Bùhuì chánshī yǔlù 不會禪師語錄
Recorded Sayings of Chán Master Bù-huì by 法通 (說), 性靈 (等編)
About the work
Ten-juan yǔlù of Bùhuì Fǎtōng 法通 不會法通 (b. 1621-12-04, DILA-standardized as Tōngfǎ 通法), LínjìYángqí Pòshān-line dharma-heir of Pòshān Hǎimíng 海明 破山海明 (1597–1666). Compiled by fǎsì Xìnglíng 性靈 děng. Printed as Jiāxīng Canon J32 B276. Contents: front-matter (xù; kāitáng shū 開堂疏); juan 1–3 shàngtáng; juan 4–5 xiǎocān + fǎyǔ; juan 6–7 with xíngshí 行實 closing the latter; juan 8–10 jì, jǔgǔ, sònggǔ, etc.
Abstract
Authorship. Per the DILA authority A019261 and the juan-7 xíngshí: native of Nánchōng 南充 (Sìchuān), lay surname Yáng 楊. Began Chán-training under Tiānyǐn dàshī 天隱大師 on the wànfǎ guīyī 萬法歸一 gōngàn in his teens. Tonsured at 26 (= 1646) under Xīngchū 惺初. Trained four years under Shìyě Jié héshàng 侍埜詰 in Húběi; pilgrimage to Fèiyǐn Tōngróng at Jìngshān, Juélàng Dàoshèng 道盛 at Tiānjiè, Mùchén Dàomín 道忞 at Tiāntóng. Final transmission from Pòshān Hǎimíng at Shuāngguìsì in 1666, the year of Pòshān’s death.
Dating. notBefore = 1666 (the Qīngguǒ retreat-residency). The two opening kāitáng shū invitation-petitions in the front-matter are dated 康熙十年十月初一日 = 1671-11-02 Gregorian (lay-official roster headed by 潘之彪, 沈燦, 蒲拱宸, 楊鼎, 譚性, 何寧, 王起蛟, 何其偉) and the second by fǎdìzǐ lay disciples (陳盛, 陳昌, 陳潛思, 陳起祚, 王登程, 陳起裕). notAfter = 1675 as a conservative bound for the post-kāitáng compilation. Bùhuì’s death-date is not preserved in DILA but the volume must have been compiled before then.
Lineage and heirs. Pòshān → Bùhuì line; principal fǎsì heirs Xìnglíng 性靈 (this volume’s compiler), Tōngdā 通耷, Cíkūn Fǎyù 慈昆法玉, Qìngfǎ 慶法. The Bùhuì sub-line is one of several Pòshān-derived Sìchuān Línjì sub-lineages, parallel to the 通醉 Zhàngxuě line (KR6q0415, KR6q0035) and the 道正 Liányuè line (KR6q0445, KR6q0446). The 1671 Qīngguǒ kāitáng (10 years after Bùhuì’s 1666 retreat-entry) shows that even his deliberate retreat at Shèjiāng eventually turned into a major preaching seat under lay-official pressure.
Cross-school pilgrimage record. The juan-7 xíngshí preserves a notably detailed cross-school pilgrimage record: from the LínjìYángqí Mìyún line (Fèiyǐn Tōngróng at Jìngshān) to the Cáodòng line (Juélàng Dàoshèng at Tiānjiè) to the Mù-chén-line Tiāntóng (Mùchén Dàomín) before the final commitment to the Sìchuān Pòshān line. This reflects the still-fluid mid-seventeenth-century cross-lineage practice before the firmer post-1660 doctrinal hardening.
Tiyao
Not applicable — Jiā-xīng-canon imprint (J32 B276). The two 開堂疏 invitation-petitions and the juan-7 行實 provide the principal documentation.
Translations and research
- No substantial Western-language secondary literature located. See KR6q0402 (Pòshān’s own yǔ-lù) for the principal lineage-context.
Other points of interest
- Pòshān’s last principal heir. Bùhuì’s transmission in 1666, the year of Pòshān’s death, makes him plausibly the last formal Pòshān heir. The detailed xíngshí documenting his cross-school pilgrimage circuit before final Pòshān commitment is a distinctive feature.
- 1671 Qīngguǒ lay-patron prosopography. The two kāitáng shū together preserve a roster of about thirteen lay-patrons of the Sìchuān Shèjiāng region in 1671, useful for prosopography of post-Zhāng-Xiàn-zhōng Sìchuān Buddhist lay-patronage networks.