Puhua
Encyclopedia
Zhenzhou Puhua referred to honorably as P'u Hua Chán Shih
(J. Fuke-zenji or Fuke Zenshi; lit. "Chán Master Puhua" or "Zen Master Fuke", respectively), was a Chinese Chán (J. Zen
) oshō
, bhikku-priest, shramana
and eccentric
, considered both an important and at the same time obscure figure in the lineage of Chán Buddhism. He is perhaps best known for his alleged role as the traditional antecedent, at least in philosophical terms, of the former Fuke Zen
(J. 普化禪 Fuke-shū) or Hotto-ha sect, or sub-sect, of Japanese
Buddhism
– formally established in the 13th century
by the monk Kakushin.
The few records of Puhua's life and affairs are those accounted, if only briefly, in several East Asian religious or historical references: namely the Tang Dynasty
Record of Linji (Linji lu), as well as the Japanese Kyotaku Denki and, more recently, the Monumenta Nipponica
. He is also mentioned in some of the writings of Osho
, along with later publications concerning the Fuke-shū.
Consequently, the existence of Fuke-zenji borders on myth, lore or legend as a culturally and spiritually-memorable figure in the history of Chinese and Japanese Buddhism, and Zen generally.
as a means to garner shogunate
support for their sect. Mostly drawn into question is the legitimacy of Kyotaku Denki (also called the Kyotaku Denki Kokujikai (虚鐸伝記国字解), in English
The Legend of the Empty Bell), from which most of Puhua's chronology is derived. The text was purportedly written some time in either the 1640s or, by contrast, 1795 by the writer Yamamoto Morihide. Many scholars consider it a forgery of sorts, its contents dubious at best.
Puhua was known for absurd personality and character, as well as personal interactions with prominent Chán patriarchs in China, and most notably his peculiar, indistinct and yet essential connection to the origin of the Fuke school (in Chinese rendered literally as Pǔhuà zōng).
It is naturally to Puhua (or in this case, transliterated to the Japanese Fuke) that the Fuke school owes its namesake; and historically he is referred to as the order's founder. However Fuke Zen's most notable and unique characteristics (many more of which are still considered ill-defined or unknown), such as the development and practice of with the or – in some cases known as the kyotaku and/or – bamboo
flute
[s], and the school's mendicant
adherents called komusō
, are seemingly unrelated to the life of the monk, as it is known.
While much of the information regarding Puhua's connection to the komusō is most-certainly scarce, he is inextricably linked to the rise of the sect in the Kamakura period
of Japan's history
– if not merely its ideological basis – despite the fact that accounts place him in China
several centuries earlier.
China in the year 770, Puhua lived, at least according to the Kyotaku Denki, in the Chen province town of "Chenchou" or "Zhenzhou" (hence his namesake), which was likely either located in the modern-day provinces of Henan
or Hunan
. It is possible that this locality can be equated with the current city of Chenzhou
, if Puhua indeed resided in the latter provincial area.
He was a known contemporary of Linji Yixuan
(临济义玄; pinyin: Línjì Yìxuán; J. Rinzai Gigen; 800
–866
) and a late disciple of the eponymous Linji/Rinzai lineage. The relationship between Linji and Puhua – while indefinite – is important in that a minority of scholars argue that Fuke Zen's beginnings lie not with Puhua, but rather as an alternative to the Rinzai school Linji transmitted himself, alongside it. In any case, the school was considered even by its own members to have either been majorly influenced by or an offshoot of the Rinzai sect.
That aside, Puhua is traditionally regarded as one of the most prominent students of his master, shīfu Panshan Baoji (J. rōshi
Banzan Hoshaku), himself a student of Mazu
, a Patriarch
in the line of Dharma transmission
from the ambiguous and vague "Sudden Enlightenment" (頓教) southern Chán [proto-]school originating with the sixth and final Patriarch of Chán, Huineng
.
Most of the details regarding Puhua's affairs are recorded in the Record of Linji (perhaps furthering the concept of a Yixuan-originated sect), where he is presented (albeit briefly) as Panshan's chief student. Under Panshan, he had a rather notorious reputation as a multi-talented Zen ascetic who was at once inventive, innovative and often absurd
ly spontaneous, as well as rough and uncompromising in the way he expressed himself. The monk was well-known for typically acting in such a strange or outlandish manner, considered by some his method of communicating nonverbally
to others [on] the experiential basis of an ineffable nature inherent in all things
. (A notably Zen approach to enlightenment
, elucidated as Bodhidharma
's (J. Daruma) "transmission outside the scriptures, not founded upon words or letters", which is clearly apparent in the koans as well.)
One story of Puhua particularly demonstrates this:
Many stories about Puhua that appear in the Record add to his reputation of having a bizarre and even shocking manner of expressing the dharma
. For example:
There is some controversy as to the degree and nature of his musical talents (as per a connection to the Fuke school's practice of suizen), but his followers would often reflect on a certain story for inspiration: the story describes Puhua going through his hometown, ringing a bell to summon others to Enlightenment
. The same, for many Fuke practitioners, applied to the shakuhachi, and its mastery was seen as a path to the realization of unconditioned existence
.
that equals the famous resurrection story of Bodhidharma
who, as was previously touched upon, was the Indian master who brought the Ekayana
school from India to China, which became the Chan sect of Buddhism. The story:
According to the Record of Linji, Puhua was accounted as dying in the year 860
, as opposed to 840 – when other sources mark his time of death.
Puhua is traditionally considered to either be the direct founder of, or at least the philosophical and spiritual antecedent to the Fuke-shū. However Fuke Zen's origins are to this day a point of contention for students of Zen, as well as academics studying the religious and philosophical histories of Buddhism
in China and Japan.
China much earlier than there were any major accounts of an individual "Fuke sect" coming into being: He was recorded as dying approximately 360 years before the Feudal Japanese Kemmu Restoration
(J. 日本国; Nippon-koku) began, when the Fuke school started to emerge from the Rinzai as the state-backed Shinbutsu shūgō
syncretism
thrived in the country. Given this, no notion of a specific creed, teaching or practice based upon Zhenzhou is cited in history. (That is, aside from the brief descriptions of his interactions with other Chán practitioners – limited almost completely to the Record of Linji, as well as the school's various influences from the Rinzai/Linji, and possibly the Ōbaku
, sects.) It would then appear that consequently, if not due at least to a lack of historiography and general knowledge surrounding the matter, there was no exemplary or viably tenable "Fuke/Puhua" sect or organization-proper that was influential, large or sufficiently-palpable enough in the Tang Dynasty, in order to have been noteworthy among Chinese religious chronology.
What constituted the Puhua school (in Chinese rendered literally as Pǔhuà zōng) in China was at least limited to a small number of teachers, many of whom lived and taught in obscurity, and thus like their precursor Puhua remained – along with their transmission of his sect – equally inconspicuous.
Of the few known prominent students of of the Pǔhuà zōng in China, there are only several major individuals noted in extent historical accounts:
The first mention of a major institution called the "Fuke school" was as one that appeared and seemed to exist only among the islands of Japan. As such, the practices of suizen and the mysteriously-unique characteristics of the komusō had only ever been noted as Japanese cultural phenomena, rather than Chinese – perhaps implying a major change in the school's nature of structure and discipline within the historically ambiguous gap that occurred between its equally-temporal-and-spatial transmission from the Tang Dynasty to Feudal Japan. The shakuhachi, for instance, is by distinction a Japanese instrument; and the garb of the komusō evidently derived from Japonic culture.
As aforementioned, either the originator and first Patriarch of the Linji/Rinzai school – Linji Yixuan – or his subsequent teachings and practices unique to his school, are known to have had some degree of influence upon the Fuke school as it appeared in Japan. Master Linji has been speculatively asserted, at one time or another, to have taken on any of the following roles in regards to the Fuke sect:
... or, as the more prevalent theory...
Either way, the Linji school, and by extension, Rinzai/Linji himself, would have had considerable influence over Puhua and his sect as it appeared in Japan. Nonetheless, Puhua is still regarded as the historically-accurate founder, at least in terms of tradition, of his eponymous lineage.
Zen master
Zen master is an umbrella title sometimes used to refer to an individual who has been recognized by an authorized Zen lineage holder and teacher as having met his or her own teacher's standards of realization or insight. These standards vary widely in different traditions, and may vary among...
(J. Fuke-zenji or Fuke Zenshi; lit. "Chán Master Puhua" or "Zen Master Fuke", respectively), was a Chinese Chán (J. Zen
Zen
Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
) oshō
Osho
Oshō is the Japanese reading of the Chinese he shang , meaning a high-ranking Buddhist monk or highly virtuous Buddhist monk. It is also a respectful designation for Buddhist monks in general and may be used with the suffix -san...
, bhikku-priest, shramana
Shramana
A shramana is a wandering monk in certain ascetic traditions of ancient India including Jainism, Buddhism, and Ājīvikism. Famous śramaṇas include Mahavira and Gautama Buddha....
and eccentric
Eccentricity (behavior)
In popular usage, eccentricity refers to unusual or odd behavior on the part of an individual. This behavior would typically be perceived as unusual or unnecessary, without being demonstrably maladaptive...
, considered both an important and at the same time obscure figure in the lineage of Chán Buddhism. He is perhaps best known for his alleged role as the traditional antecedent, at least in philosophical terms, of the former Fuke Zen
Fuke Zen
Fuke Zen or the Hottô Ha , was a distinct and ephemeral derivative of Japanese Zen Buddhism which originated as an obscuration of the Rinzai school during the nation's feudal era, lasting from the 13th century until the late 19th century...
(J. 普化禪 Fuke-shū) or Hotto-ha sect, or sub-sect, of Japanese
Buddhism in Japan
The history of Buddhism in Japan can be roughly divided into three periods, namely the Nara period , the Heian period and the post-Heian period . Each period saw the introduction of new doctrines and upheavals in existing schools...
Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
– formally established in the 13th century
13th century
As a means of recording the passage of time, the 13th century was that century which lasted from 1201 through 1300 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian/Common Era...
by the monk Kakushin.
The few records of Puhua's life and affairs are those accounted, if only briefly, in several East Asian religious or historical references: namely the Tang Dynasty
Tang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...
Record of Linji (Linji lu), as well as the Japanese Kyotaku Denki and, more recently, the Monumenta Nipponica
Monumenta Nipponica
Monumenta Nipponica is a biannual academic journals of Japanese studies. It is affiliated with Sophia University .- Contents :Each issue contains three to four main research articles, and ten to fifteen reviews of recent books in Japanese studies, dealing with Japanese society, culture, history,...
. He is also mentioned in some of the writings of Osho
Osho (Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh)
Osho , born Chandra Mohan Jain , and also known as Acharya Rajneesh from the 1960s onwards, as Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh during the 1970s and 1980s and as Osho from 1989, was an Indian mystic, guru, and spiritual teacher who garnered an international following.A professor of philosophy, he travelled...
, along with later publications concerning the Fuke-shū.
Consequently, the existence of Fuke-zenji borders on myth, lore or legend as a culturally and spiritually-memorable figure in the history of Chinese and Japanese Buddhism, and Zen generally.
Background
There is much open to speculation and further understanding concerning Puhua's life; it isn't fully determined whether he was a real individual or mythical, whose existence was simply fabricated by the order of Fuke monks in JapanKomuso
A was a Japanese mendicant monk of the Fuke school of Zen Buddhism, during the Edo period of 1600-1868. Komusō were characterised by the straw basket worn on the head, manifesting the absence of specific ego. They are also known for playing solo pieces on the shakuhachi...
as a means to garner shogunate
Tokugawa shogunate
The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the and the , was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family. This period is known as the Edo period and gets its name from the capital city, Edo, which is now called Tokyo, after the name was...
support for their sect. Mostly drawn into question is the legitimacy of Kyotaku Denki (also called the Kyotaku Denki Kokujikai (虚鐸伝記国字解), in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
The Legend of the Empty Bell), from which most of Puhua's chronology is derived. The text was purportedly written some time in either the 1640s or, by contrast, 1795 by the writer Yamamoto Morihide. Many scholars consider it a forgery of sorts, its contents dubious at best.
Puhua was known for absurd personality and character, as well as personal interactions with prominent Chán patriarchs in China, and most notably his peculiar, indistinct and yet essential connection to the origin of the Fuke school (in Chinese rendered literally as Pǔhuà zōng).
It is naturally to Puhua (or in this case, transliterated to the Japanese Fuke) that the Fuke school owes its namesake; and historically he is referred to as the order's founder. However Fuke Zen's most notable and unique characteristics (many more of which are still considered ill-defined or unknown), such as the development and practice of with the or – in some cases known as the kyotaku and/or – bamboo
Bamboo flute
Flutes made of bamboo are found in many musical traditions.Some bamboo flutes include:Flute Country of Origin Atenteben Bashi Bansuri Chi Dizi Daegeum...
flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
[s], and the school's mendicant
Mendicant
The term mendicant refers to begging or relying on charitable donations, and is most widely used for religious followers or ascetics who rely exclusively on charity to survive....
adherents called komusō
Komuso
A was a Japanese mendicant monk of the Fuke school of Zen Buddhism, during the Edo period of 1600-1868. Komusō were characterised by the straw basket worn on the head, manifesting the absence of specific ego. They are also known for playing solo pieces on the shakuhachi...
, are seemingly unrelated to the life of the monk, as it is known.
While much of the information regarding Puhua's connection to the komusō is most-certainly scarce, he is inextricably linked to the rise of the sect in the Kamakura period
Kamakura period
The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura Shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo....
of Japan's history
History of Japan
The history of Japan encompasses the history of the islands of Japan and the Japanese people, spanning the ancient history of the region to the modern history of Japan as a nation state. Following the last ice age, around 12,000 BC, the rich ecosystem of the Japanese Archipelago fostered human...
– if not merely its ideological basis – despite the fact that accounts place him in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
several centuries earlier.
Life and lineage
Born in Tang DynastyTang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...
China in the year 770, Puhua lived, at least according to the Kyotaku Denki, in the Chen province town of "Chenchou" or "Zhenzhou" (hence his namesake), which was likely either located in the modern-day provinces of Henan
Henan
Henan , is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the central part of the country. Its one-character abbreviation is "豫" , named after Yuzhou , a Han Dynasty state that included parts of Henan...
or Hunan
Hunan
' is a province of South-Central China, located to the south of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and south of Lake Dongting...
. It is possible that this locality can be equated with the current city of Chenzhou
Chenzhou
Chenzhou is a city located in the southern area of Hunan province, People's Republic of China. Its administrative area covers , 9.2% of the provincial area, and its total population reached 4,559,600 as of 2001, 26% of them living in urban areas, 74% of them live in rural areas.-History:Chenzhou...
, if Puhua indeed resided in the latter provincial area.
He was a known contemporary of Linji Yixuan
Linji
Línjì Yìxuán was the founder of the Linji school of Chán Buddhism during Tang Dynasty China. Linji was born into a family named Xing in Caozhou , which he left at a young age to study Buddhism in many places....
(临济义玄; pinyin: Línjì Yìxuán; J. Rinzai Gigen; 800
800
Year 800 was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. It was around this time that the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years, so from this time on, the years began being known as 800 and onwards.- Europe :* December 25 - Pope Leo III...
–866
866
Year 866 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar.- Asia :* Fujiwara no Yoshifusa becomes regent of Japan, starting the Fujiwara regentship.- Europe :...
) and a late disciple of the eponymous Linji/Rinzai lineage. The relationship between Linji and Puhua – while indefinite – is important in that a minority of scholars argue that Fuke Zen's beginnings lie not with Puhua, but rather as an alternative to the Rinzai school Linji transmitted himself, alongside it. In any case, the school was considered even by its own members to have either been majorly influenced by or an offshoot of the Rinzai sect.
That aside, Puhua is traditionally regarded as one of the most prominent students of his master, shīfu Panshan Baoji (J. rōshi
Roshi
is a Japanese honorific title used in Zen Buddhism that literally means "old teacher" or "elder master" and sometimes denotes a person who gives spiritual guidance to a Zen sangha or congregation...
Banzan Hoshaku), himself a student of Mazu
Mazu Daoyi
Mazu Daoyi was a Ch'an Buddhist master in China during the Tang dynasty. In dharma-succession through Nanyue to the Sixth Patriarch, Mazu Daoyi contributed far-reaching insights and changes in teaching methods regarding the transmission of awareness...
, a Patriarch
Patriarch
Originally a patriarch was a man who exercised autocratic authority as a pater familias over an extended family. The system of such rule of families by senior males is called patriarchy. This is a Greek word, a compound of πατριά , "lineage, descent", esp...
in the line of Dharma transmission
Dharma transmission
Dharma transmission refers to "the manner in which the teaching, or Dharma, is passed from a Zen master to their disciple and heir...
from the ambiguous and vague "Sudden Enlightenment" (頓教) southern Chán [proto-]school originating with the sixth and final Patriarch of Chán, Huineng
Huineng
Dajian Huineng was a Chinese Chán monastic who is one of the most important figures in the entire tradition, according to standard Zen hagiographies...
.
Most of the details regarding Puhua's affairs are recorded in the Record of Linji (perhaps furthering the concept of a Yixuan-originated sect), where he is presented (albeit briefly) as Panshan's chief student. Under Panshan, he had a rather notorious reputation as a multi-talented Zen ascetic who was at once inventive, innovative and often absurd
Absurd
Absurd or The Absurd may refer to:* Absurdity, general and technical usage - associated with extremely poor reasoning, the ridiculous, or nonsense....
ly spontaneous, as well as rough and uncompromising in the way he expressed himself. The monk was well-known for typically acting in such a strange or outlandish manner, considered by some his method of communicating nonverbally
Nonverbal communication
Nonverbal communication is usually understood as the process of communication through sending and receiving wordless messages. Messages can be communicated through gestures and touch , by body language or posture, by facial expression and eye contact...
to others [on] the experiential basis of an ineffable nature inherent in all things
Buddha-nature
Buddha-nature, Buddha-dhatu or Buddha Principle , is taught differently in various Mahayana Buddhism traditions. Broadly speaking Buddha-nature is concerned with ascertaining what allows sentient beings to become Buddhas...
. (A notably Zen approach to enlightenment
Bodhi
Bodhi is both a Pāli and Sanskrit word traditionally translated into English with the word "enlightenment", but which means awakened. In Buddhism it is the knowledge possessed by a Buddha into the nature of things...
, elucidated as Bodhidharma
Bodhidharma
Bodhidharma was a Buddhist monk who lived during the 5th/6th century AD. He is traditionally credited as the transmitter of Ch'an to China, and regarded as the first Chinese patriarch...
's (J. Daruma) "transmission outside the scriptures, not founded upon words or letters", which is clearly apparent in the koans as well.)
One story of Puhua particularly demonstrates this:
When Panshan Baoji was near death, he said to the monks, "Is there anyone among you who can draw my likeness?"
Many of the monks made drawings for Panshan, but none were to his liking.
The monk Puhua stepped forward and said, "I can draw it."
Panshan said, "Why don't you show it to me?"
Puhua then turned a somersault and went out.
Panshan said, "Someday, that fellow will teach others in a crazy manner!"
Many stories about Puhua that appear in the Record add to his reputation of having a bizarre and even shocking manner of expressing the dharma
Dharma
Dharma means Law or Natural Law and is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion. In the context of Hinduism, it refers to one's personal obligations, calling and duties, and a Hindu's dharma is affected by the person's age, caste, class, occupation, and gender...
. For example:
44.a. One day the master (Linji Yixuan) and Puhua went to a vegetarian banquet given them by a believer. During it, the master asked Puhua: "'A hair swallows the vast ocean, a mustard seed contains Mt. Sumeru
SumeruSumeru or Sineru is the name of the central world-mountain in Buddhist cosmology. Etymologically, the proper name of the mountain is Meru , to which is added the approbatory prefix su-, resulting in the meaning "excellent Meru" or "wonderful Meru".The concept of Sumeru is closely related to the...
' – does this happen by means of supernatural powers, or is the whole body (substance, essence) like this?" Puhua kicked over the table. The master said: "Rough fellow." Puhua retorted: "What place is this here to speak of rough and refined?"
b. The next day, they went again to a vegetarian banquet. During it, the master asked: "Today's fare, how does it compare with yesterday's?" Puhua (as before) kicked over the table. The master said: "Understand it you do – but still, you are a rough fellow." Puhua replied: "Blind fellow, does one preach of any roughness or finesse in the Buddha-Dharma
BuddhismBuddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
?" The master stuck out his tongue.
There is some controversy as to the degree and nature of his musical talents (as per a connection to the Fuke school's practice of suizen), but his followers would often reflect on a certain story for inspiration: the story describes Puhua going through his hometown, ringing a bell to summon others to Enlightenment
Bodhi
Bodhi is both a Pāli and Sanskrit word traditionally translated into English with the word "enlightenment", but which means awakened. In Buddhism it is the knowledge possessed by a Buddha into the nature of things...
. The same, for many Fuke practitioners, applied to the shakuhachi, and its mastery was seen as a path to the realization of unconditioned existence
Nirvana
Nirvāṇa ; ) is a central concept in Indian religions. In sramanic thought, it is the state of being free from suffering. In Hindu philosophy, it is the union with the Supreme being through moksha...
.
Death
The passing of Puhua is recounted in the Record. In addition to giving a special importance to Puhua's ringing bell, it is particularly striking as a story of Buddhic resurrectionResurrection
Resurrection refers to the literal coming back to life of the biologically dead. It is used both with respect to particular individuals or the belief in a General Resurrection of the dead at the end of the world. The General Resurrection is featured prominently in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim...
that equals the famous resurrection story of Bodhidharma
Bodhidharma
Bodhidharma was a Buddhist monk who lived during the 5th/6th century AD. He is traditionally credited as the transmitter of Ch'an to China, and regarded as the first Chinese patriarch...
who, as was previously touched upon, was the Indian master who brought the Ekayana
Ekayana
Ekayāna is a Sanskrit word that can mean "one path" or "one vehicle". The word took on special significance as a metaphor for a spriritual journey in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad...
school from India to China, which became the Chan sect of Buddhism. The story:
65. One day at the street market Fuke was begging all and sundry to give him a robe. Everybody offered him one, but he did not want any of them. The master [Linji] made the superior buy a coffin, and when Fuke returned, said to him: "There, I had this robe made for you." Fuke shouldered the coffin, and went back to the street market, calling loudly: "Rinzai had this robe made for me! I am off to the East Gate to enter transformation" (to die). The people of the market crowded after him, eager to look. Fuke said: "No, not today. Tomorrow, I shall go to the South Gate to enter transformation." And so for three days. Nobody believed it any longer. On the fourth day, and now without any spectators, Fuke went alone outside the city walls, and laid himself into the coffin. He asked a traveler who chanced by to nail down the lid.
The news spread at once, and the people of the market rushed there. On opening the coffin, they found that the body had vanished, but from high up in the sky they heard the ring of his hand bell.
According to the Record of Linji, Puhua was accounted as dying in the year 860
860
Year 860 was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* Ethelbert succeeds as king of Wessex.* The later Harald I of Norway becomes king.- Art :...
, as opposed to 840 – when other sources mark his time of death.
The Fuke-shū
On a very basic level, Fuke Zen as it was once extent could be defined as, "a branch of Zen Buddhism which existed in Japan from the 13th century until the late 19th century. Fuke monks were noted for playing the shakuhachi flute as a form of meditation. It was characterized in the public imagination of Japan by its monks playing of the shakuhachi flute while wearing a large woven basket hat that covered their entire head as they went on pilgrimage."Puhua is traditionally considered to either be the direct founder of, or at least the philosophical and spiritual antecedent to the Fuke-shū. However Fuke Zen's origins are to this day a point of contention for students of Zen, as well as academics studying the religious and philosophical histories of Buddhism
Buddhism in China
Chinese Buddhism refers collectively to the various schools of Buddhism that have flourished in China since ancient times. Buddhism has played an enormous role in shaping the mindset of the Chinese people, affecting their aesthetics, politics, literature, philosophy and medicine.At the peak of the...
in China and Japan.
Historical gap
Puhua/Fuke lived in the late Tang DynastyTang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...
China much earlier than there were any major accounts of an individual "Fuke sect" coming into being: He was recorded as dying approximately 360 years before the Feudal Japanese Kemmu Restoration
Kemmu restoration
The is the name given to both the three year period of Japanese history between the Kamakura period and the Muromachi period, and the political events that took place in it...
(J. 日本国; Nippon-koku) began, when the Fuke school started to emerge from the Rinzai as the state-backed Shinbutsu shūgō
Shinbutsu Shugo
, literally "syncretism of kami and buddhas" is the syncretism of Buddhism and kami worship which was Japan's religion until the Meiji period...
syncretism
Syncretism
Syncretism is the combining of different beliefs, often while melding practices of various schools of thought. The term means "combining", but see below for the origin of the word...
thrived in the country. Given this, no notion of a specific creed, teaching or practice based upon Zhenzhou is cited in history. (That is, aside from the brief descriptions of his interactions with other Chán practitioners – limited almost completely to the Record of Linji, as well as the school's various influences from the Rinzai/Linji, and possibly the Ōbaku
Obaku
Ōbaku is the Amur Corktree. It may refer to:*Mount Huangbo , a mountain in China's Fujian province, noted for its Buddhist temples*Mount Ōbaku , a mountain in the city of Uji in Japan...
, sects.) It would then appear that consequently, if not due at least to a lack of historiography and general knowledge surrounding the matter, there was no exemplary or viably tenable "Fuke/Puhua" sect or organization-proper that was influential, large or sufficiently-palpable enough in the Tang Dynasty, in order to have been noteworthy among Chinese religious chronology.
The early Puhua sect in China
What constituted the Puhua school (in Chinese rendered literally as Pǔhuà zōng) in China was at least limited to a small number of teachers, many of whom lived and taught in obscurity, and thus like their precursor Puhua remained – along with their transmission of his sect – equally inconspicuous.
Of the few known prominent students of of the Pǔhuà zōng in China, there are only several major individuals noted in extent historical accounts:
- Ennin (794-864)
- Zhang Bai (8th century)
- Chosan (8th century)
- Shinchi Kakushin (心地覺心; 1207–1298)
The first mention of a major institution called the "Fuke school" was as one that appeared and seemed to exist only among the islands of Japan. As such, the practices of suizen and the mysteriously-unique characteristics of the komusō had only ever been noted as Japanese cultural phenomena, rather than Chinese – perhaps implying a major change in the school's nature of structure and discipline within the historically ambiguous gap that occurred between its equally-temporal-and-spatial transmission from the Tang Dynasty to Feudal Japan. The shakuhachi, for instance, is by distinction a Japanese instrument; and the garb of the komusō evidently derived from Japonic culture.
Linji's influence and relationship with Puhua
As aforementioned, either the originator and first Patriarch of the Linji/Rinzai school – Linji Yixuan – or his subsequent teachings and practices unique to his school, are known to have had some degree of influence upon the Fuke school as it appeared in Japan. Master Linji has been speculatively asserted, at one time or another, to have taken on any of the following roles in regards to the Fuke sect:
- 1. By a minority of historians, the founder of the Fuke school alongside his much more prevalent lineage of the Linji/Rinzai-shū, Puhua only bearing the sect's namesake;
- 2. By a minority of historians, the co-founder in tandem with Puhua/Fuke, the latter by whom the school bears its name;
- 3. By a large minority of historians, the actual and only individual to have founded the Fuke sect, "Puhua" merely being a pseudonym or second name of Rinzai/Linji himself;
... or, as the more prevalent theory...
- 4. An influential figure, but not the sect's founding 'Patriarch', i.e.
- 4(a). As a contemporary, and later on either a teacher or influencer, of Puhua – who according to the Record adopted Linji's views and was an early Linji/Rinzai school adherent, however somewhat contradictory in that he either had changed his view from that of merely one school: that is, in this case, diverging from Huineng's ill-defined and Zen-pre-schism "Sudden Enlightenment" lineage whom he was trained under by instruction of Panshan, or reconciled Huineng's southern Chán with the Linji sect. The former would effectively make the Fuke sect a sub-sect of the Rinzai, and the latter a sort of post-syncretism.
- 4(b). As a contemporary, etc. of Puhua, whose school however was not in effect the parent lineage of Fuke Zen, but merely influenced it. Therefore the Fuke-shū could neither be regarded as limited in its influence to the "Sudden Enlightenment" or Rinzai/Linji lineages unto themselves, or as a form of Zen syncretism – in this case rather as an independent school unto itself.
Either way, the Linji school, and by extension, Rinzai/Linji himself, would have had considerable influence over Puhua and his sect as it appeared in Japan. Nonetheless, Puhua is still regarded as the historically-accurate founder, at least in terms of tradition, of his eponymous lineage.
See also
- Buddhism in ChinaBuddhism in ChinaChinese Buddhism refers collectively to the various schools of Buddhism that have flourished in China since ancient times. Buddhism has played an enormous role in shaping the mindset of the Chinese people, affecting their aesthetics, politics, literature, philosophy and medicine.At the peak of the...
- Buddhism in JapanBuddhism in JapanThe history of Buddhism in Japan can be roughly divided into three periods, namely the Nara period , the Heian period and the post-Heian period . Each period saw the introduction of new doctrines and upheavals in existing schools...
- Fuke ZenFuke ZenFuke Zen or the Hottô Ha , was a distinct and ephemeral derivative of Japanese Zen Buddhism which originated as an obscuration of the Rinzai school during the nation's feudal era, lasting from the 13th century until the late 19th century...
- KomusōKomusoA was a Japanese mendicant monk of the Fuke school of Zen Buddhism, during the Edo period of 1600-1868. Komusō were characterised by the straw basket worn on the head, manifesting the absence of specific ego. They are also known for playing solo pieces on the shakuhachi...
- SuizenSuizenis a Zen practice consisting of playing the shakuhachi bamboo flute as a means of attaining self-realization. The monks from the Fuke sect of Zen who practiced suizen were called komusō ....
- ShakuhachiShakuhachiThe is a Japanese end-blown flute. It is traditionally made of bamboo, but versions now exist in ABS and hardwoods. It was used by the monks of the Fuke school of Zen Buddhism in the practice of...
- HocchikuHocchiku, sometimes romanized as hocchiku or hochiku, is a Japanese end-blown flute , crafted from root sections of bamboo. After cleaning and sanding, the heavy root end of the bamboo stalk reveals many small circular knots where the roots formerly joined the stalk...
- Hocchiku
- HonkyokuHonkyokuHonkyoku are the pieces of shakuhachi or hocchiku music played by mendicant Japanese Zen monks called komusō. Komusō played honkyoku for enlightenment and alms as early as the 13th century. Honkyoku is the practice of suizen...
- Shakuhachi
- Komusō
- IkkyūIkkyuwas an eccentric, iconoclastic Japanese Zen Buddhist monk and poet. He had a great impact on the infusion of Japanese art and literature with Zen attitudes and ideals.-Childhood:...
- List of Rinzai Buddhists