This paper examines the characteristics of Huayen thought in the Chan method of Caodong monks during the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties. The Caodong lineage of the Chinese Chan school takes its name from a combination of the abbreviated names of its two founders, Dongshan Liangjie (807-869) and Caoshan Benji (840-901), and it belongs to the Southern Chan lineage beginning with Qingyuan Xingsi, which was transmitted through Shitou Xiqian to Yaoshan Weiyan and Yunyan Tansheng, and eventually to Liangjie. Liangjie's disciple Benji continued and further developed the Chan style of his master. The Caodong school teaches the identity of phenomena and reality, i.e. the relative and absolute aspects of reality, which is expressed in terms of the relationship of the "bent" (the relative) and the "straight" (the absolute). This Caodong thought originated in the Huayen school's concept of "complete harmony of absolute and relative". The sources on Caodong-Huayen during the late Ming and early Qing period are scarce, therefore this paper will only discuss the relevant thought in the works of the following monks: Yuancheng (1561-1626), who taught the method of "one mind"; Huijing (1548-1618), whose thought is related to the Huayen concept of the interpenetration of one and the multitude; Yuanlai (1575-1630), who emphasized the interpenetration and harmony of mind and objects, absolute and relative; Yuanxian (1578-1657), who also taught the harmony of absolute and relative; and finally Daopei (1615-1688), who adopted Huayen concepts like "one single hair contains the whole universe". The analysis of the thought of these monks shows that Huayen thought actually was a characteristic of the Caodong method during this period.
