The Yangqi lineage is a sub-lineage which belongs to Linji school. Yangqi lineage was then passed down to Huqiu Sect which once again was passed down to the fifth generation of the two Sects. One is Songyuan Chongyue(AD.1132-1202) who is the founder of Songyuan Sect, however his “A Study of Huayan Thought in the Chan Teachings of the Songyuan Branch of the Yangqi Lineage of the Linji School” has been published in Yuan Kuang Journal of Buddhist Studies, volume 25th. The other one is Po’an Zuxian(AD.1136-1211), which “A Study of Huayan Thought in the Chan Teachings of the Po’an branch of the Yangqi Lineage of the Linji School” will be continued to elaborate furthermore. 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 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. The masters of the Po’an branch of the Yangqi lineage were influenced by Huayan teachings to a considerable degree, and they absorbed numerous concepts from the Huayan school. Since not all of the masters of this branch were influenced by Huayan thought, this study only discusses the combining and blending of Chan teachings and Huayan thought as manifest in the writings and records of the Po’an branch masters Shifan (AD.1177-1249), Puning (AD.1197-1276), Bianyuan (AD.1202-1280), Zuqin (AD.1218-1287), Zuyuan (AD.1226-1286), Shaotan (AD.?-1298), Yuanmiao (AD.1238-1295), Mingben (AD.1263-1323),Weize (AD.?-1354), Yuanchang (AD.1284-1357), Yuanwu (AD.1566-1642), Fazang (AD.1573-1635), Longqi (AD.1592-1673), Tongrong (AD.1593-1661), Daomin (AD.1596-1674), and Haiming (AD.1597-1666), in order to explain the Huayan characteristics of their Chan teachings.
