唐宋變革=Tang-Song transformation; 不立文字=not establishing the written word; 宋代禪宗=Chan Buddhist tradition in the Song dynasty; 棒喝=sticks and shouting; 文字禪=written Chan; bu li wenzi不立文字
In the middle of the 10^(th) century, a large number of Chinese Buddhist texts were lost due to war and conflict. After entering the Song dynasty-a time when literary education was highly emphasized-Chan Buddhist tradition, which had generally disregarded written texts, made significant progress on both a material and ideological level. Owing to shifts in social conditions, one of the central teachings of ＂not establishing the written word＂ 不立文字merely became a written slogan within literary works. The profound and esoteric theories of Chan Buddhists were recorded in these texts, changing the dissemination of Chan away from oral memory towards the written word. Presently, research on Chan tradition during the Song dynasty is primarily based on recorded sayings, verses, and poems to examine the lives and thoughts of Chan masters. However, the highly developed literary nature of Chan cannot be regarded as the fundamental answer to the ＂verification of Chan through poems＂ 以詩證禪. It should instead be noted that a new paradigm had been established under specific social contexts, and the written form of Chan teachings is as important as its past orality and workings, thereby altering the historical memory of Chan tradition. Regarding these issues, a further discussion concerning the ＂literary imagination＂ of Chan Buddhism in the Song dynasty is thus needed.
