yuānhú 鴛湖 (adopted from residence at Yuānshuǐ Tóngyuèān 鴛水桐月庵 in Jiāxīng). A Cáodòng 曹洞 master, 30th-generation Línjì/Cáodòng per the tǎmíng’s titular line “Línjì zhèngzōng dì sānshí shì 臨濟正宗第三十世” — the lineage-identification is cross-schoolwise in this Jiāxīng Cáodòng sub-line, which traces its Dòng-shān-lineage-via-Línjì-Wú-zhǔn descent through a chain that includes the Sòng-era Línjì master Wúzhǔn Shīfàn 無準師範 (1179–1249) and Duànqiáo Miàolún 斷橋妙倫 before branching into the YuánMíng Cáodòng stream. Principal dharma-heir of Nánmíng Zōngguǎng 南明宗廣 (a dharma-son of Chēxī Wúhuàn Hǎichōng 車溪無幻海沖, who was in turn a dharma-son of Wúqù Rúkōng 無趣如空 1530–1614) — a distinct Cáodòng sub-line from the better-known Zhànrán Yuánchéng line that produced KR6q0410 Ruìbái Míngxuě, KR6q0411 Sānyí Míngyú, and KR6q0412 Jíniàn Jìngxiàn. Compiled by dharma-heirs Wùjìn 悟進 悟進 (= Jièān Wùjìn 介菴悟進) and Wùyuán 悟元 悟元 (= Yīchū Wùyuán 一初悟元) at the Jiànníng Zǐyúnshān Pǔmíngsì 建寧紫雲山普明寺 in Fújiàn (Miàoyòng’s final abbacy-seat). Re-cut (chóngzǐ 重梓) in a later print-run at Chángshuǐ Tuìān 長水退菴 by the dharma-grandson Zhēnzhì 真智. The tǎmíng (Fújiàn Jiànníng Zǐyúnshān Pǔmíngtángshàng chuán Línjì zhèngzōng dì sānshí shì Yuānhú Yòng chánshī tǎmíng 福建建寧紫雲山普明堂上傳臨濟正宗第三十世鴛湖用禪師塔銘) is by Tán Zhēnmò 譚貞默 dated 順治甲午長至日 = Shùnzhì 11 winter-solstice = 25 December 1654 Western. Non-commentary; commentedTextid omitted. Printed as Jiāxīng Canon J27 B196.

Abstract

Author. Yuānhú Miàoyòng was born 萬曆丁亥十月初七酉時 (= 5 December 1587 Western), lay surname Zhèng 鄭, of Hǎiyán 海鹽 / Yánguān 鹽官 (Zhèjiāng). Father Zhèng Qǐrú 鄭啟儒; mother Lùshì 陸氏. Vegetarian from childhood; at age 12 entered Jiāhé Xīngshànsì 嘉禾興善寺 as a tóngxíng under Jìzhōu 濟舟. Age 17 (1603) formal tonsure. Met Nánmíng Zōngguǎng 南明宗廣 at Xīngshànsì (where Nánmíng had also originally tonsured); received full precepts from Yúnqī Zhūhóng 雲棲袾宏 (1535–1615) at Yúnqīsì — placing Miàoyòng, with Fúshí Tōngxián (at KR6q0407), Ruìbái Míngxuě (at KR6q0410), and Sānyí Míngyú (at KR6q0411), in the Yúnqī Zhūhóng ordination-line that constitutes the cross-lineage base-layer of the Jiāxīng Chán revival.

Early training (1603–1613). Followed Nánmíng to Jìngshān 徑山; visited Chēxī Wúhuàn Hǎichōng 車溪無幻 (his dharma-grandfather) for foundational cānjiū 參究 instruction. When Wúhuàn came to Jìngshān for one year in 1608-9 and died there, Nánmíng succeeded him at the Jìngshān seat. Miàoyòng’s first partial awakening on the Sīyì fàntiān jīng 思益梵天經 passage, with two sòng 頌 verses (“tiěbì yínshān shuí gǎn cuī … 鐵壁銀山誰敢摧…”); Nánmíng scolded him sharply for writing gāthās, and Miàoyòng thereafter vowed never again to compose gāthā-verses, returning to single-pointed work on the běncān 本參 (principal gōngàn). Xīnhài 辛亥 winter (1611): testing-encounter with Xuějiào Yuánxìn 雪嶠圓信 (1571–1647) on the “xuě shīzǐ xiàng huǒ 雪獅子向火” (“snow-lion faces the fire”) exchange; Xuějiào signaled approval.

Sealing at Nánmíng’s deathbed (1620). Guǐchǒu 癸丑 (1613): Nánmíng entered bìguān at Gāotíng Yǒngqìngsì 皋亭永慶寺; Miàoyòng served as hùguān 護關 (retreat-protector) for four years. During this period Miàoyòng met Zhànrán Yuánchéng 湛然圓澄 at Jiāhé Dōngtǎsì — an observer relationship only, as Miàoyòng did not switch lineage. Bǐngchén 丙辰 (1616): Nánmíng emerged from retreat at Lóngjū 龍居 request; at this point Miàoyòng met Shíyǔ Míngfāng 石雨明方 who was also at Nánmíng’s seat (Shíyǔ is therefore a true 同參 tóngcān dharma-brother of Miàoyòng in the Nánmíng Zōngguǎng sub-line — not a Zhàn-rán-line figure as sometimes reported, correcting a note I made at KR6q0413). Wùwǔ 戊午 autumn (1618): Nánmíng fell ill; Miàoyòng attended him for three years as personal shìzhě 侍者. Nánmíng moved down-mountain to Jìāhé Zhītuóān 祗陀庵 for medical care. Gēngshēn qiū 庚申秋 (1620 autumn): Nánmíng gave Miàoyòng the “Xiāngyán jì 香嚴偈” exchange; as Miàoyòng twice attempted to respond, Nánmíng cut him off with sharp shouts (hē 喝); on the second shout Miàoyòng “diǎntóu xiàlèi 點頭下淚” (nodded and wept). Nánmíng then delivered the transmission verse “wú chuán wú shòu fǎ, wú chuán wú shòu xīn, fù yǔ wú shǒu zhě, chè duàn xūkōng jīn 無傳無受法無傳無受心付與無手者掣斷虛空筋” (“no transmission, no-receiving dharma; no transmission, no-receiving mind; I entrust to one-without-hands, who shall snap empty-space’s sinews”). Nánmíng died shortly thereafter.

Hermit phase (1620–1635). After Nánmíng’s death Miàoyòng declined public succession. Settled in multiple solitary hermitages — Xiámùshān Xiáwùshān 霞霧山, then Lǔān 魯庵 (Chángshuǐ) for two years, where he observed the strict seven-Buddha-mendicant discipline (qīfó yíshì 七佛儀式): daily alms-round, sharing food with animals and hungry-ghost beings, no private eating, no new clothing, no new footwear. At Jīnsù c. 1624 briefly served as shǒuzhòng 首眾 (head-seat) under Mìyún Yuánwù — another cross-lineage observer relationship. Moved to Yuānshuǐ Tóngyuèān 鴛水桐月庵 in Jiāxīng (the hermitage later occupied by Wànrú Tōngwēi 萬如通微 as Rúrúān 如如庵 — cf. KR6q0404); from this seat Miàoyòng adopted the hào Yuānhú. Met Nán-míng-generation dharma-brother monks including Xuějiào Yuánxìn (at Jìngshān Qiānzhǐān, 1624 spring for three months of co-residence), and lay-patrons including Tán Zhēnmò 譚貞默 who would later write the tǎmíng.

Abbacies (1635–1642). (1) Jiāxīng Báizhù Pǔmíngsì 嘉興白苧普明寺 — 乙亥 乙亥 (1635), petitioned by 𨍏轢 嚴大參 嚴大參 dàshēn 大參 (Yán dàcān), the Jiāxīng official who had restored the ancient ShíJìn Tiānfú 石晉天福-era Pǔmíngsì ruins; one-year tenure before retreat to Fújiàn. (2) Fújiàn Jíyángshān 建寧吉陽山 three-year retreat (1636–40). (3) Fújiàn Jiànníng Zǐyúnshān Pǔmíngsì 建寧紫雲山普明寺 — the final abbacy, 庚辰春 庚辰春 (1640 spring), petitioned by Zhū Liányuè 朱聯岳 and Huáng Sūmén 黃蘇門. Named the Fújiàn temple Pǔmíng in continuity with the earlier Jiāxīng Pǔmíngsì abbacy. 辛巳冬 辛巳 winter (1641): Shíyǔ Míngfāng 石雨明方 héshàng led the regional tányuè 檀越 in petitioning Miàoyòng’s formal kāifǎ ascension, which Miàoyòng had delayed for nearly a year. From 辛巳 winter onwards, the shàngtáng corpus of the present yǔlù begins. (4) Visit from Wànrú Tōngwēi 萬如通微 in rénwǔ 壬午 spring (1642) — Wànrú had also tonsured at Xīngshànsì and is a fellow Jiāxīng dharma-relative, though of a different lineage (Mìyún Línjì). Died Chóngzhēn 15.10.11 辰時 (= 23 November 1642), aged 56 suì / 44 fǎlà, with final verse: “shēng yě cuò, sǐ yě cuò, tiěshī chè duàn huángjīn suǒ 生也錯死也錯鐵獅掣斷黃金索” (“Being born was an error, dying is an error; the iron-lion snaps the gold chain”). Three dharma-heirs: Yúnfēng Jūn 雲峰鈞, Jièān Wùjìn 悟進 介菴悟進, and Yīchū Wùyuán 悟元 一初悟元 (the last two being the compilers-of-record for the present yǔlù).

Dating. notBefore = 1640 (Fújiàn Pǔmíngsì shàngtáng corpus begins with the spring-1640 arrival and the formal winter-1641 ascension). notAfter = 1654 (Tán Zhēnmò tǎmíng dated Shùnzhì 11 winter-solstice; the yǔlù proper may have been cut somewhat earlier — perhaps c. 1642–45 — with the 1654 tǎmíng appended at a subsequent integrated re-cutting). The re-cutting (chóngzǐ 重梓) at Chángshuǐ Tuìān by dharma-grandson Zhēnzhì 真智 would be a later still layer.

Contents by juan. (j.1) Fújiàn Jiànníng Pǔmíngsì yǔlù — 陞座 陞座 + 小參 + 機緣 + 拈頌古 + 像讚 + 法語; (j.2) 書啟 書啟 + 偈頌 + 雜著 + appendix 附 行狀 (by Wùjìn) + 塔銘 (by Tán Zhēnmò, 1654-12-25). The pre-shàng-táng image-plates (<img:> blocks) likely preserve a calligraphed master-preface, not machine-readable in the Kanripo transcription.

Tiyao

Not applicable — this is a Jiā-xīng-canon imprint (J27 B196), not a WYG text. The xíngzhuàng (by Wùjìn) and the 1654 Tán Zhēnmò tǎmíng provide the principal biographical documentation summarized under Abstract.

Translations and research

• Jiang Wu, Enlightenment in Dispute (2008). Miào-yòng appears at p. 134 as part of the Cáo-dòng Wú-qù Rú-kōng sub-line, distinguished from the more prominent Zhàn-rán-line.
• Zhāng Shèng-yán 釋聖嚴, 《明末佛教研究》 (1992, repr. 2009). Ch. 3 on the late-Wàn-lì Cáo-dòng revival; the Wú-qù → Wú-huàn → Nán-míng → Yuān-hú sub-line is discussed briefly.
• Liào Zhào-hēng 廖肇亨, 《忠義菩提》 (2013). Chapter 4 on the Jia-xīng lay-patron network of the 1630s–50s, in which Yán dà-cān (𨍏轢 嚴大參) — the restorer of the Jia-xīng Bái-zhù Pǔ-míng-sì and the figure who first invited Miào-yòng to open a public abbacy — is a significant regional official also connected to Lín-yě Tōng-qí’s Jia-hé patron circle.
• Jennifer Eichman, A Late Sixteenth-Century Chinese Buddhist Fellowship (Brill 2016). Context for the Yún-qī Zhū-hóng ordination-line of which Miào-yòng is a member, connecting him to Fú-shí, Ruì-bái, and Sān-yí Míng-yú across the Chán branches.
• No Western-language translation.

Other points of interest

• Distinct Cáodòng sub-line: Wúqù Rúkōng → Wúhuàn Hǎichōng → Nánmíng Zōngguǎng. The tǎmíng preserves the full sub-lineage-chain back to the Sòng Línjì masters Wúzhǔn Shīfàn 無準師範 and Duànqiáo Miàolún 斷橋妙倫 — a Línjì-becoming-Cáo-dòng crossover-line characteristic of the fourteenth–fifteenth century transitions. The key late-Míng revivers of this line are Wúqù Rúkōng 無趣如空 (1530–1614, at Jiāxīng Xīngshànsì 興善寺, also Miàoyòng’s tonsure seat — so the line is both his teacher-line and his home-institutional lineage), Wúhuàn Hǎichōng 無幻海沖 at Chēxī, and Nánmíng Zōngguǎng 南明宗廣 at Jìngshān. This sub-line is distinct from the Zhàn-rán-line, and the two should not be conflated. The parallel Shíyǔ Míngfāng — dharma-brother of Miàoyòng in the Nánmíng sub-line — is therefore also not a Zhànrán heir (contrary to my earlier tentative hypothesis at KR6q0413, which should be read with this correction).
• The “no more gāthās” vow. Miàoyòng’s xíngzhuàng and tǎmíng both preserve the memorable early episode where Nánmíng scolded him for showing off his first-awakening sòng verses; Miàoyòng then vowed never to compose Chán-verses again. In consequence, the present yǔlù has an unusually small 偈頌 section — reflecting a lifetime discipline of suppressing verse-composition. This is a distinctive stylistic feature that makes Miàoyòng’s corpus texturally very different from most contemporary Chán yǔlù, whose shījì blocks can span multiple juan.
• The seven-Buddha alms-round discipline. During his Lǔān 魯庵 reclusive phase (c. 1622–24), Miàoyòng observed the strict Qīfó yíshì 七佛儀式 — a self-imposed return to primitive-Buddhist mendicant discipline: daily alms-round, sharing food with animals and hungry-ghost beings, no private eating, no new clothing, no new footwear, even declining a single new foot-bandage gift from a donor. This kind of extreme ascetic discipline is rare among the J26–J27 Chán masters (contrast the institutional-zhǔchí pattern of most of his contemporaries) and marks Miàoyòng as one of the most deliberately suppressionist Chán figures of the era. The tǎmíng’s analogy to the Fourth Patriarch’s wòbùjiěxí 臥不解席 (sleeping without removing one’s robe for decades) — “shòu yī zhī rén, mìng rú xuánsī 受衣之人命如懸絲” — positions Miàoyòng in the austere-hermit wing of the late-Míng Chán revival.
• Yuānshuǐ Tóngyuèān and the Wànrú connection. The hermitage Yuānshuǐ Tóngyuèān 鴛水桐月庵 — which gave Miàoyòng his hào — later became Wànrú Tōngwēi 萬如通微’s Rúrúān 如如庵 (cf. KR6q0404). Both masters had tonsured at the same Xīngshànsì. The institutional continuity across the two lineages (Cáodòng Nán-míng-line → Línjì Mìyún-line) at this same hermitage is a small but telling datum for the mid-century Jiāxīng Chán-institutional porosity across denominational lines.
• Tán Zhēnmò 1654 tǎmíng: cross-cluster continuity. The tǎmíng here, dated 1654-12-25, is one of Tán’s longest preserved late-life prose pieces and the earliest in the six-preface Tán sequence (KR6q0414 1656, KR6q0415 1657, KR6q0408 1658, KR6q0413 1659, KR6q0407 1663). Its inclusion in the present yǔlù marks the integrated cutting as post-1654. The text’s unusually detailed enumeration of the entire 無準 → 斷橋 → … → 無趣 → 無幻 → 南明 → 鴛湖 succession-chain is a major datum for the genealogical self-presentation of the Wúqù Rúkōng sub-line.

Links

• CBETA
• Dharma-teacher: 南明宗廣 (Nánmíng Zōngguǎng — to be created if not yet present).
• Dharma-grandfather: 無幻海沖 (Chēxī Wúhuàn Hǎichōng — to be created).
• Dharma-great-grandfather: 無趣如空 (Wúqù Rúkōng, 1530–1614 — to be created).
• Same-generation dharma-brother: 石雨明方 (Shíyǔ Míngfāng — Dàxiū Zhū’s transmission teacher at KR6q0413).
• Preface/tǎmíng author: 譚貞默 Tán Zhēnmò.
• Related Cáodòng / Mìyún-line cluster in J26–J27: KR6q0410–KR6q0415.