THE KOAN
Mumonkwan, Kwaiankokugo, etc. Infact, all the Zenwritings
knownasGoroku(Wu-lu,"sayingsanddialogues")aswellasthe
biographicalhistoriesofZenmasters,ofwhichwehavealarge
list,treatthekoansin thewaypeculiartoZen.Almost every
masterofnotehaslefthisGoroku,whichlargelyconstitutewhat
isknownasZen literature.Wherethe philosophicalstudyof
Buddhismaboundswithallsorts ofannotationsand exegeses
andanalyseswhichareoften verydetailedandcomplicated,
Zenofferspithyremarks,epigrammaticsuggestions,andironical
comments, which conspicuously contrast with the former.
Another characteristic of Zen literature is its partiality to
poetry:thekoansarepoeticallyappreciatedorcriticized.Ofthis
theHekigan-shu [Pi-yenChi)orShoyo-roku {T'sung-yung Lu) are
mostsignificantexamples.ThefirstisbySeccho,aswasalready
mentioned,andthelatterisbyWanshi(Hung-chih),whoalso
poetically comments on a different collection ofkoans. Zen
naturallyfindsitsreadiestexpressioninpoetryratherthanin
philosophybecauseithasmoreaffinitywithfeelingthanwith
intellect;itspoeticpredilectionisinevitable.