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The Record of Linji (Continued from front fl ap) EAST ASIAN RELIGION SASAKI the record of translation and appeared contain the type of detailed his- and The Linji lu (Record of Linji) has been “This new edition will be the translation of choice for Western Zen commentary by torical, linguistic, and doctrinal annota- KIRCHNER an essential text of Chinese and Japanese tion that was central to Mrs. Sasaki’s plan. communities, college courses, and all who want to know Ruth Fuller Sasaki Zen Buddhism for nearly a thousand years. that the translation they are reading is faithful to the original. A compilation of sermons, statements, and The materials assembled by Mrs. Sasaki Professional scholars of Buddhism will revel in the sheer edited by acts attributed to the great Chinese Zen and her team are fi nally available in the wealth of information packed into footnotes and bibliographical LINJI master Linji Yixuan (d. 866), it serves as Thomas Yu¯ho¯ Kirchner present edition of The Record of Linji. notes. Unique among translations of Buddhist texts, the footnotes to both an authoritative statement of Zen’s Chinese readings have been changed to basic standpoint and a central source of Pinyin and the translation itself has been the Kirchner edition contain numerous explanations of material for Zen koan practice. Scholars revised in line with subsequent research grammatical constructions. Translators of classical Chinese will study the text for its importance in under- by Iriya Yoshitaka and Yanagida Seizan, immediately recognize the Kirchner edition constitutes a standing both Zen thought and East Asian the scholars who advised Mrs. Sasaki. The small handbook of classical and colloquial Chinese grammar. Mahayana doctrine, while Zen practition- notes, nearly six hundred in all, are almost ers cherish it for its unusual simplicity, It sets a new standard in scholarly translation of of linji the record entirely based on primary sources and Buddhist primary texts.” directness, and ability to inspire. thus retain their value despite the nearly forty years since their preparation. They —VICTOR SO¯ GEN HORI, McGill University One of the earliest attempts to translate provide a rich context for Linji’s teach- this important work into English was ings, supplying a wealth of information “In the late 1950s, when I was a student in Chinese studies in by Sasaki Shigetsu (1882–1945), a pio- on Tang colloquial expressions, Buddhist Kyoto, I worked with Mrs. Sasaki on her translation of neer Zen master in the United States and thought, and Zen history, much of which The Record of Linji. Every time we went over it, we hoped it was the founder of the First Zen Institute of is unavailable anywhere else in English. at last in publishable form. But ‘Needs more work!’ was always America. At the time of his death, he en- This annotated edition of The Record of trusted the project to his wife, Ruth Fuller Linji is certain to be of great value to her dour comment, and back it would go into her fi les. Sasaki, who in 1949 moved to Japan and Buddhist scholars, Zen practitioners, and In 1961 Mrs. Sasaki and I parted company, and not long afterward there founded a branch of the First Zen readers interested in Asian Buddhism. she died. In 1975 a version of the translation came out, Institute at Daitoku-ji. Mrs. Sasaki, deter- but without the elaborate annotation she had envisioned. mined to produce a defi nitive translation, Now, thanks to the efforts of the meticulous and indefatigable assembled a team of talented young schol- Ruth Fuller Sasaki (1892–1967) Mr. Kirchner and his supporters, we have a new version of ars, both Japanese and Western, who in combined an early interest in Theravada the following years retranslated the text Buddhism and Indian languages with the that earlier translation. With Mrs. Sasaki’s old notes put in accordance with modern research on practice of yoga and Zen. After moving to into fi nished form, along with the ones she never got around to Tang-dynasty colloquial Chinese. As they Kyoto in 1949 she devoted herself to help- writing, here is this important Zen classic with all the annotation worked on the translation, they compiled ing Westerners interested in Zen and pro- one could desire, in what will doubtless be the defi nitive hundreds of detailed notes explaining ev- ducing a highly regarded series of books, edition for many years to come.” ery technical term, vernacular expression, including Zen Dust (1966), The Recorded and literary reference. One of the team, —BURTON WATSON Sayings of Layman P’ang (1971), and The Yanagida Seizan (later Japan’s preemi- Record of Lin-chi (1975). nent Zen historian), produced a lengthy introduction that outlined the emergence Thomas Yu¯ho¯ Kirchner is as- Jacket art: Portrait of Linji by Hakuin Ekaku, courtesy of Jo¯ko¯ji Temple. of Chinese Zen, presented a biography sociate researcher at the International Jacket design by Santos Barbasa Jr. of Linji, and traced the textual develop- Research Institute for Zen Buddhism at ment of the Linji lu. The sudden death of Hanazono University in Kyoto. He spent Mrs. Sasaki in 1967 brought the nearly ten years in Japanese Rinzai Zen monas- University of Hawai‘i Press completed project to a halt. An abbrevi- teries before taking positions at the Nan- ated version of the book was published Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96822-1888 zan Institute for Religion and Culture and in 1975, but neither this nor any other Hanazono University. English translation that subsequently (Continued on back fl ap) www.uhpress.hawaii.edu the record of linji NANZAN LIBRARY OF ASIAN RELIGION AND CULTURE editorial advisory board James W. Heisig Okuyama Michiaki Paul L. Swanson Watanabe Manabu Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture Hayashi Makoto Aichi Gakuin University Thomas Kasulis Ohio State University James W. Heisig & John Maraldo, eds., Rude Awakenings: Zen, the Kyoto School, & the Question of Nationalism (1995) Jamie Hubbard & Paul L. Swanson, eds., Pruning the Bodhi Tree: Th e Storm over Critical Buddhism (1997) Mark R. Mullins, Christianity Made in Japan: A Study of Indigenous Move ments (1998) Jamie Hubbard, Absolute Delusion, Perfect Buddhahood: Th e Rise and Fall of a Chi- nese Heresy (2001) James W. Heisig, Philosophers of Nothingness: An Essay on the Kyoto School (2001) Victor Sōgen Hori, Zen Sand: Th e Book of Capping Phrases for Kōan Practice (2003) Robert J. J. Wargo, Th e Logic of Nothingness: A Study of Nishida Kitarō (2005) Paul L. Swanson & Clark Chilson, eds., Nanzan Guide to Japanese Religions (2006) Ruth Fuller Sasaki, trans. and commentator, and Th omas Yūhō Kirchner, ed., Th e Record of Linji (2009) The Record of Linji translation and commentary by Ruth Fuller Sasaki edited by Thomas Yūhō Kirchner University of Hawai‘i Press honolulu © 2009 University of Hawai‘i Press All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America 14 13 12 11 10 09 6 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Yixuan, d. 867. [Linji lu. English & Chinese] The record of Linji / translation and commentary by Ruth Fuller Sasaki ; edited by Thomas Yuho Kirchner. p. cm. Includes original Chinese text. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8248-2821-9 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN 978-0-8248-3319-0 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Linji (Sect)—Early works to 1800. 2. Zen Buddhism—Early works to 1800. 3. Yixuan, d. 867. Linji lu. I. Sasaki, Ruth Fuller, 1892–1967. II. Kirchner, Thomas Yuho. III. Title. BQ9399.I554L5513 2008 294.3'85—dc22 2008028329 The typesetting of this book was done by the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture. University of Hawai‘i Press books are printed on acid-free paper and meet the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Council on Library Resources. Printed by The Maple-Vail Book Manufacturing Group Contents Foreword, by Yamada Mumon vii Preface to the 1975 Edition, by Furuta Kazuhiro ix Editor’s Prologue xiii Abbreviations xxxi Th e Record of Linji, translated by Ruth Fuller Sasaki 1 Discourses 3 Critical Examinations 34 Record of Pilgrimages 42 Preface to the Recorded Sayings of Chan Master Linji Huizhao of Zhenzhou 54 Historical Introduction and Commentary 57 Historical Introduction to Th e Record of Linji, by Yanagida Seizan 59 Commentary, by Ruth Fuller Sasaki 117 Chinese Text 347 Th e Linji lu in Chinese 349 Bibliography 365 List of Personal Names 437 Cumulative Index 451 v Foreword Yamada Mumon 山田無文 Indian Buddhism is distinctly contemplative, quietistic, and inclined to speculative thought. By contrast, Chinese Buddhism is practical and down-to-earth, active, and in a sense transcendental at the same time. Th is diff erence refl ects, I believe, the national characters of the two peoples. Zen, the name given to the Buddhism the fi rst Zen patriarch Bodhidharma brought with him to China when he came from India, proved well suited to the Chinese mentality, and achieved a remarkable growth and development in its new environment. An Indian would no doubt fi nd incredible the Chi- nese Zen master Baizhang’s famous saying, “A day of no work is a day of no eating.” Th e lines, “One fl ower opens fi ve petals / Th e fruit naturally ripen,” tradi- tionally attributed to Bodhidharma, are said to foretell the branching off of the fi ve Zen schools that later appeared in China. Th ese schools—the Yun- men, Guiyang, Linji, Fayan, and Caodong—derive their names from their founders, and their overall complexions also are traceable to the respective personalities of those men. Zen attaches the highest importance to each person’s particular individuality, even as it concerns itself with that person’s universality.
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