Ruth Fuller Sasaki (trans.) - The Record of Linji

translation and commentary by

Ruth Fuller Sasaki

edited by

Thomas Yh Kirchner

2009 University of Hawaii 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 BuddhismEarly works to 1800.
3. Yixuan, d. 867. Linji lu. I. Sasaki, Ruth Fuller, 18921967. II. Kirchner, Thomas
Yuho. III. Title.
BQ9399.I554L5513 2008
294.3'85dc22

2008028329

The typesetting of this book was done by the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture.

University of Hawaii Press books are printed on acid-free paper and meet the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Council on Library Resources.

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Preface to the Recorded Sayings of Chan Master
Linji Huizhao of Zhenzhou

Y amada Mumon

I ndian B uddhism 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. This difference reflects, I believe, the national characters of the two peoples. Zen, the name given to the Buddhism the first 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 find incredible the Chinese Zen master Baizhangs famous saying, A day of no work is a day of no eating.

The lines, One flower opens five petals / The fruit naturally ripen, traditionally attributed to Bodhidharma, are said to foretell the branching off of the five Zen schools that later appeared in China. These schoolsthe Yunmen, Guiyang, Linji, Fayan, and Caodongderive 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 persons particular individuality, even as it concerns itself with that persons universality. The Linji or Rinzai school of Zen begins in the figure of the Tang priest Linji Yixuan (J. Rinzai Gigen). The Linji lu, in Japanese the Rinzai roku, is the record of his words and deeds.

Rinzai Zen is distinguished from the other Zen schools by its brusque and somewhat martial disposition. Its central concern is the person who is master in all places, whose effortless activity is a giving and taking away, creating and annihilating absolutely at will, with the sword that kills, and the sword that gives life. This is one reason the school has been given the label Shgun Zen, and no doubt also accounts for the great success it enjoyed in the past among the samurai classes of Japan.

Editors note: Yamada Mumons Foreword and Furuta Kazuhiros Preface have been reprinted in close to their original form, but with some sections retranslated and with the Chinese names changed from Wade-Giles to Pinyin.

Nishida Kitar, the greatest Japanese philosopher of modern times and lifelong friend of the late Suzuki Daisetz, held the Linji lu in special regard. He once wrote, If there should come a time when books were to disappear from the earth, or I was banished to some bookless land, it would be enough for me if I had only Shinrans Tannish and the Linji lu.

I believe that Zen, particularly Rinzai Zen, has a significant role in the present world. Modern people are adrift amid the great confusion and uncertainty of contemporary life. The Linji lu can give us a foundation on which to construct a new and powerful view of human existence.

It thus gives me great joy to know that with the appearance of this first English translation of the Linji lu, this Zen classic will be available more than ever before to readers throughout the world.

Kyoto, Institute for Zen Studies