INTRODUCTION

In 1976, the author published (in Chinese) History of Chinese Zen Masters with eight charts on the dharma lineages. In 1977, the author published (in Chinese) History of Japanese Zen Masters with twenty-eight lineage charts. In the present volume, most of the basic materials are taken from the two previous volumes. However, in rendering certain passages from Chinese into English, it is deemed desirable to utilize many excellent translations that are already available to the English-reading public. Although it is possible to give all personal names in English either according to the Chinese pronunciation or to the Japanese pronunciation, in the main text the Japanese pronunciation is preferred for the reason that many English-reading readers are already familiar with the Japanese pronunciation from recent books on Zen.

This volume is divided into two parts: each part has eight chapters. Part I is concerned with "History of Zen in China." Chapter 1 tells the brief story from Daruma the First Patriarch to Gunin the Fifth Patriarch. Chapter 2 is concerned with Enō the Sixth Patriarch and his disciples. From the First Patriarch to the Sixth Patriarch, Zen School had a single line of transmission. After Enō, it must be pointed out that Zen lineage did not limit itself to a single line of transmission. As was well known, Enō had at least five prominent dharma-heirs, which included Shen-hui(Jinne), with an Imperial-designated title of the Seventh Patriarch.

The two famous branches—Nangaku branch and Seigen branch—are the headings of Chapters 3 and 6, respectively. Both branches flourished from their second-generation masters to the present day. Nangaku's dharma-heir was Baso (Matsu), and Seigen's dharma-heir was Sekitō(Shih-tou), whose body was recently enshrined at Sōji-ji, Tsurumi, near Yokohama, Japan.

In Chapter 3, the Igyō School, founded by Isan and Kyōzan, was included. Chapter 4 is concerned with the Rinzai School (in China). Both the Igyō School and the Rinzai School belonged to the "Five Houses," but only the Rinzai School and the Sōtō School have flourished both in China and in Japan until the present day. As the Rinzai School was divided into the ōryū and Yōgi Sects, Chapter 5 is concerned with both Sects. It can be pointed out that although the ōryū Sect Masters succeeded in the transmission of the lamp to Eisai, founder of the Rinzai School in Japan, the dharma descendants of the Yōgi Sect were responsible for carrying the torches further on. Note that Master Kidō, the teacher of Nampo Jōmyō, belonged to the Yōgi Sect. Ingen Ryūki, who went to Japan in 1654 and became the founder of the ōbaku School, also belonged to the Yōgi lineage. There were four famous Chinese painters who were monks by the end of the Ming Dynasty. Pa-Ta and Shih-tao (1641-1708) were Zen monks, and Shih-tao's dharma-teacher was Lü-an Pen-yueh (Ryo'an Hongetsu, d. 1676). Ryo'an Hongetsu was a contemporary of Ingen; both Ryo'an and Ingen were second-generation dharma-heirs of Mitsu'un Engo(1566-1642).

As mentioned before, Chapter 6 is concerned with the Seigen branch, and Seigen's dharma-heir was Sekitō (700-790). Just as Baso's line led to Rinzai, Sekitō's line led to Tōzan and Sōzan, founders of the Sōtō School. Chapter 7 is concerned with the Sōtō School (in China). Master Nyojō of Tendō became the dharma teacher of Dōgen, who was the founder of the Sōtō School in Japan. Since Dōgen studied under Eisai's disciple, Myōzen, Dōgen could also be considered as belonging to the Rinzai School in Japan.

The Ummon School and the Hōgen School were included in Chapter 8, the last chapter in Part I.

Part II is concerned with "History of Zen in Japan." Chapter 9 starts with Eisai, the founder of the Rinzai School in Japan, after his return from his second trip to China. Chapter 10 is concerned with the Era of the Five Mountains. As the Kenchō-ji was founded by the Chinese monk Rankei Dōryū and the Engaku-ji was founded by the Chinese monk Mugaku Sogen, the close relationship between the Chinese Zen School and the Japanese temples was evident. Enji Ben'en, Shōichi Kokushi, founder of the Tōfuku-ji, and Mukan Fumon, founder of the Nanzen-ji, were "return monks" from China. There were so many Japanese monks who went to seek and learn Zen in China, that the Chinese influence kept on from Sung to Yuan times. Of the founders of the forty-six sects in Japanese Zen, sixteen were Chinese Masters; fifteen were Japanese Masters who visited Sung-China; and fifteen were Japanese Masters who visited Yuan-China.

Chapter 11 is concerned with the Era of Daiō, Daitō, and Kanzan. Nampo Jōmyō (1235-1308), Daiō Kokushi, went to China in 1259, and became the most important disciple of Kidō Chigu (1185-1269). His disciple, Shūhō Myōchō (1282-1336), Daitō Kokushi, was the founder of Daitoku-ji. Shūhō's disciple, Kanzan Egen (1277-1360), was the founder of Myōshin-ji. Both the Daitoku-ji and the Myōshin-ji have flourished until the present day. The author accompanied by his wife, Wei Zing, made a special trip to Kyoto in July 1978, to visit the Myōshin-ji.

Chapter 12 starts with Hakuin (1685-1768) and traces the Inzan(1751-1814) and Takujū (1760-1833) lines to the present day. The Institute for Zen Studies at Hanazone University, Kyoto, has kindly supplied the author with a big chart tracing the lineages from Shōgen Sūgaku (1132-1202), Kidō's dharma grandfather, to the present. So it is gratifying for the author to report the lineages of Reverend Kajiura Itsugai(1896- ), the recently retired Chief Abbot, and Reverend Yamada Mumon(1900- ), the present Chief Abbot of Myōshin-ji. (In Chart 14, History of Japanese Zen Masters by the author these two lineages can be easily completed.)

Chapter 13 is concerned with the ōbaku School in Japan founded by Ingen Ryūki.

Chapter 14 is concerned with the Sōtō School in Japan. Dōgen Kigen(1200-1253), founder of the Sōtō School, may well be "the strongest and most original thinker that Japan has so far produced," according to Father Dumoulin, author of A History of Zen Buddhism (English translation by Paul Peachey, Pantheon Books, 1963).

Chapter 15 starts with Keizan Shōkin (1268-1325), the Fourth Patriarch of the Japanese Sōtō School, and traces the Gasan Shōseki(1274-1365) and the Myōhō Sotetsu (1277-1350) lines to the present day. The author and his wife made a special trip in July 1978 to the SōtōSchool's Daihonzan Sōji-ji at Tsurumi to pay homage at the shrine of Musai Sekito Zenji (700-790). The author was fortunate to receive the help of Sōtō-shū Main Office in Tokyo, to obtain important lineages from the newly published Sōtō-shū Zenshō . The author was further gratified to receive official documents from Sōji-ji concerning the lineages of Reverend Iwamoto Shōshun, the recently retired Chief Abbot, and Reverend Ichikawa Kin'ei, the present Chief Abbot of Sōji-ji. Mention must be made of the monumental work of Reverend Keidō Chisan (1879-1967) entitled History of Zen School in Japanese, first published in 1919, and its second edition recently published in 1974. This History includes both the History of Zen in China and the History of Zen in Japan.

As a child, the author visited the Tien-nin Temple (Tennei-ji) at Changchow (near Wusih) in the company of his grandmother. During the Anti-Japanese War (1937-1945), the author had the opportunity of meeting with Abbot Tai Hsu (Taiki) at Tsin-yun Shan (Shin'un Zan). Then in June 1941, the author visited the Nan-hua Temple (Nanka-ji) at Shao-kuan, paid homage at the shrine of the Sixth Patriarch, and met with Abbot Hsu Yun (Kiun, 1840-1959), the foremost Zen Master in China. On January 7, 1943, the author had the good fortune of meeting with Abbot Hsu Yun again at Tzu-yun Temple (Jiun-ji) near Chungking. In the autumn of 1975, the author wrote a long poem commemorating Musai Sekitō Zenji, as his body was enshrined at Sōji-ji at Tsurumi, near Yokohama, Japan. In July 1978, the author, accompanied by his wife, visited the shrine of Master Shih-tou Hsi-chien (Sekitō) in Japan. So this humble volume is respectfully dedicated to Master Shih-tou (700-790) and Abbot Hsu Yun (1840-1959), on the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the year of the horse (1978), the ninety-fifth birthday of the author's beloved mother. (A sad note must be added to record the passing of the author's older brother, Dr. Yo-chi Ku, M.D., on August 5, 1978, corresponding to the second day of the seventh month, at the age of seventy-eight.)