The Record of Linji (臨済録) documents the words and deeds of Linji Yixuan 臨済義玄, a Chan master of the late Tang dynasty. The book consists of four parts: “Shang Tang (上堂)”, “Shi Zhong (示衆)”, “Kan Ban (勘弁)”, and “Xing Lu (行録)”. However, there are some questions regarding its formation, and further in-depth investigations are needed. This paper uses the “Four Distinctions” 四料簡 in The Record of Linji to examine its formation, and finds it highly probable that Master Kefu (克符), one of Linji’s disciples, created the “Four Distinctions ”. Since then, Chan monks of the Linji School have adopted the “Four Distinctions” as their main tenet of Linji thought, demonstrating their common focus. Under such an influence, Yuanjue Zongyan (円覚宗演) of the Northern Song Dynasty republished The Record of Linji and placed the “Four Distinctions” at the beginning of its main part “Shi Zhong,” as an indication of its status as an important summary of Linji’s dharma teachings. Consequently, this led to differences between the layouts of the two existing systematic editions of The Record of Linji. Subsequently, Yuanjue’s edition was included in the revised and extended edition of two similarly named works, The Record of Venerable Ancient Masters (続開古尊宿語要, 1238) and The Record of Venerable Ancient Masters (古尊宿語録, 1267), and later was independently published until the commonly circulating edition of the Edo Period appeared in the 18th century.
