Xuedou=雪竇; Recorded Sayings=語錄; Encounter Dialogues=機緣語句; Remarks on Old Cases=拈古; Verses on Old=頌古
摘要
This article examines Chan Master Xuedou Chongxian’s 雪竇重顯 (980–1052) earliest work, the Record of Master Xuedou at Dongting (Xuedou heshang zhu dongting yulu 雪竇和尚住洞庭語錄), paying particular attention to a section regarding “remarks on old cases” (niangu拈古). Xuedou’s fame in Chan history for commenting on old cases is due to one of his later works, Verses on a Hundred Old Cases (Xuedou xianheshang mingjue dashi songgu ji 雪竇顯和尚明覺大師頌古集). Commenting on old cases is an important stage in the development of Chan literature, falling between the early encounter dialogues and the complicated genre exemplified by the Emerald Cliff Record (Biyan lu 碧巖錄). Scholarship on this intermediate genre, however, is limited. The present article analyzes the section in the Record of Master Xuedou at Dongting entitled “Remarks on Old Cases” with the goal of elucidating the manner in which this type of teaching method was used in Xuedou’s early career.
