center of Hongren (601–674), described in the Platform
Sutra as the “fifth patriarch” of Chan. After eight
months as a menial worker at Hongren’s monastery in
central China (Hubei province), Huineng composed a
verse in response to one by Shenxiu (ca. 606–706),
known historically as the central figure of the so-called
Northern school of Chan. Because of the insight sup-
posedly shown in his verse, that very night Hongren
taught Huineng the ultimate teachings of Chan (based
on the DIAMONDSUTRA), appointed him the sixth pa-
triarch, gave him the robe and bowl of the founding
patriarch BODHIDHARMA(ca. early fifth century), and
sent him away to protect him from jealous rivals. After
spending sixteen years in hiding, Huineng announced
his identity and became ordained as a Buddhist monk,
after which he taught at Caoqi (Guangdong province)
until his death.
Precisely because of his historical obscurity, Chan
lineages from the late eighth century onward were eas-
ily able to identify themselves with him. Accounts con-
necting him with Nanyue Huairang, and through him
Mazu DAOYI(709–788) and the later Linji (Japanese,
Rinzai) lineage, as well as with Qingyuan Xingsi, and
through him Shitou Xiqian (700–790) and the later
Caodong (Japanese, Soto) lineage, are palpably fic-
tional. However, those accounts are of foundational
importance to the Chan tradition, and they draw on
the legendary image of Huineng to create a totalistic
explanation of Buddhist spiritual training that fits the
contemporary Chinese social world.
The thorough fictionality of the legendary image of
Huineng only indicates its great literary and mytho-
poeic power. This image resonates deeply with Bud-
dhist and native Chinese mythic themes: Social
standing and family identity were theoretically unim-
portant in the face of true virtue and insight, which is
personified in the most humble of figures. The inter-
action between Hongren, Shenxiu, and Huineng dra-
matized and helped define for later readers the
generational dynamics of Chan religious training, in
which the achievement of enlightenment gives one ac-
cess to authority within the lineage.
In the Chan tradition, Huineng is associated with the
“sudden” teaching, whereby enlightenment occurs in a
single instantaneous transformation. This is often con-
trasted with the “gradual” teaching, whereby one moves
toward enlightenment through progressive stages.
Members of both the Linji and Caodong lineages gen-
erally claim the subitist teaching for themselves and
criticize the other as gradualist.
Bibliography
McRae, John R. Seeing through Zen: Encounter, Transformation,
and Genealogy in Chinese Chan Buddhism.Berkeley: Uni-
versity of California Press, 2003.JOHNR. MCRAEHUIYUANHuiyuan (334–416) is an important vaunt-courier of
the PURELAND SCHOOLSof Buddhism. As a young man
Huiyuan applied himself to Confucian and Daoist
studies until he met DAO’AN(312–385), whereupon he
took the tonsure to become Dao’an’s disciple. After
their monastery suffered military attack in 378,
Huiyuan moved to South China, settling on Lushan
(Mount Lu), where he remained until his death.
Huiyuan thereafter established an extremely vibrant
monastic and lay community that, in its devotion to
doctrinal study, practice, and rigorous maintenance of
the precepts, became a model for later Buddhist
monasteries. His correspondence with KUMARAJIVA
(350–409/413), later compiled as the document
Dasheng dayizhang(The Chief Ideas of the Mahayana),
is an important resource for understanding the diffi-
culties faced by the Chinese Buddhist community in
understanding such concepts as S ́UNYATA(EMPTINESS),
dharmakaya,and momentariness.Huiyuan is also known as the first leader in China
of organized ritual practice aimed at rebirth in the Pure
Land of AMITABHA Buddha. Huiyuan’s group of
monastic and lay Buddhists, in its devotion to samadhi
via nianfo(Japanese, nenbutsu) practice, may have
been the first of its kind. Aside from a preface to a col-
lection of nianfosamadhi poems, everything known
about Huiyuan’s Pure Land activities comes from
sources written in the eighth century or later, when
there was great interest in Pure Land thought and his-
tory. But Tang and Song period Pure Land scholars re-
garded Huiyuan and what some called his White Lotus
Society as having played a foundational role in estab-
lishing Pure Land thought and practice in China, and
some recognized Huiyuan as the first Chinese patri-
arch of this school.See also: Nenbutsu (Chinese, Nianfo; Korean,
Yo ̆mbul)HUIYUAN