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風顚

Pronunciations

Basic Meaning: eccentricity

Senses:

  • Eccentricity, especially in the behavior of Chan teachers. In Chan literature this refers especially to the behavior of certain teachers displaying an eccentric 'upside-down' attitude, which actually discloses the depth of their insight. See, for example, the dialogue between Layman Pang 龐居士 and Puji 普濟, where Puji finally calls Pang a 'lunatic' (fengdian han 風顚漢) in a mix of praise and irony (Sasaki translation 57–58; Z 120. 57b12–b16). In this compound, the character for 'wind'  風 indicates the common practices, the customs, or the norms of a particular society. Someone who exhibits this 'eccentricity' is thus challenging the established order or common sense. To educated readers, this 'inversion' surely suggested a subtle antithesis to the Buddhist idea of cognitive distortion 顚倒. In his Zenshisō: sono genkei o arau, Yanagida Seizan dedicated a chapter to discussing this important theme. He links this concept to the similar expression for feigned craziness 佯狂. In modern Chinese, the homonymic expression fēngdiān 瘋癲 simply refers to someone insane or mad.

    Reference

    Yanagida, Seizan. 1975. Zenshisō: sono genkei wo arau 禪思想:その原型をあ らう (Zen Thought: An Examination of Its Original Form). Tokyo:  Chūō kōron.

    [Michel Mohr]
  • Fengdian (d.u.). A monk who lived during the beginning of the Qing 淸 period. Originally from Shanxi 陝西, his secular family name was Li 李. Married at 14, at the age of 18 he suddenly became deeply aware of the transient and painful nature existence, becoming a monk at Xishansi 西山寺. After arduous training, he attained enlightenment. He left behind many teaching records. [Charles Muller; source(s): FGD]
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    [Dictionary References]

    Fo Guang Dictionary 3995

    Ding Fubao {Digital Version}

    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: 2013-02-05

    Updated: 2013-12-04