This article tries to put Zen of Hua Tou (in the name of point beyond which speech exhausts itself) Zen of Mo Zhao (in the name of silent illumination), Zen of Wen Zi (in the name of texts) and Zen of Nian Fo (in the name of the repetition of the name of Amitabha ) back on the context of Song dynasty Zen culture. Taking above practices as the center ofexamining the movement of the history of Song dynasty Zen thought, and the thought movement of DaHui ZongGao 大慧宗杲、HongZhi ZhengJue 宏智正覺、HuiHong Jue Fan 惠洪覺範 within social cultural context. It would provide a different understanding to history of Zen thought.
Meanwhile, Song dynasty is the key period of changing from Zen of farm to Zen of WenZi. Then the records of transmission of the lamp, odes and remarks on Old Case flourished , “Ching-Te Chuan-Teng Lu”《景德傳燈錄》and Bi Yan Lu《碧嚴錄》became the most important way to understand Zen.
Zen of Song dynasty also communicated with another country, and have an impact on Japan, Goryeo and Vietnam. In the history of Zen thought movement, Song dynasty plats the key point in the genre of writing and transmission of koan.
