Work

Blue Cliff Record

Overview

The Blue Cliff Record (Chinese: 碧巖錄; pinyin: Bìyán Lù; Japanese: 碧巌録; rōmaji: Hekiganroku; Korean: 벽암록; romaja: Byeokamrok; Vietnamese: Bích nham lục) is a collection of Chan Buddhist kōans originally compiled in Song China in 1125, during the reign of Emperor Huizong, and then expanded into its present form by Chan master Yuanwu Keqin (1063–1135; Japanese pronunciation: Engo).

The book includes Yuanwu's annotations and commentary on 100 Verses on Old Cases (頌古百則), a compilation of 100 kōans collected by Xuedou Chongxian (980–1052; 雪竇重顯, Setcho). Xuedou selected 82 of these from the Song period work The Jingde Record of the Transmission of the Lamp, with the remainder selected from the Yunmen Guanglu (雲門廣録, Extensive Record of Yunmen Wenyan, 864–949).

Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).

Philosophers who discussed Blue Cliff Record

• Bodhidharma
• Mazu Daoyi
• Yunmen Wenyan

Related ideas

• Dahui Zonggao
• Koan
• Sōtō
• Chan Buddhism
• Bodhidharma
• Song dynasty
• Caodong school
• Dōgen
• Yunmen Wenyan
• The Jingde Record of the Transmission of the Lamp
• The Gateless Barrier

Place in the tradition

Part of Zen.

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