The Yunmen School (雲門宗) is a lineage of the Chinese Chan School. In 923, the Chan master Wenyan (文偃) (864-949) founded the Guangtai Chanyuan (光泰禪院) on Yunmenshan (雲門山) in Shaozhou (韶州), Guangdong (廣東), therefore his lineage is called Yunmen School. “Yunmen’s three phrases” (雲門三句) and “one word Chan” (一字禪) epitomize the school’s unconventional teaching methods that aimed at overcoming discursive thought and lead to sudden insight. During the Five Dynasties (五代) and Northern Song (北宋) period, Yunmen School flourished, but declined during the Southern Song Dynasty, eventually disappearing after the Yuan Dynasty (元代). During the Song Dynasty, the Huayan School still exerted its influence on Buddhist study and practice. On the one hand, there were erudite monks who specialized in the study of Huayan (華嚴) thought. On the other hand, monks belonging to the Chan School also emphasized the study of Huayan. Therefore, a number of Chan monks relied on the Huayan teachings when they expounded their method of Chan practice. A number of Yunmen masters were influenced by Huayan teachings to a considerable degree, and they absorbed numerous concepts from the Huayan School. This study only discusses the combining and blending of Chan teachings and Huayan thought as manifest in the writings and records of the Yunmen masters Guangzuo (光祚) (? -1031), Chenggu (承古) (970-1045), Chongxian (重顯) (980-1052), Yiyu (倚遇) (1005-1081), Qisong (契嵩) (1007-1072), Zongben (宗本) (1021-1100), Zongze(宗賾) (?-1106), Weibai (惟白) (dates unknown), Huaishen (懷深) (1077-1132), and Fantian Yanqi (彥琪) (dates unknown).
