山暉禪師語錄

Shānhuī chánshī yǔlù 山暉禪師語錄

Recorded Sayings of Chán Master Shān-huī by 璧 (說), 如崇 (等錄), 宗上 (編)

About the work

Twelve-juan yǔlù of Shānhuī Bì 璧 山暉璧 — dharma-heir of Zìshuǐ Yuánliáo 字水圓䂐 (1605–c. 1640s, at KR6q0436) in the Pòshān Hǎimíng sub-line of the Mìyún Yuánwù tradition, and the principal Chán-mission abbot in Gui-zhōu (黔 / 貴州) prefecture in the 1650s–60s. Fǎhuì 法諱 Bì 璧 (“Jade-Disc”), hào Shānhuī 山暉 or Chángsōng 長松 (from his 長松 Chányuàn seat). Native of 靈巖 靈巖 per the first preface; place-identification unclear. Trained across multiple late-Míng Chán lineages: “zōng Tiāntóng, Bàoēn, páng jí Liángshān Wòlóng 宗天童報恩旁及梁山臥龍” — principally in the Mìyún Tiāntóng and Yùlín Bàoēn lineages, with additional training under Yuánliáo at the Sichuan Liángshān / Wòlóng seats. Compiled by dharma-heirs Rúchóng 如崇 如崇 (recorder) and Zōngshàng 宗上 宗上 (editor). Non-commentary; commentedTextid omitted. Printed as Jiāxīng Canon J29 B223.

Abstract

Author. Shānhuī Bì was trained in his youth at Qīlíngsì 棲靈寺 (Sichuan Kāixiàn) under Zìshuǐ Yuánliáo: “zì Chóngzhēn chū Qīlíng qīnjìn yǐlái 自崇禎初棲靈親近以來” — from the early Chóngzhēn era (c. 1630s). Accompanied Yuánliáo to Kuímén Wòlóng 夔門臥龍 in 戊寅 戊寅 = 1638; received tonsure 1638 仲冬 14 (= 1638 lunar 11.14, ~20 December 1638). Accompanied Yuánliáo from Kuízhōu to Jīngnán (Bái-zhāi祖 grave-sweeping) in 己卯 己卯 = 1639. Additional training at Jiāngzhè under Mi-yun-line masters and under Yùlín Tōngxiù 玉林通琇 at Bàoēnsì 報恩寺 (the “shǒu jiē Bàoēn yībō 手接報恩衣缽” reference in the second preface). 辛卯 辛卯 = 1651: “xī guà Méié 錫挂㠟峨” — settled at Méiéshān 㠟峨山 in southwestern China.

Five abbacies in Guìzhōu (1651–1660s). (1) Píngyuèfǔ Lóngmén Hùguó Chányuàn 平越府龍門護國禪院 (modern Fúquán, Guìzhōu). (2) Píngyuèfǔ Xīngqìng Wànshòu Chányuàn 平越府興慶萬壽禪院. (3) Wèngānxiàn Chuānyún Shèngēn Chányuàn 甕安縣川雲聖恩禪院. (4) Huángpíngzhōu Gāolán Chángsōng Chányuàn 黃平州高藍長松禪院 — the seat giving him his alternate hào Chángsōng 長松. (5) Yángzhōufǔ Gāoyóu Fúhǎi Chányuàn 揚州府高郵福海禪院 — later Jiāngnán abbacy.

Historical significance. The second preface by the Chóngqìng disciple Fúhuì 福慧 positions Shānhuī Bì as the founder-figure of institutional Chán in Guìzhōu: “dú shì Qiánnán yīzhǎng dì, bùwéi dì bù shēng qí rén, ér rén yì bù xiè jū yú cǐ 獨是黔南一掌地不惟地不生其人而人亦不屑居於此” (“only this small Qiánnán [= Guìzhōu] district — not only does the place not produce such figures, people have refused to reside there”). Shānhuī’s extended Guìzhōu residence and his multi-abbacy succession at Píngyuè 平越 and Huángpíng 黃平 established the first substantial Chán-institutional network in the Guìzhōu frontier. The preface compares him to Wáng Shǒurén 王新建 (= Wáng Yángmíng 王陽明) during his 1508–10 Lóngchǎng exile, which had introduced Confucian scholarship to Guìzhōu: Shānhuī brought the same-scale religious-institutional impact to the province.

Compositional history. Two front-prefaces, both undated:

1. Xiāo Yuánhuì 蕭元會 (字 際明甫, Yuánzhōu 沅州 = Húnán Huáihuà) — lay-patron.
2. Fúhuì 福慧 (渝州 Chóngqìng 門人) — dharma-disciple, signing at 嵩山醉祖堂.

Fúhuì’s preface notes that the corpus was assembled by “Duānjū Yuèqiáo 端居岳樵 zhū xiōng 諸兄” (senior dharma-brothers) then entrusted to Lóngguāng shàngzhǎnglǎo 龍光上長老 to bring to Wúyuè for cutting. The preface specifies partial collection: “dé shàngtáng sì juǎn, xiǎocān wǎncān èr juǎn, jīyuán fǎyǔ yòu èr juǎn, zájì chǐdú yòu sì juǎn 得上堂四卷小參晚參二卷機緣法語又二卷雜偈尺牘又四卷” — exactly the 12-juan structure of the present text. notBefore = 1651 (辛卯 Méié arrival); notAfter = 1670 conservatively.

Contents by juan. (j.1–4) shàngtáng 上堂 across five abbacies (4 juan); (j.5) xiǎocān 小參; (j.6) wǎncān 晚參; (j.7) jīyuán 機緣; (j.8) fǎyǔ 法語; (j.9–10) zájì 雜偈 (2 juan); (j.11–12) chǐdú 尺牘 correspondence (2 juan).

Tiyao

Not applicable — this is a Jiā-xīng-canon imprint (J29 B223), not a WYG text. Two undated front-prefaces by Xiāo Yuánhuì and Fúhuì provide the compositional documentation summarized under Abstract.

Translations and research

• Qí Lǐ-jiā 齊立家, 《貴州佛教史》 — relevant regional study. Shān-huī Bì is treated as the founder-figure of Qīng-era Guì-zhōu institutional Chán.
• Yǒng Hé (ed.), 《破山海明禪師研究》 (2013) briefly references Shān-huī as a Yuán-liáo-sub-branch heir.
• No Western-language treatment.

Other points of interest

• Founder of Guìzhōu Chán. Shānhuī’s 5-abbacy Guìzhōu network is the first documented large-scale Chán-institutional establishment in the Guìzhōu frontier (pre-modern southwestern China). His Píngyuè, Wèngān, and Huángpíng abbacies map onto the same mid-seventeenth-century Qīng consolidation of Guìzhōu that brought Confucian-administration to the region (cf. the Wáng Yángmíng precedent invoked in the second preface).
• Cross-lineage training. Shānhuī’s training-profile — principal discipleship under Yuánliáo (Pòshān sub-line) with additional residence at Yùlín Bàoēn — shows the cross-lineage training-mobility characteristic of the post-1644 Chán-institutional recovery. Unlike the strict single-lineage Chán of the earlier late-Míng generation, mid-Qīng Chán increasingly saw master cross-trained under multiple lineages before settling into an abbacy.

Links

• CBETA
• Dharma-teacher: Zìshuǐ Yuánliáo (at KR6q0436).
• Additional training-master: Yùlín Tōngxiù 玉林通琇 at Bàoēnsì.
• Compilers: 如崇 Rúchóng (recorder) + 宗上 Zōngshàng (editor).
• Preface-writers: Xiāo Yuánhuì 蕭元會 (Yuánzhōu lay-patron); Fúhuì 福慧 (Chóngqìng dharma-disciple).