Mìyún Yí chánshī yǔlù 密雲怡禪師語錄
Recorded Sayings of Chán Master Mì-yún Yí by 道忞 (上進)
Ten-juan yǔlù of Mìyún Yuánwù 圓悟 密雲圓悟 (1566 – 1642, age 77 suì). The catalog title 密雲怡禪師 — the character 怡 (yí) for 悟 (wù) is a typesetting variant or substitution; the inner-text title gives 密雲悟禪師. The single most influential LínjìYángqí Chán master of the late Míng — primary fǎsì of Lóngchí Huànyǒu Zhèngchuán 正傳 (cf. KR6q0601) and the master from whom the entire post-1620 LínjìYángqí establishment descends.
The Qiánlóng-canon recension (Vol. 154 No. 1640) was presented to the imperial court (shàngjìn 上進) by his most senior fǎsì Mùchén Dàomǐn 道忞 (1596–1674) — who himself served as Shùnzhì-emperor’s preceptor at the imperial court. The jìn … zòuzhāng 進…奏章 (presentation memorial) at the head of juan 1 indicates this is the imperial-edition recension. notBefore ≈ 1610 (post-Mì-yún’s mature abbacy); notAfter ≈ 1660 (post-Dào-mǐn’s imperial-court service when the shàngjìn would have occurred). Catalog dynasty 明 (since Mìyún’s career is Míng).
Contents. Juan 1: jìn … zòuzhāng; preface (by Shù Yī 庶一); mùlù; shàngtáng (continued through juan 3) at six successive abbacies — Chángzhōu Jīngxī Lóngchí Yǔményuàn 常州荊溪龍池禹門禪院 (his teacher’s monastery), Tiāntāishān Tōngxuánsì 天台山通玄寺, Jiāxīng Hǎiyán Jīnsùshān Guǎnghuìsì 嘉興海鹽金粟山廣慧禪寺, Fúzhōu Huángbòshān Wànfúsì 福州府黃檗山萬福禪寺, Míngzhōu Yùwáng Guǎnglìsì 明州育王廣利禪寺 (Āyùwángsì), and Míngzhōu Tàibáishān Tiāntóng Jǐngdé chánsì 明州太白山天童景德禪寺 (the famous Tiāntóngsì, his principal seat). Juan 4: shàngtáng kāishì; xiǎocān. Juans 5+: continuing materials.
Tiyao
Not applicable — Qiánlóng / Jiā-xīng-canon imprint.
Other points of interest
KR6q0604 is the most important late-Míng LínjìYángqí yǔlù in the canon — Mìyún Yuánwù’s six-abbacy circuit (Lóngchí, Tiāntāi, Jīnsù, Huángbò, Yùwáng, Tiāntóng) defines the geographic backbone of the late-Míng / early-Qīng Línjì revival. From these six seats — and especially Tiāntóngsì at Níngbō — the Mìyún cohort radiated outward across the entire J27–J40 corpus: heirs include Mùchén Dàomǐn (the imperial preceptor), Shíchē Tōngchéng 石車通乘, Wànrú Tōngwēi 萬如通微, Fèiyǐn Tōngróng 費隱通容, Pòshān Hǎimíng 海明, Línyě Tōngqí 林野通奇, Hànyuè Fǎzàng 漢月法藏, etc. — i.e. virtually the entire late-Míng / early-Qīng LínjìYángqí establishment. The Shàngjìn (court-presentation) framing makes this recension the imperial-canonical edition, prepared by Dàomǐn during or after his time as Shùnzhì’s preceptor.
Translations and research
- Jiang Wu 2008. Enlightenment in Dispute: The Reinvention of Chan Buddhism in Seventeenth-Century China. Oxford UP — chapters 1, 3, and 4 are essentially extended studies of Mì-yún Yuán-wù.