Pojo Chinul 普照知訥 (Korean transliteration; Chinese reading Pǔzhào Zhīnè, 1158–1210), hào Mùniúzi 牧牛子 (“Ox-herding Master”), the founder of the Korean Chogye-order 曹溪宗 and the principal articulator of the Korean Sŏn integrative synthesis of the middle Koryŏ period. Native of Jīngxī Dòngzhōu 京西洞州 (in Koryŏ), lay surname Jeong 鄭. Posthumous title Pulil Pojo Kuksa 佛日普照國師.
Ordained at eight at the Jogye-san Chonghwi 曹溪山宗暉 monastery. Passed the state sŭnggwa 僧科 Sŏn examination in 1182 but refused ecclesiastical office. Founded the Chŏnghye-gyŏlsa 定慧結社 (“Samādhi-and-Wisdom Community”) practice-community in 1190, first at Pal-kong-san Kŏjo-sa 八公山居祖寺; relocated to Songgwang-san (now Sunyu-san) in 1200; formally reorganised it as the Susŏn-sa 修禪社 (“Cultivating-Sŏn Community”) in Hŭijong 1 (1205) at the renamed Jogye-san. The Susŏn-sa is the institutional foundation of the later Korean Chogye-order, the dominant Buddhist organisation in Korea from the Koryŏ through the present day. Died on 1210.3.27 (29 April 1210 Gregorian), aged 53, sŭng-lap 36.
Chinul’s integrative Sŏn synthesis combines three elements:
- The kànhuà 看話 / hwadu 話頭 Chán of Dàhuì Zōnggǎo 大慧宗杲 (1089–1163);
- The Huáyán doctrinal framework of Chéngguān 澄觀 and Zōngmì 宗密 宗密 (780–841);
- The chánjìng shuāngxiū 禪淨雙修 / “dual cultivation of Chán and Pure Land” of Yǒngmíng Yánshòu 延壽 永明延壽 (904–975).
Chinul’s doctrinal positions include dùnwù jiànxiū 頓悟漸修 (“sudden awakening followed by gradual cultivation”), dìnghuì shuāngxiū 定慧雙修 (dual cultivation of concentration and wisdom), and the coordination of the kànhuà practice with the Huáyán doctrinal framework. His major works (primarily preserved in Korean not Chinese canonical collections) include Kwŏnsu chŏnghye kyŏlsa mun 勸修定慧結社文 (1190), Popchip pyŏrhaengnok chŏryo pyŏngip sagi 法集別行錄節要幷入私記 (1209), Hwaŏmnon chŏryo 華嚴論節要, Wŏndon sŏngbul-lon 圓頓成佛論, Kanhwa kyŏrŭi-ron 看話決疑論, and the three short treatises preserved in the Taishō (KR6q0095, KR6q0096, KR6q0097).
The Chinul-attribution of the Zhēn xīn zhí shuō (KR6q0095) has been questioned in modern scholarship (particularly Robert E. Buswell Jr., 1983), on the grounds that the text’s formulations, while consistent with the broader Chán doctrinal vocabulary Chinul employs, lack the distinctive synthesis-moves of Chinul’s undoubtedly-authentic Korean-language works. The two other Taishō-preserved texts (KR6q0096 Jiè chūxīn xuérén wén and KR6q0097 Xiū xīn jué) are more securely Chinul’s.
Works in the Kanripo corpus: KR6q0095 Zhēn xīn zhí shuō 真心直說 (T48 n2019A); KR6q0096 Jiè chūxīn xuérén wén 誡初心學人文 (T48 n2019B); KR6q0097 Gāolí guó Pǔzhào chánshī Xiū xīn jué 高麗國普照禪師修心訣 (T48 n2020).
Per DILA A001227: birth 1158; death Hŭijong 6.3.27 = 29 April 1210; lay surname Jeong 鄭; native of Jīngxī Dòngzhōu. Korean Chogye-order founder. Wikidata Q704894.
name: 知訥 pinyinName: Zhīnè alternateNames: [智訥, Zhìnè, 智訥妙空, 妙空佛海, 去一叟, Qùyīsǒu, 佛海智訥, 徑山訥, Jìngshān Nè, 妙空智訥, 妙空大師, 佛海, 訥公, 佛海妙空訥, 徑山智訥] dynasty: 南宋 birthDate: 1079 deathDate: 1158 cbdbId: dilaAuthorityId: A012839
Zhīnè 知訥 / Zhìnè 智訥 (Miàokōng Fóhǎi 妙空佛海)
Southern-Sòng Chinese Yúnmén-lineage Chán master. Distinct from the Korean Pojo Chinul above, despite the shared transliteration. Name variously written 智訥 (DILA canonical) or 知訥 (per his own preface-signature and the Kanripo catalog); hào Miàokōng 妙空 (“Wondrous Empty”) and Fóhǎi 佛海 (“Buddha-Ocean”); late-career self-designation Qùyīsǒu 去一叟 (“Old-Man-Who-Has-Left-the-One”). Known also by abbacies as Jìngshān Nè 徑山訥 and Língyán Nè 靈巖訥. Lifedates 1079 – 1158/1/5 (Shàoxīng 27 / 11/26, age 80, per the Bǔ xù gāo sēng zhuàn 補續高僧傳 juan 11). Native of Chóngdé 崇德 (modern Chóngfú 崇福 in Zhèjiāng).
Held major abbacies at Sūzhōu Língyán 蘇州靈巖 and Jìngshān 徑山 (the pre-eminent Línjì / Yúnmén monastery of Southern Sòng). His Language-of-encounter style is the classical Chán dialogical form.
Author of the Zhèng dào gē zhù 證道歌註 KR6q0178 — a prose commentary on Yǒngjiā Xuánjué’s Zhèng dào gē KR6q0090, compiled by his attendant Déqiè 德最 from his lectures; funded and engraved 1146 by Méi Rǔnéng 梅汝能 (a county magistrate). The prose-commentary form complements the verse-commentary KR6q0177 by Fǎquán from the previous generation, together representing the two principal Sòng-period reception-commentaries on Xuánjué’s classic.