Fǎlán Chéng chánshī yǔlù 法瀾澂禪師語錄
Recorded Sayings of Chán Master Fǎ-lán Chéng by 原澂 (說), 清杲 (編次)
About the work
Two-juan yǔlù of Fǎlán Yuánchéng 原澂 法瀾原澂 — dharma-heir of Shāwēng Hǎi 沙翁海 (also 敬太海老和尚 敬太海老和尚) in the Húběi Jīngzhōu regional Chán tradition, and the mid-Kāng-xī abbot of multiple Jīngzhōufǔ seats including the classical Tiānwáng Chánsì 荊州天王禪寺 (ancestral seat of the Táng-era master Tiānwáng Dàowù 天王道悟, 727–808). Fǎhuì 法諱 Yuánchéng 原澂 (catalog-form; short-form Chéng 澂 in the work-title), hào Fǎlán 法瀾 (“Dharma-Wave”). Compiled by dharma-heir Qīnggǎo 清杲 清杲. Non-commentary; commentedTextid omitted. Printed as Jiāxīng Canon J29 B229.
Abstract
Author. Fǎlán Yuánchéng was dharma-heir of Shāwēng Hǎi lǎohéshàng 沙翁海老和尚 — described in the opening shàngtáng as “zhōngxìng běnsì sì zuò dàochǎng běnshī 中興本寺四坐道場本師” (“restorer-master of the four abbacies of this temple”) — a Jīngzhōu regional master who revived the Tiānwáng Chánsì seat and three others. The běnshī’s alternative-name is Jìngtài Hǎi 敬太海 per the opening incense-line.
Four Jīngzhōu abbacies (1670–1673+). (1) Jīngzhōu Tiānwáng Chánsì 荊州天王禪寺 — first abbacy, entered 康熙 9 庚戌 2.1 = 21 March 1670. (2) Dāngyáng Dùmén Chánsì 當陽度門禪寺 — the Dùménsì is the ancestral seat of Shénxiù 神秀 (early 8th-century Northern Chán founder) in Dāngyáng. (3) Jīngzhōu Pútíchǎng 荊州菩提場. (4) Jīngzhōu Bàoēn Chánsì 荊州報恩禪寺. The seat-sequence represents a substantial mid-Kāng-xī Chán recovery in the Jīngzhōu region — including the restoration of two classical ancestral seats (Tiānwángsì of the Táng-era Tiānwáng Dàowù, and Dùménsì of Shénxiù).
Compositional history. Single front-preface by Wáng Cáidǐng 王才鼎 (鍾山 Zhōngshān lay-patron), dated 康熙十二年 歲枉癸丑 七月既望 = Kāngxī 12 / 1673 lunar 7.16 = ~26 August 1673 Western. The preface’s notable feature is its strong Confucian-Chán syncretic argument: Wáng explicitly compares “chéngyì zhèngxīn 誠意正心” of Confucianism to “míngxīn jiànxìng 明心見性” of Chán, arguing that the two paths converge in unity — a Qīng-era lay-Confucian Chán-justification register typical of the Kāngxī period. notBefore = 1670 (Kāngxī 9.2.1 Tiānwáng entry); notAfter = 1673 (Wáng Cáidǐng preface).
Contents by juan. (j.1) front-preface + Tiānwáng Chánsì shàngtáng + Dùmén Chánsì shàngtáng; (j.2) Pútíchǎng + Bàoēn Chánsì shàngtáng + jīyuán 機緣 + rùshì 入室 + jìsòng 偈頌 + fóshì 佛事 + 塔記(附) 塔記(附).
Tiyao
Not applicable — this is a Jiā-xīng-canon imprint (J29 B229), not a WYG text. The Wáng Cáidǐng 1673 front-preface + the 塔記 appendix provide the principal compositional documentation summarized under Abstract.
Translations and research
- Cáo Yǎn 曹炎 (ed.), 《湖北佛教史》 (modern reprints). The Jīng-zhōu Tiān-wáng-sì restoration-history includes Yuán-chéng’s 1670s tenure.
- No dedicated Western-language treatment.
Other points of interest
- Tiānwángsì restoration. The Jīngzhōu Tiānwáng Chánsì is the ancestral seat of the Táng-era master Tiānwáng Dàowù 天王道悟 (727–808), one of the famous Mǎzǔ Dàoyī 馬祖道一 successors and a founder-figure of the pre-Línjì Chán tradition. Yuánchéng’s 1670 restoration-abbacy is a specific mid-Kāng-xī reset for this ancestral seat, and his inherited master Shāwēng Hǎi’s earlier four-abbacy restoration-program forms the immediate pre-history. For Jīngzhōu Chán institutional history, this yǔlù is a focused primary source.
- Dùménsì and Shénxiù connection. The Dāngyáng Dùménsì 當陽度門禪寺 is the seat of Shénxiù 神秀 (606?–706), the early-Táng founder of the Northern Chán tradition (displaced in orthodox historiography by Huìnéng’s Southern Chán). Yuánchéng’s Dùmén abbacy is a small but specific Qīng-era restoration of this canonically-Northern-Chán seat within a Southern-Chán Línjì-institutional framework — a syncretic-historical gesture worth noting for anyone tracing the reception of Northern Chán by post-Míng Línjì.
- Wáng Cáidǐng’s Confucian-Chán syncretism. The 1673 preface’s explicit 诚意正心 / 明心見性 dual-path synthesis is a prime example of Kāng-xī-era lay-Confucian Chán-patronage rhetoric — reflecting the Qīng-court-approved Confucian-Buddhist accommodation policy that Kāngxī would formalize later with his patronage of both traditions. For historians of Qīng religious-political discourse, the preface is a specific datum.