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禪林句集

Pronunciations

Basic Meaning: Zenrin kushū

Senses:

  • Two sections. This work, sometimes conflated with the Kuzōshi 句雙紙, is a collection of five thousand phrases from Buddhist and non-Buddhist scriptures. The phrases were originally compiled by Tōyō Eichō 東陽英朝 (1428–1504) in the Kuzōshi and this was expanded upon and edited by the scholar-monk Ijūshi 已十子 (n. d.) under the present title. The phrases are organized in ascending order from one Chinese syllable to eight syllable phrases. Each phrase is attached with the Japanese reading as well as reference to the original text. This collection was and is still commonly used as an index for composing poems or verses, as part of the kōan 公案 practice in Rinzai 臨濟宗 monasteries.1

    References:

    Hori, Victor Sogen. 2003. Zen Sand: The Book of Capping Phrases for Kōan Practice. Honolulu:  University of Hawai'i.

    Kraft, Kenneth. 1992. Eloquent Zen: Daitō and Early Japanese Zen. Honolulu:  University of Hawai`i Press.

    [Charles Muller, Rebecca Mendelson, Erez Joskovich; source(s): Yokoi, Zengaku daijiten, Bukkyō daijiten]
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    • Notes

    1. Victor Horiʼs introduction to Zen Sand (2003), in which he describes Zenrin kushū and its predecessors at length, gives Eichōʼs birth year as 1426. Ken Kraft, in Eloquent Zen (1992), gives Eichōʼs birth year as 1429.[back]


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    [Dictionary References]

    Zengaku daijiten (Komazawa U.) 708d

    Japanese-English Zen Buddhist Dictionary (Yokoi) 844

    Zen Dust (Sasaki) 446

    Bussho kaisetsu daijiten (Ono) ⑥409b/⑫492b

    Bukkyō daijiten (Mochizuki) (v.1-6)679a

    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: 2012-01-22

    Updated: 2016-02-07