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Teachings The "essence" No-mind Original enlightenment Buddha-nature Turning the light around Kenshō Satori Sudden awakening The way Ten Ox-Herding Pictures Five ranks of Dongshan Hakuin's Four ways of knowing One Vehicle The "goal" Bodhisattva ideal Buddhahood Background Zen and Sutras Doctrinal background of Zen Representation-only Emptiness
Practices Zazen Six Perfections Bodhisattva vow Bodhisattva Precepts Shikantaza Sesshin Dhāraṇī Walking meditation Nianfo Koan Hua Tou Samu (Zen) Ōryōki No-mind Prostration (Buddhism) Buddhist chant Dharma combat Kyōgai Zen poetry Zen calligraphy
Zen scripture Indian Mahayana texts Prajñaparamita sutras Lankavatara Sutra Śrīmālādevī Sūtra Lotus Sutra Vimalakirti Sutra Avatamsaka Sutra Mahaparinirvana Sutra Chinese texts Two Entrances and Four Practices Śūraṅgama Sūtra The Awakening of Faith Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment Platform Sutra Anthology of the Patriarchal Hall Transmission of the Lamp
Zen Poetry Cantongqi The Gateless Barrier Blue Cliff Record Book of Equanimity Dōgen’s Shōbōgenzō (selected poetic passages) Cold Mountain Poems (Hanshan) Poems of Ryōkan Ikkyū’s Zen poetry Bashō’s Zen-influenced Haiku Other Zen-inspired poetry
Traditions East Mountain Teaching Sanjiejiao Oxhead school Heze school Hongzhou school Five Houses of Chan Linji school Caodong school Tibetan Chan Trúc Lâm Plum Village Tradition Order of Interbeing Jogye Order Kwan Um School of Zen Taego Order Rinzai school Sōtō school Ōbaku school Sanbo Kyodan White Plum Asanga Ordinary Mind Zen School Zen Peacemakers
Persons Chan in China Classical Bodhidharma Hongren Shenxiu Huineng (Enō) Shenhui Mazu Daoyi (Baso) Shitou Xiqian (Kisen) Huangbo Dongshan Liangjie (Tozan) Xuefeng Yicun (Seppo) Linji Yixuan (Rinzai) Zongmi Yunmen Wenyan (Ummon Bun'en) Yongming Yanshou Dahui Zonggao (Tahui) Moheyan Post-classical Patriarch Ching Chwee Zhongfeng Mingben Miyun Yuanwu Hanshan Deqing Ouyi Zhixu Yinyuan Longqi Poshan Haiming Zhangxue Tongzui Contemporary Taixu Xuyun Benhuan Nan Huai-Chin Sheng-yen Hsing Yun Wei Chueh Sheng-yen Cheng Yen Zen in Japan Eisai Bassui Ikkyū Bankei Hakuin Ekaku Dōgen Seon in Korea Taego Bou Jinul Daewon Seongcheol Thiền in Vietnam Trần Thái Tông Trần Nhân Tông Thích Thanh Từ Thích Nhất Hạnh Thích Thiên-Ân Western Zen D. T. Suzuki Hakuun Yasutani Taizan Maezumi Shunryū Suzuki Hsuan Hua Heng Sure Seungsahn Sokei-an Category: Zen Buddhists
Institution Dharma transmission Zen lineage charts Zen ranks and hierarchy Zen organisation and institutions Zen Narratives
Related schools Sānlùn Wéishí Huayan Tiantai Shingon Tendai Pure Land Buddhism Chinese Esoteric Buddhism Vinaya
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TheFive Houses of Chan (also called theFive Houses of Zen) were the five major schools ofChan Buddhism that originated duringTang China. Although at the time they were not considered formalschools orsects of Buddhism, they are now regarded as important schools in the history of Chan Buddhism. Most Chanlineages throughout Asia and the rest of the world originally grew from or were heavily influenced by the original five houses of Chan.

The period ofDaoxin (道信 580–651) andDaman Hongren (弘忍 601–674) came to be called theEast Mountain Teaching, due to the location of the residence of Hongren at Huamgmei. The term was used byShenxiu (神秀 606?–706), the most important successor to Hongren.^[1]

In 701, Shenxiu was invited to the Imperial Court by Empress Wu, who paid him due imperial reverence. The first lineage documents were produced in this period.^[2]

According to tradition, the sixth and last ancestral founder,Huineng (惠能; 638–713), was one of the giants of Chán history, and all surviving schools regard him as their ancestor.^[3]Shenhui, a successor to Huineng claimed Huineng to be the successor of Hongren's, instead of the then publicly recognized successor Shenxiu.^[4] The most prominent of the successors of Shenhui's lineage wasGuifeng Zongmi^[5]

Shenhui's influence is traceable in thePlatform Sutra, which gives a popular account of the story of Huineng, but also reconciles the antagonism created by Shenhui. Shenhui himself does not figure in the Platform Sutra; he was effectively written out of Chan-history.^[6]

From the East Mountain Teachings descend the Five Houses of Chan, via various lineages.

The five houses were each defined by a unique method of teaching. Each school's methods were significantly different from the others, though it was not unheard of for teachers from one school to use the methods of another.^[9]

The Guiyang school (潙仰宗 Guíyáng, Jpn. Igyō) was the first established school of the Five Houses of Zen.^[9] Guiyang is named after master Guishan Lingyou (771–854) (Kuei-shan Ling-yu, Jpn. Isan Reiyū) and his student, Yangshan Huiji (807-883,^[10] or 813–890) (Yang-shan Hui-chi, Jpn. Kyōzan Ejaku).

Guishan was a disciple ofBaizhang Huaihai, the Chinese Zen master whose disciples includedHuangbo Xiyun (who in turn taughtLínjì Yìxuán, founder of the Linji School).^[11] After founding the Guiyang School, Yangshan moved his school to what is now modernJiangxi.

The Guiyang school is distinct from the other schools due to its use of esoteric metaphors and imagery in the school'skōans and other teachings.^[9]

Over the course of Song Dynasty (960–1279), the Guiyang school, along with the Fayan and Yunmen schools were absorbed into the Linji school. Chan masterHsu Yun, however, attempted to revive absorbed lineages. The attempt was successful regarding the Guiyang school,Hsuan Hua being its most known modern representative.

The Linji (Chinese:临济宗;pinyin:Lín jì zōng) was named after Chan masterLinji Yixuan, who was notable for teaching students in ways that included shouting and striking in an attempt to help studentsreach enlightenment. The Linji school is the predominant Chinese Chán school.^[12]

The Caodong school was founded byDongshan Liangjie and his Dharma-heirs in the 9th century. Some attribute the name "Cáodòng" as a union of "Dongshan" and "Caoshan" from one of his Dharma-heirs,Caoshan Benji; however, the "Cao" could also have come fromCáoxī (曹溪), the "mountain-name" ofHuineng, the Sixth Ancestor of Chan. The sect emphasizedsitting meditation, and later "silent illumination" techniques.

In 826 Korean Seon Master Doui, a student of Sixth Ancestor of Chan Huineng, broughtChan/Seon (Korean Zen) to Korea and founded the "Nine Mountain Seon Monasteries" which adopted the name Jogye order.

In 1227Dōgen Zenji, a formerTendai student, studied Caodong Buddhism and returned toJapan to establish theSōtō school. The Caodong school is still a respectable Chinese Chán school and is second only to Linji in number of monks and temples.

The Fayan school (法眼宗) was named after Chinese Chan MasterFayan Wenyi (Fa-yen Wen-i), who lived from 885 to 958.

The Yunmen school was named forYunmen Wenyan. The school thrived into the earlySong Dynasty, with particular influence on the upper classes, and culminated in the final compilation of theBlue Cliff Record. Later during the Song Dynasty, the school was absorbed into theLinji school. It lived on into the modern era through MasterHsu Yun (1840–1959).

Over the course ofSong Dynasty (960–1279), the Guiyang, Fayan, and Yunmen houses were gradually absorbed into the Linji house. Caodong was transmitted to Japan in the 13th century from Ven.Rujing ofTiantong Temple to Ven.Dōgen leading to the creation of theSōtō Zen school.

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Both Linji and Caodong are still practiced in China today.^[13] Ven. Sheng-yen is an example of a modern Linji and Caodong teacher.^[14] Ven.Hsu Yun revived theGuiyang school,Fayan school and theYunmen school in China.

• Chan Buddhism
• Zen lineage charts

• McRae, John (2003),Seeing Through Zen, The University Press Group Ltd
• Yampolski, Philip (2003a),Chan. A Historical Sketch. In: Buddhist Spirituality. Later China, Korea, Japan and the Modern World; edited by Takeuchi Yoshinori, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass

• Chan schools

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