Yúnmén Wényǎn 雲門文偃 (864–949), founder of the Yúnménzōng 雲門宗, one of the Five Houses (五家) of classical Chán. Native of Jiāxīng 嘉興 (Zhèjiāng), lay surname Zhāng 張, claimed descent in the thirteenth generation from the Jìn 晉 dōngcáo cānjūn Wáng Jiǒng dōngcáo cānjūn Hàn 晉王冏東曹參軍翰. Ordained as a young boy at the local Kōngwáng sì 空王寺 under the Vinaya master Zhìchéng 志澄; received full precepts at the Pílíng 毘陵 ordination platform; studied the Sìfēn lǜ 四分律 for several years under Zhìchéng before leaving to seek Chán instruction.
His awakening was provoked by Mùzhōu Dàozōng 睦州道蹤 (a dharma-heir of Huángbò Xīyùn) — on Yúnmén’s third visit Mùzhōu slammed the door on his foot, breaking it, with the cry Qín shí luò lì zuān 秦時𨍏轢鑽 (“a drill-bit from the Qín dynasty”). Mùzhōu subsequently directed him to Xuěfēng Yìcún 雪峯義存 (822–908; DILA A003677), from whom he received the dharma-seal. After further travels Yúnmén became shǒuzuò 首座 at Língshù 靈樹, under Zhīshèng chánshī 知聖禪師, and succeeded Zhīshèng in the abbacy following the latter’s death and the dramatic secret-letter episode in which Zhīshèng named Yúnmén his successor directly to the Southern Hàn emperor. He later established the Guāngtài chányuàn 光泰禪院 on Yúnmén shān 雲門山 in Sháozhōu 韶州 and held the abbacy for “two jǐ and a half” (30 + 7 = nearly 37 years) before his death on Qiánhé 7.4.10 = 10 May 949, aged 86.
The Yúnmén house is distinguished by the sān jù yǔ 三句語 (three-phrase) teaching formula — hángài qiánkūn 函蓋乾坤, jié duàn zhòng liú 截斷眾流, suí bō zhú làng 隨波逐浪 — preserved in verse form by Yúnmén’s disciple Yuánmì 緣密 (Déshān Yuánmíng dàshī) and included as the closing section of the Yúnmén kuāngzhēn chánshī guǎnglù (KR6q0073, T47 n1988). Recorded dharma-heirs number eighty-eight, including Shíxìng 實性, Dàoqiān 道謙, Yìsháo 義韶, and Yuánmì 緣密.
Seventeen years after his death (ca. 965/966), Yúnmén’s tomb was opened on imperial order, initiated by a dream-summons carried by the xiùhuá gōngshǐ tèjìn Lǐ Tuō 李托, and his body was reported found incorrupt. He was thereupon granted the posthumous title Dà cíyún Kuāngzhēn Hóngmíng chánshī 大慈雲匡真弘明禪師 and the monastery was renamed Dàjué 大覺.
Works in the Kanripo corpus: KR6q0073 Yúnmén Kuāngzhēn chánshī guǎnglù 雲門匡真禪師廣錄 (3 juan, T47 n1988) — compiled by his disciple 守堅 Shǒujiān with the xínglù by Léi Yuè 雷岳 (949) and the sān jù verses by Yuánmì 緣密, collated and printed by Sū Xiè 蘇澥 in 1076; KR6q0392 Yúnmén Kuāngzhēn chánshī yǔlù 雲門匡真禪師語錄 (3 juan, JB138) — the shorter parallel recension, also compiled by Shǒujiān, preserved in the Jiāxīng zàng.