Oxford Scholarship Online: The Zen Canon

The Zen Canon Understanding the Classic Texts Heine, Steven Professor of Religious Studies and Director of Asian Studies, Florida International University Wright, Dale S. David B. and Mary H. Gamble Professor of Religious Studies and Asian Studies, Occidental College Print publication date: 2004 (this edition) Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: February 2006 Print ISBN-13: 978-0-19-515067-4
6 The Record of Hongzhi and the Recorded Sayings Literature of Song-Dynasty Chan doi:10.1093/0195150678.003.0007 Morten Schlütter Abstract: This chapter offers an analysis of the “recorded sayings” genre of Zen literature by focusing on the Chan master Hongzhi Zhengjue (1091-1157), a well-known Song dynasty Zen teacher around whom an extensive literary tradition evolved. The essay begins by outlining the yulu genre, its origins and development, and then offers a similar study of development in the history of the literature surrounding this one master, Hongzhi. The Hongzhi lu is shown to be composed of a variety of historical layers, each grafted onto the whole over time through a variety of techniques. The text is shown to develop from small collections of sayings circulating during the master’s lifetime to larger official collections, until its eventual loss in China and increasing prominence in Japan. Keywords: Record of Hongzhi, Hongzhi Zhengjue, yulu, Hongzhi lu, Recorded Sayings Literature, Song dynasty Zen,