Linji Yixuan

Linji Yixuan (known in Japanese as Rinzai Gigen and in Korean as Imje) was a Chinese monk of the Tang dynasty and a teacher in the Hongzhou school of Chan, the Chinese branch of Zen Buddhism. He is regarded as the leading figure of Chan in his era. The Linji school, which took his name, consolidated later, during the Song dynasty; in Japan it is known as Rinzai.

Little about his life can be stated with certainty. The sources place his birth in the Yuanhe era (806-820), in the Nanhua region of what is now Shandong province. According to these accounts, he was ordained, studied the vinaya, the sutras and the shastras, and showed the influence of the Huayan and Yogacara traditions. He later set aside doctrinal study, which he judged insufficient, and turned to meditation. Around 836 or 841 he reached Jiangnan and became a disciple of Huangbo Xiyun. Tradition holds that he attained awakening after an exchange with the recluse Dayu. Around 851 he settled in a small temple on the banks of the Hutuo River in Zhenzhou, which gave him his familiar name, and taught there for about a decade. He died in Weifu, probably in 866 or 867.

His teaching, preserved in his sermons, was direct and irreverent. He rejected dependence on scriptures and ritual formulas, and aimed to make the student awaken on their own, sometimes through shouts, blows or unexpected replies. The main text that transmits his words, the Linji yulu, was compiled long after his death, so it mixes his sayings with material added by later writers.

His influence was considerable, though his direct line was small. The Linji schools of Korea, Japan and Vietnam trace their origins to him, and his style shaped much of later Zen.