Shénxiù 神秀
Early-Táng Chán master (c. 606–706), the principal disciple of the fifth Chán patriarch 弘忍 Hóngrěn and the founding figure of the Northern Chán (Běizōng 北宗) lineage. Following Hóngrěn’s death (674), Shénxiù taught at Yùquánsì 玉泉寺 in Jīngzhōu 荊州 and gained eminent imperial patronage at the courts of Wǔ Zétiān, Zhōngzōng, and Ruìzōng, where he was honoured as a national teacher (guóshī 國師). The traditional Chán narrative — codified in the Liùzǔ tánjīng 六祖壇經 of the rival Southern Chán lineage — frames Shénxiù as the loser of the succession-contest against 惠能 Huìnéng, but modern scholarship (Yampolsky, McRae) has revised this picture substantially, recognising Shénxiù as the institutionally dominant Chán master of his generation.