Liányuè chánshī yǔlù 蓮月禪師語錄
Recorded Sayings of Chán Master Liányuè by 道正 (說), 性容 (等錄)
About the work
Six-juan yǔlù of Liányuè Dàozhèng 道正 蓮月道正 (1614–1691; DILA-standardized dharma-name 印正, with 道正 following the Jiāxīng Canon catalog form), Línjì chánshī of the early-Qīng Sìchuān “Shǔzōng” 蜀宗 lineage and dharma-heir of Pòshān Hǎimíng 海明 破山海明 (1597–1666). Compiled by the disciple Chūnyán Xìngróng 性容 with juan 5 separately recorded by the co-disciple Fāwù 發悟. Opens with an undated preface by Yuēān Dàorén Shībó 約庵道人施博 (same preface-writer as KR6q0432, KR6q0433, KR6q0443, KR6q0444) dated 康熙庚戌 = 1670, framing Liányuè as désuǐ zhī zǐ 得髓之子 of Pòshān’s Shuāngguì 雙桂 line. Contents: xù — shàngtáng (juan 1–3) — xiǎocān — niāngǔ / sònggǔ — jīyuán (juan 4) — fǎyǔ — 行實 xíngshí autobiographical narration — jì (juan 5) — jì + shūwèn + xiàngzàn + fóshì (juan 6), with the 2-juan 《玉泉蓮月正禪師語錄》 (KR6q0446) appended as 附住玉泉語錄二卷. Printed as Jiāxīng Canon J29 B235.
Abstract
Authorship. The xíngshí 行實 of juan 5, narrated to disciples Yìtiān, Héngjìng, Sōngyán 溢天·恆靖·松巖等 in 康熙癸卯 = 1663, supplies the principal biographical record. Liányuè was a native of Yuèchíxiàn 岳池縣 in Guǒzhōu 果州 (Sìchuān); lay surname Jiāng 姜; tonsured after his mother’s death and the overhearing of the sānjiè huǒzhái 三界火宅 simile. Early training under the jiǎngzhǔ Jìngyǔ 淨宇 on the Shǒuléngyán jīng and under Gāoyuán 高原 on Wéishí; first met Xiàngyái Xìngtǐng 象崖性珽 (a Línjì-line figure in Qián 黔, now Guìzhōu) whose slap and niānǒuhuā challenges prepared him for the decisive meeting with Pòshān at Zhōnglù Dàshùtáng 忠路大樹堂. Transmission came on the road to Nánpǔ 南浦 when Liányuè stumbled and Pòshān offered to share his horse — the resulting exchange (zhè tiáo zhǔzhàng zi 這條拄杖子) marks his fǎmài succession, formalized on 7/7 at Jīnchéngsì when Pòshān transmitted the Cáoqī zhèngmài láiyuán on the memorial day of Mìyún Yuánwù 圓悟 (Pòshān’s teacher and hence Liányuè’s shīwēng).
Abbacies and dating. First abbacy at Nánpǔ Tàibáiyán 南浦太白巖, then Liángshān Jīnchéngsì 梁山金城寺 (where Pòshān appointed him xītáng 西堂), then Yāshān Qīfèngsì 鴉山栖鳳寺, six years of seated practice at Yèlángshān Huáibáitáng 夜郎山懷白堂, and from Shùnzhì wùxū = 1658 the Jiǔqīngshān Dōngyìn Chánsì 九青山東印禪寺 at Zūnyìfǔ 遵義府 (Guìzhōu). The yǔlù itself opens with the 1658 Dōngyìn entry sermon — notBefore = 1658. The Shībó preface of 康熙庚戌 = 1670 gives notAfter = 1670 as a conservative terminal bound for the corpus compilation. Later Chóngqìng (涂山覺林), Sìchuān, and Húběi (福昌, 玉泉) abbacies are mentioned in the 行實 as post-corpus continuations.
Lineage position. Pòshān’s dharma-grandson of Mìyún Yuánwù (天童密雲師翁), parallel in the Shuāngguì line to Zhàngxuě Tōngzuì 丈雪通醉, Shèngkě Déyù 聖可德玉, and other Pòshān heirs enumerated in the 海明 note. The xíngshí explicitly names ben-shī Pòshān lǎo héshàng 本師破山老和尚 and Shuāngguì lǎo héshàng 雙桂老和尚 (same person) to establish the line. Shībó’s preface locates Liányuè alongside his dharma-brothers as tiāntóng shuāngguì jiāfǎ 天童雙桂家法.
Tiyao
Not applicable — this is a Jiā-xīng-canon imprint (J29 B235), not a WYG text. The Shībó front-preface and the juan-5 行實 provide the principal documentation.
Translations and research
- Jiang Wu, Enlightenment in Dispute: The Reinvention of Chan Buddhism in Seventeenth-Century China (Oxford University Press, 2008), chs. 4 and 7 — principal English-language treatment of the Mì-yún / Pòshān / Shuāng-guì Shǔ-zōng matrix into which this corpus sits.
- 陳垣 《清初僧諍記》 — foundational reference for the Pòshān sub-lineage’s early-Qīng context.
Other points of interest
- Paired with KR6q0446 as a single Liányuè corpus. The 6-juan 《蓮月禪師語錄》 (J29 B235) and 2-juan 《玉泉蓮月正禪師語錄》 (J29 B236) are complementary: the former closes with an explicit appendix-notice 附住玉泉語錄二卷 signalling the Yùquán recension that follows as B236. B235 covers his pre-Yùquán Guìzhōu/Sìchuān phase through c. 1670; B236 records the Húběi Yùquánsì phase c. 1671–78.
- Name disambiguation. DILA authority (A001501) standardizes the dharma-name as 印正 with 道正 / 蓮月正 attested as alternatives. The Jiāxīng Canon colophons themselves use 道正; the 海明 person-note’s list of Pòshān heirs references “印正 蓮月印正 (Yùquán line)” — that reference resolves to the 道正 person-note followed here.