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塗毒鼓

Pronunciations

Basic Meaning: drum stained with poison

Senses:

  • A drum smeared with poison to destroy those who hear it. In contrast to the 'divine drum'  天鼓 (which is compared to the voice of the Buddha), the 'drum stained with poison' leads all who hear it to death; a metaphor for the sensual desires associated with or aroused by sound. Also written 毒塗鼓. 〔摩訶止觀 T 1911.46.44a12–13, 98b19–20, 涅槃經 T 375.12.661a1〕 [Paul Swanson]
  • Zodokko. A Zen anthology, edited by Fujita Genro 藤田玄路 (1880–1935); first published in 1917 in one volume. The Zudokko consists of pocket-sized handbooks compiled especially to be used in kōan training. Despite its small format, it contains almost all the documents necessary for the Rinzai school 臨濟宗 kōan practice. The title is a metaphor of the potential effect of the Zen teaching on its practitioners, i.e., like a drum smeared with poison, which destroys those who hear it. The first volume of the work contains major kōan collections and several important Chinese and Japanese Zen texts. Among the works included are Kōzen Daitō Kokushi Yuikai 興禪大燈國師遺誡, Wumen guan 無門關, Wubian fengyue song 無邊風月頌, Xuedou baize songgu 雪竇百則頌古, Shūmon kattō shū 宗門葛藤集, Dongshan wuwei pianzheng koujue 洞山五位偏正口訣, Linji lu 臨濟錄, and a short selection from the Kaiankoku go 槐安國語. A sequel to the first volume, by the same editor, was first published in 1922. The second volume contains twenty-four short, but important writings by Chinese and Japanese Zen masters, including Dokugo shingyō 毒語心經, Ten Oxherding Pictures 十牛圖, Changlu Zongzeʼs 長蘆宗賾(n.d.) Zazengi 坐禪儀, Baojing sanmei 寶鏡三昧, and Cantongqi 參同契, among others. At the end of the second volume of the Zudokko is a section entitled simply Kushū 句集 ( 'phrase collection' ). This collection contains 2,397 phrases categorized according to the number of characters and is modeled on the Zenrin kushū 禪林句集. For each case only the Chinese characters are printed; no kanbun margin symbols or Japanese readings are provided; there is no commentary providing citation of source or explanation of meaning. Due to these characteristics, some Zen priests argue that the Zudokko kushū is the best text to use in searching for jakugo 著語, because one confronts the bare kanji without the interference of margin symbols and annotation. However, practitioners often consider the work hard to use for the same reasons (Hori 2005, 191).

    References:

    Hori, Victor Sōgen. 2005. “Zen Kōan Capping Phrase Books: Literary Study and the Insight ‘Not Founded on Words or Letters.”  In Wright, Dale S,  Steven Heine, eds. Zen Classics: Formative Texts in the History of Zen Buddhism. New York:  Oxford University Press. 171–214.

    [Erez Joskovich; source(s): Sasaki, ZGDJT]
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    [Dictionary References]

    Bukkyō jiten (Ui) 612

    Bulgyo sajeon 169a

    Zengaku daijiten (Komazawa U.) 640a

    A Glossary of Zen Terms (Inagaki) 440

    Koga 332

    Zen Dust (Sasaki) 434, 446

    Bukkyōgo daijiten (Nakamura) 802c → 毒天二鼓 1022b , 801c

    Fo Guang Dictionary 5419

    Ding Fubao {Digital Version}

    Bussho kaisetsu daijiten (Ono) ⑥270b/⑥270b*

    Bukkyō daijiten (Oda) 1238-1

    Soothill 398

    Copyright provisions

    The rights to textual segments (nodes) of the DDB are owned by the author indicated in the brackets next to each segment. For rights regarding the compilation as a whole, please contact Charles Muller. Please do not reproduce without permission. And please do not copy into Wikipedia without proper citation!

    Entry created: 2003-01-01

    Updated: 2019-04-29