Jiāxīng Tuìān Duànyú Zhì chánshī yǔlù 嘉興退菴斷愚智禪師語錄
Recorded Sayings of Chán Master Tuì-ān Duàn-yú Zhì of Jiā-xīng by 智 (說), 機輪 (等編)
About the work
Two-juan yǔlù of Tuìān Duànyú Zhì 智 退菴斷愚智 (b. 1622-06-05), LínjìYángqí chánshī of the Hǔqiū → Jìngshān → Duànqiáo Lún 斷橋妙倫 → Pǔmíng Yòng 普明真用 → Yǒngzhèng Yīlǎo 永正一老 sub-lineage. Compiled by jī-generation disciple Jīlún 機輪 děng 機輪等編. Front-preface by Píngshān fǎdì Zhēnběn Xiàng Qiān 真本 真本項謙 (the same lay-Chán author of KR6q0202), dated 康熙庚戌仲秋巳亥望旦 = 1670/8/15 Gregorian. Printed as Jiāxīng Canon J29 B246. Contents: xù; shàng-juan — shēngzuò / xiǎocān / shìzhòng / jīyuán / 行實; xià-juan — sònggǔ / sòngjì / zìzàn.
Abstract
Authorship. The xíngshí 行實 of juan 1, narrated 巳酉 12/8 = 1669/12/30 Gregorian at Zhènzé 震澤 to the lay-patron Páng Quánlì 龐全力 pǔchá gathering, gives the principal biographical record. Native of Xiùshuǐ 秀水 (Jiāxīng), lay surname Jīn 金 (father styled Chéngdān 成丹, mother Táng 唐); both parents died young; tonsured at 16 suì (1641) at Dōngtǎ Chánsì 東塔禪寺 under Juérú 覺如 in Jiāxīng. 1643 trained under Xuějiāo Yuánxìn 雪嶠圓信 (1571–1647) at Gāotíng 皋亭, who set him on the wú shēngsǐ 無生死 gōngàn. Bǐngxū = 1646 (age 25): awakening while wood-cutting on the rabbit-leaping incident with the verse chù pò niángshēng miàn 觸破孃生面. After Xuějiāo’s 1647 death consulted Gǔnán Mù lǎo 古南牧 at Méixī (full precepts), then Fú lǎo 浮 / Yù lǎo 玉 / and finally Yǒngzhèng Yīlǎo héshàng 永正一老 at Xìngshàn 興善, where in 1648 (age 27) he received transmission with the verse xiàng wèi wúnéng jí, cóngjīn tuō jiànzhī 向謂無能及從今脫見知.
Tuìān phase and dating. Subsequent service as Zhúyǐn Chányuàn 竺隱禪院 jiānyuàn (Dānghú, 1651–53) under Yǒngzhèng’s invitation by patron Túgōng 屠公; 甲午 = 1654 Yǒngzhèng returned to YǒngzhèngChányuàn at lay-patron Túgōng’s request with Huànān shī 幻菴 (the dharma-brother) succeeding at Zhúyǐn. 乙未春 = 1655: at Yǒngzhèng’s instruction, established the Tuìān 退菴 retreat at Chángshuǐ 長水 with patron Shěn Jìngquán 沈敬泉 — the hào “Tuìān” was bestowed at this point. 己亥冬 = 1659: entered formal yǎnguān 掩關 retreat at Yǒngzhèng. notBefore = 1655 (start of the Tuìān phase, the earliest dated event in the yǔlù proper). notAfter = 1670 (Zhēnběn preface).
Lineage position. Zhēnběn’s preface establishes the precise lineage: 拈花之旨 → 南嶽 → 臨濟 → 虎丘 → 徑山 → 範 (Wúzhǔn Shīfàn 無準師範) → 斷橋倫 (= 斷橋妙倫, Sòng-era) → 14 generations → 普明用 (= 普明真用) → 永正一老 (Zhēnběn’s fǎshū, Tuìān’s teacher) → Tuìān Duànyú Zhì. Tuìān is therefore in the Hǔqiū Línjì school (via Wúzhǔn Shīfàn 1177–1249), distinct from the dominant Yángqí Línjì of Mìyún Yuánwù’s lineage that produced the contemporary Jùyún and Pòshān corpora.
Family-of-monks resonances. Multiple of Tuìān’s contemporaries are also dharma-relatives: Huànān 幻菴 (dharma-brother who succeeded at Zhúyǐn, 1654); Jīnmíng lǎohéshàng 金明 (dharma-brother, co-supervisor of the Pǔmíng tomb-rebuilding at Xìngshàn); Zàigōng 在躬 (close fǎyǒu on the Yǒngzhèng seat); Wánchū 完初 (lay-Chán companion to lay-patron Túgōng on the Chénshān 陳山 sea-viewing trip).
Tiyao
Not applicable — Jiā-xīng-canon imprint (J29 B246). The Zhēnběn preface and the juan-1 行實 provide the principal documentation.
Translations and research
- No substantial secondary literature located. The Hǔ-qiū → Pǔ-míng-Yòng → Yǒng-zhèng-Yī sub-lineage is less studied than the contemporary Mì-yún / Pòshān or Hàn-yuè Yáng-qí lines.
- For the broader Hǔ-qiū-school context see Jiang Wu, Enlightenment in Dispute (Oxford 2008).
Other points of interest
- Hǔ-qiū-line preservation. This yǔlù preserves uncommonly detailed material on the early-Qīng Hǔ-qiū-school (the rival Línjì sub-lineage to the Yángqí line of Mìyún and Hànyuè). The 行實’s careful enumeration of teachers — Juérú → Xuějiāo Yuánxìn → Gǔnán Mù → Yǒngzhèng Yī — gives a witness to a cross-lineage Jiāxīng / Háng-zhōu-area Chán pedagogy in the 1640s.
- Píngshān Zhēnběn cross-reference. The preface-writer is the same Zhēnběn = Mùdàozhě = Xiàng Qiān of KR6q0202 《古瓶山牧道者究心錄》 — extending Zhēnběn’s documented Chán activity from his own earlier ox-herding circle (around 嚴大參 Yán Dàcān and Pǔmíngsì) into the 1670 Tuìān publication and confirming his lineage-affiliation as fǎzhí of YǒngzhèngYī.