Fóguāng Guóshī yǔlù 佛光國師語録
Recorded Sayings of National Master Bukkō by 祖元 Wúxué Zǔyuán / Mugaku Sogen (語); compiled by 一真 Issin (等編)
About the work
A massive ten-fascicle Recorded Sayings collection of 祖元 Wúxué Zǔyuán (Jp. Mugaku Sogen, 1226–1286), Late-Sòng Chinese Línjì-school master who emigrated to Japan in 1279 at the invitation of the Kamakura regent Hōjō Tokimune 北條時宗, founder of Engaku-ji 圓覺寺. Posthumous titles Bukkō Zenji 佛光禪師, later elevated by Emperor Go-Murakami (Jōji-tei 貞治帝) to Bukkō Enman Jōshō Kokushi 佛光圓滿常照國師.
Prefaces
The work opens with an extended preface — the Chokushi Bukkō Enman Jōshō Kokushi san-e goroku jo 勅謚佛光圓滿常照國師三會語錄序 (“Preface to the Three-Assembly Recorded Sayings of National Master Bukkō Enman Jōshō Posthumously Titled by Imperial Decree”) — placing Wúxué in cosmic-universal succession with the Buddha at Vulture-Peak, the patriarchs at Bear-Mountain (i.e., Bodhidharma at Sōngshān), Confucius in Lǔ, and Mencius in Zōu: “Buddha at Eagle-Peak, patriarchs at Bear-Mountain, the Sage Confucius in Lǔ, the Virtuous Mencius in Zōu — for a thousand-year-myriad-country every house preaches and every door understands; their way day-by-day renews, fanning the flames daily — why so? Because each virtues that which is to be virtued, ways that which is to be wayed.”
The preface continues with a biographical sketch: “Between Sòng and Yuán there was a master, taboo-name Sogen 祖元 , style-name Ziyuan 子元 , sobriquet Wuxue 無學 . At birth the room showed numinous signs; in youth he was high-minded and outstanding. At the first-year birthday-tray ceremony he abandoned the playthings and seized the zhúfén (竺墳 — Buddhist scripture). Grown, he embodied the patriarchal intent; he ate the food of meditation-joy. Three ascents and nine arrivals (i.e. extensive monastic study); one touch of the wūdòu (烏豆 — black-bean) poison-gas (the master’s blow) — his body shed and his bones changed. Jiǎ Tàifù (賈似道) inscribed-and-petitioned that he reside at Tāizhōu Zhēnrúsì 台州真如寺; the bāolì (包笠 — bamboo-hat travelers) gathered like spokes; his fame became foremost of the various regions. Surpassing Lángmián jī (朗籠基), exceeding yún (雲) and mài (邁) and yìn (印). His voice-and-teaching reached as far as the Fúsāng (扶桑 — Japan). General Píng (平 = Hōjō) with diplomatic-gifts invited him. The master with prompt resolution accepted the invitation…”
Abstract
Content: ten fascicles preserving Wúxué’s jōdō sermons (organized by his abbacies — Engaku-ji, Kenchō-ji, and Jōchi-ji); shōsan informal assemblies; hōgo dharma-talks; encounter-dialogues; and verses, plus appended biographical materials. Fascicle 9 contains the celebrated 佛光禪師塔銘 Bukkō Zenji tōmei (Stūpa-Inscription of Zen Master Bukkō) — the principal primary source for his biography.
The CANWWW lists Yīzhēn 一真 as principal compiler-of-the-set, with extensive supplementary compilation by his later dharma-descendants — including Gihai Sen-rō 義海宣老, Tōgaku Dai-rō 東嶽岱老, Shundō Ryū 峻道隆, and others — over the decades following his 1286 death.
Significance: one of the most important Chinese-master Japanese yulu, foundational for the Bukkō-ha 佛光派 lineage and for the Engaku-ji institutional tradition. Through Wúxué’s Japanese dharma-heir 顯日 Kōhō Kennichi — master of 夢窓疎石 Musō Soseki — the Bukkō-ha became one of the principal medieval Japanese Rinzai-Zen lineages.
Translations and research
- No complete English translation located.
- Collcutt, Martin, Five Mountains (1981) — extensive treatment of Wúxué and Engaku-ji.
- Dumoulin, Zen Buddhism, vol. 2: Japan, pp. 29–31.
Links
- CBETA: T80n2549