Now, to clearly understand the great ideas of the [Chan] patriarchs and the buddhas and the correct axiom of the sutras and treatises, I will pare down the complicated texts, seek out just their essential purports, set up imaginary questions and answers, and widely quote proofs and clarifications [from the sutras and treatises]. I will raise the one mind as the axiom 擧一心爲宗 and illuminate the ten thousand dharmas as if in a mirror 照萬法如鏡] I will arrange the profound meanings of the ancient [literary] productions and scoop up an abridgement of the perfect explanations of the treasure storehouse. Displaying all of this in common, I will call it a record 錄 and divide it into one-hundred rolls. 〔宗鏡錄 T 2016.48.417a19〕

Yanshou in his Zongjing lu does not identify with a particular Chan house of his day, presenting himself as a follower of Bodhidharma Chan 達磨禪 as a whole. In spite of this he is usually pictured in modern scholarship as the third patriarch of the Fayan 法眼 house. Yanshouʼs actual role in Chan was as the conservator of the legacy of Chan inclusiveness found in Zongmiʼs Chan Prolegomenon. The Zongjing lu continues the Chan Prolegomenonʼs fundamental orientation and methodology: assuming that Chan is identical to the teachings embedded in canonical word and that the teachings serve as standards/precedents legitimizing Chan; championing Bodhidharma Chan as a whole; paring down voluminous sources to their essence, and so forth. Yanshouʼs compendium, which contains numerous chunks of quotations, paraphrases, and terminological borrowings from the Zongmiʼs Chan Prolegomenon, has a tripartite structure:

1. Designating-the-Axiom Section 標宗章 (the first half of fascicle 1);
2. Questions-and-Answers Section 問答章 (from midpoint in fascicle 1 through fascicle 93); and
3. Quotations-to-Authenticate Section 引證章 (from fascicle 94 through fascicle 100)

Speaking meticulously, the [Chan] patriarchs designate the principles of Chan 禪理, transmitting the correct axiom 正宗 of silent coinciding, and the buddhas extend the gate of the teachings 教門, setting up the great purport of the explanations. As a consequence, what the former worthies received in transmission the junior trainees have as a refuge. Therefore, I first lay out the Designating-the-Axiom Section. Because of doubts there are questions. To resolve the doubts there are answers. Because of questions, feelings of doubt can come into the open. Because of answers, excellent understanding arises from a latent state. This means that this perfect axiom [of 心/一心/眞心] is difficult to believe in and difficult to understand. It is the number-one formulation, prepared for [beings of] the highest disposition. If we do not provisionally set up verbal explanations, there is no way to wash away the grasping of feelings. Because of the finger [pointing at the moon], one apprehends the moon. It is not a gate without teaching devices. One gets the rabbit and forgets the net. It is spontaneous union with the path of the heavenly real. Next I set up the Questions-and-Answers Section. Merely because the times are of the end period [i.e., the end time of the Dharma], one seldom encounters [a being of] great disposition and [instead] gazes upon the inferiority of shallow minds, floating faculties, and tiny knowledge. Even though knowing the axiom purport is truly a refuge, questions and answers resolve doubts and gradually eliminate the obstructions of confusion. Wishing to solidify faith power, I must borrow testimonials. So I will widely quote the sincere words of the [Chan] patriarchs and buddhas that secretly coincide with the great path of perfection and constancy. Everywhere I will pluck the essential purports of the sutras and treatises, so as to perfectly complete the true mind of resolution. Lastly, I arrange the Quotations-to-Authenticate Section. Taking these three sections to join together into a single outlook, they search out, collect, cover, and embrace everything about the profound. (T 2016.417b5ff)

A portion of the Zongjing lu is invaluable as a repository of quotations from the manuscript Chan literature of the Tang circulating in Yanshouʼs day, just before the great editing and printing process took hold in the Chan centers of the Hangzhou and Fuzhou areas. This material is found in fascicles 94 to 100. At the beginning of that section Yanshou states:

Now, I will for the sake of those whose faith power is not yet deep and whose minute doubts are not yet severed further quote one hundred twenty Mahāyāna sūtras, one hundred twenty books of the sayings of the [Chan] patriarchs [諸祖語一百二十本], and sixty collections of the worthies and noble ones, altogether the subtle words of three hundred books. (T 2016.924a14-16)

It is likely that a number of these one hundred twenty books of Chan sayings have been lost, leaving us with only Yanshouʼs quotations. Fascicles 97 and 98 (T 2016.937c1–947b6) consist of a large block of these Chan sayings: a verse from each of the twenty-eight Indian patriarchs; a quotation from Bodhidharmataraʼs 菩提達磨多羅 Dharma Gate of Quieting Mind 安心法門; sayings for the second through sixth patriarchs of China (the Sixth Patriarch being the Great Master Huineng); sayings for the Great Master [Huai]rang and the Great Master [Hongzhou] Ma; and finally a very long set of Chan sayings, the order of which appears to be jumbled, coming from various periods and lineages. Some precious material is buried here—for instance, a famous Linji saying in a more primitive (less rhetorical) form than that found in the Record of Linji 臨濟錄 as it comes down to us in its 1120 Fuzhou edition. During the Yuanfeng era (1078–1085) of the Northern Song, a woodblock-printed edition of the Zongjing lu was carried out and distributed to various monasteries. Another edition was executed during the Yuanyou era (1086–1093) at the Song capital Kaifeng, and before long Yanshouʼs collection was included in the Song Canon. Many xylograph copies of the Zongjing lu circulated during the Song, and many compilations of extracts and catalogues of it were published. The range of its influence was exceptionally broad, extending to Buddhism as a whole and even to non-Buddhist Song learning. It had great influence in Goryeo Korea and in the Five Mountains Zen of Ashikaga Japan (though neglected since then in Japan where Yanshou has been dubbed a 'syncretist' ).

[Chinese Buddhist Canonical Attributions Database]