Zìxián Jué chánshī yǔlù 自閒覺禪師語錄
Recorded Sayings of Chán Master Zì-xián Jué by 覺 (說), 洪暹 (等編)
About the work
Eight-juan yǔlù of Zìxián Xíngjué 覺 自閒行覺 (1610-09-23 – 1662-02-14), LínjìYángqí dharma-heir of Línyě Tōngqí 林野通奇 (1596–1652) at Tōngxuánsì 通玄寺. Compiled by fǎsì Hānyú Xiān 洪暹 憨予暹 děng. Printed as Jiāxīng Canon J33 B287. Six-abbacy structure: juan 1 — Sūzhōu Huángxī Luóhànsì + Chóngchuān Cíjì + Fèngchuān Fǎhǎi yǔlù; juan 2 — Fèngchuān Yuèlín + Jiāxīng Lóngyuān Jǐngdé yǔlù; juan 3 — Jīngxī Fúróng yǔlù; juan 4 — shìzhòng / xiǎocān / wǎncān / fǎyǔ / wèndá / shìzhōng kānbiàn; juan 5 — niānsòng / liánfāngjì / 行實; juan 6 — shūwèn / fózǔzàn / zìzàn / fóshì; juan 7–8 xíngzhuàng and additional matter.
Abstract
Authorship. Per DILA and the juan-5 xíngshí + juan-8 xíngzhuàng: native of Hézhōu 合州 (Chóngqìng, Sìchuān), lay surname Yú 余. Tonsured at age 8 at Mǎdāngshān under Tàikōng. 1635: left Sìchuān; first contact with Mìyún Yuánwù at Tiāntóng on a lùzhù 露柱 collision triggering initial xǐng. Decisive transmission from Tōngxuán Línyě Tōngqí.
Dating. notBefore = 1648 (the 戊子 entry-sermon at Sūzhōu Huángxī Luóhànsì, the first of his six abbacies and the earliest dated material in the corpus). notAfter = 1665 as a conservative bound for the post-1662-decease compilation by Hóngxiān. The corpus must have been completed within a few years of the 1662 death since lay-patron memory of the master was still vivid.
Six abbacies, six yǔlù. The structural arrangement of juan 1–3 explicitly partitions the yǔlù by abbacy: Huángxī Luóhàn 1648 → Cíjì 1649 → Fǎhǎi 1650 → Yuèlín 1651 → Lóngyuān Jǐngdé 1654 → Fúróng 1656. The Fúróngsì at Jīngxī (Yíxīng region) was the death-seat and the source of the title-form 芙蓉自閒.
Lineage. Pòshān → Mìyún Yuánwù → Línyě Tōngqí → Zìxián Xíngjué — i.e., one Sì-chuān-born offshoot of the Mìyún main line. The 33 named fǎsì across six abbacies indicates a substantial preaching network. Notable heirs: Tiānmù Zhì 天目智 (a third-generation founder), Cílǎng Jiù 慈朗鷲, Hànguān Yù 漢關喻, Hānyú Xiān (this volume’s compiler).
Cross-reference with KR6q0464. The pilgrim Zǐzhōu Chuán 船 梓舟超船 visited Sāntǎ jiàn Zìxián 三塔見自閒 in his 1645 pilgrimage circuit (Sāntǎ perhaps an early-1640s pre-abbacy seat); confirms Xíngjué’s recognition as a notable teaching master well before his formal 1648 abbacy at Luóhànsì.
Tiyao
Not applicable — Jiā-xīng-canon imprint (J33 B287). The juan-5 行實 and juan-8 行狀 provide the principal documentation.
Translations and research
- No substantial Western-language secondary literature located.
Other points of interest
- Zhèjiāng / Jiāngsū six-abbacy circuit. The 1648–1656 abbacy-sequence traces a coherent Jiāngnán mendicant circuit through the Sūzhōu / Níngbō / Jiāxīng / Yíxīng cluster — distinct from the Sìchuān or FújiànYúnnán Pòshān-sub-line patterns and reflective of Línyě Tōngqí’s Tōng-xuán-based Zhèjiāng establishment.