Fóguó Chánshī yǔlù 佛國禪師語録
Recorded Sayings of Zen Master Bukkoku by 顯日 Kōhō Kennichi (語); compiled by 妙環 Myōkan (等編)
About the work
A two-fascicle Recorded Sayings collection of 顯日 Kōhō Kennichi (1241–1316), Late-Kamakura Japanese Rinzai-Zen master, second son of Emperor Go-Saga 後嵯峨天皇. Posthumous title Bukkoku Zenji 佛國禪師, fuller form Bukkoku Ōgu Kōsai Kokushi 佛國應供廣濟國師. Compiled by his disciple Myōkan 妙環 and others.
Abstract
Kōhō Kennichi was the dharma-heir of 祖元 Wúxué Zǔyuán at Engaku-ji and a foundational figure of the Bukkō-ha 佛光派 lineage. As an imperial prince (born 1241, the second son of Go-Saga), his Zen vocation gave the early-medieval Rinzai movement direct imperial legitimacy.
His Recorded Sayings, in two fascicles, preserves jōdō sermons from his abbacies at Manjū-ji 萬壽寺, Engaku-ji 圓覺寺, and Jōchi-ji 淨智寺 in Kamakura, plus hōgo dharma-talks, occasion-verses, and encounter-dialogues. The work is also a key documentary source for his teaching of Musō Soseki (夢窓疎石) — the great Gozan patriarch — who was Kōhō’s dharma-heir.
Significance: a key Bukkō-ha yulu of the second generation, foundational for understanding the Wúxué → Kōhō → Musō lineage that became the dominant medieval Japanese Rinzai-Zen current.
Translations and research
- No substantial Western-language translation located.
- Dumoulin, Zen Buddhism, vol. 2: Japan, pp. 30, 53.
Links
- CBETA: T80n2551