Nányuè Jìqǐ héshàng yǔlù 南嶽繼起和尚語錄
Recorded Sayings of Reverend Nán-yuè Jì-qǐ by 弘儲 (說), 濟機 (等編)
About the work
Ten-juan yǔlù of Tuìwēng Hóngchǔ 弘儲 退翁弘儲 / Jìqǐ Hóngchǔ 繼起弘儲 (1605-03-26 – 1672-11-16), LínjìYángqí principal dharma-heir of Hànyuè Sānfēng Fǎzàng 法藏 (1573–1635) and the chief continuator of the controversial Sānfēng sub-line at Sūzhōu Língyánsì 蘇州靈巖寺. Compiled by fǎsì Jìjī 濟機 děng biān. Title-form Nányuè Jìqǐ references both the Nányuè Huáiràng Línjì origin-pedigree and Hóngchǔ’s own hào Jìqǐ 繼起. Printed as Jiāxīng Canon J34 B301.
Abstract
Self-edited corpus. The juan-1 zìxù by Hóngchǔ (“退翁自序”), dated 壬子九月霜降第一日 = 1672/10/22 Gregorian (about three weeks before his 1672-11-16 death), explains the compilation: during his 庚戌長夏 = 1670 summer sickbed retreat, Hóngchǔ realized that traveling pilgrims could not easily acquire his earlier voluminous yǔlù compilations (Shùquán Bàocí, Jiǎchén Xiāngyúnguǎn sǎnlù, Yáofēng hòulù); he therefore distilled from them a 10-juan condensed selection focusing on yǔ zhī jiǎnzhí zhě 語之簡直者 (passages of direct simplicity) for portable use. Jìjī finalized the editing.
Authorship. Per the 弘儲 note: lay name Lǐ Jīn 李金, zì Zhònglián jūshì 仲連居士. Trained under Hànyuè Fǎzàng with formal transmission. Carrier of the Sān-fēng-line lineage through Sūzhōu Língyánsì and Yáofēng abbacies. Recorder of his master’s KR6q0473 《三峰藏和尚語錄》.
Dating. notBefore = c. 1640 (post-transmission preaching). notAfter = 1672/10 (self-preface). The 10-juan compilation specifically distills material composed across the master’s c. 1640–1672 preaching career.
Lineage and significance. Mìyún Yuánwù → Hànyuè Fǎzàng → Tuìwēng Hóngchǔ. The Sānfēng line was the principal target of the Yōngzhèng emperor’s 1733 御製揀魔辨異錄 declaring it heretical and ordering the dismissal of its dharma-heirs. That this volume survived in the Jiāxīng Canon (despite the imperial suppression) is significant — preserving Hóngchǔ’s own selected condensation of his career-long preaching.
Tiyao
Not applicable — Jiā-xīng-canon imprint (J34 B301). The juan-1 self-preface dated 1672/10/22 provides direct authorial documentation, just three weeks before Hóngchǔ’s 1672/11/16 death.
Translations and research
- Jiang Wu, Enlightenment in Dispute (Oxford 2008), chs. 5–6 — the principal English-language treatment of the Sān-fēng line.
- 陳垣 《清初僧諍記》.
- See KR6q0473 (Hóng-chǔ’s master Fǎ-zàng’s yǔ-lù).
Other points of interest
- Self-curated farewell-volume. The 1670 summer sickbed compilation followed by the 1672/10 self-preface make this volume distinctive as a master’s own deliberate selection of his most important preaching, completed weeks before death. Few comparable Chán yǔlù survive in such a directly self-curated form.
- Sūzhōu Língyánsì line. Hóngchǔ’s continuation of the Sānfēng line through Sūzhōu Língyánsì and the Yáofēng abbacy (whence the 堯封後錄 = 堯峰後錄 mentioned in the self-preface as one of the source-compilations) maintained the Hànyuè teaching against Mì-yún-line orthodox pressure even before the eventual 1733 imperial proscription.