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PREFACE

            By the “Golden Age of Zen” I mean the Zen as ex­perienced and taught by the great Zen Masters of the T’ang period (618-906). Although the School of Zen had its origins in the sixth century with the coming of Bodhidharma, its solid foundations were actually laid by Hui-neng in the seventh century. The whole movement flowered forth magnif­icently in the hands of such vigorous spirits as Ma-tsu, Shih- t’ou, Nan-ch’uan, Pai-chang, Huang-po and Chao-chou. In the ninth century, it began to ramify into different branches. Inevitably the sap of Zen ran thin in the course of the suc­ceeding generations, but with the founders of the “houses” there is still no sign of abatement of the original vigor.

           In the epilogue I have drawn mainly upon the Zen literature after T’ang. Those little sparks of Zen will serve to indicate, that although the School of Zen has long since passed its zenith, the spirit of Zen never dies.

          Father Thomas Merton’s Introduction to this book presents an illuminating picture of the nature of Zen Here as in his other writings he goes to the bottom of things, and he finds that at bottom Humanity is one, and one with its Divine Source. I suggest that the reader should first study his introduction before he proceeds to take up the body of the book. In a real sense this book may be regard­ed as a long foot-note to the profound insights embodied in his introduction.

       I am grateful to Father Merton not only for the inval­uable introduction he has contributed, but even more for his generous cooperation in the making of the book itself. There is no telling how much the friendship of this true man has meant to me during all these lonely years of my life.

        The story of my friendship with the late Daisetz Suzuki is told in the appendix to this book. It is touching to think that he spent a great part of his last months perusing and enjoying the. manuscript of this book.

       Finally, this book would not have seen the light so soon were it not for the encouragement of my friend Dr. Chang Chi-yun, the founder and the head of the College of Chinese Culture. He is a humanist in the full sense of the word, for to him nothing human is alien. At his request I had the pleasure of offering a special seminar on Zen Buddhism at his college, and I have not only enjoyed but profited by the class discussions. I had taught the same subject at the Seton Hall University. It is delightful to compare the reac­tions from students of enrirely different backgrounds and to find that ultimately the diversity of views points up the selfsame mysterious Whole.

         In this book I have used “Zen” and “Ch’an” inter­changeably. With this exception, I have followed the Wade- Giles system of romanizing the Chinese words.

John C. H. Wu

(Wu Ghing-hsiung)

Taipei, Taiwan, China

August 22, 1967

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION

             The first edition of this book, published in 1967, has been out of print for some time. I am, therefore, happy to accede to the earnest request of United Publishing Center to publish the present edition m order to answer the growing demands for the book. As the first edition is fraught with misprints, I have taken this occasion for correcting all the mis­takes to the best of my ability. In this I am indebted to the kind cooperation of my friends Dr. Wei Tat and Mr. Liu Chih-hsiang.

          The reader will be interested to know that a Chinese translation of this book was made by the able hands of Dr. Wu Yi and published by the Taiwan Commercial Press in 1969. This excellent translation has since passed through five editions. I am deeply consoled to learn that the message of this book is so well received among the younger generation of Chinese intellectuals.

         Finally, let me offer this edition to the blessed memory of Thomas Merton, one of my dearest friends.

August 4, 1975                                                              John C. H. Wu

91 Yang Ming Road,

Yangmingshan, Taipei,

Taiwan, Republic of China.

CONTENTS

Prefact……………………i

Introduction: A CHRISTIAN LOOKS AT ZEN By Thomas Merton

Chapter I. ZEN: ITS ORIGIN AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE

Chapter II. BODHIDHARMA AND HIS IMMEDIATE SUCCESSORS

Chapter III. HUI-NENG THE SIXTH PATRIARCH

Chapter IV. HUI-NENG’S FUNDAMENTAL INSIGHTS

Chapter V. MA-TSU TAO-I

Chapter VI. PAI-CHANG AND HUANG-PO

Chapter VII. CHAO-CHOU TS’UNG-SHEN

Chapter VIII. OUTSTANDING MASTERS IN THE LINEAGE OF SHIH-T’OU

Chapter IX. KUEI-SHAN LING-YU: FOUNDER OF THE KUEI-YANG HOUSE

Chapter X. TUNG-SHAN LIANG-CHIEH: FOUNDER OF THE T’SAO-TUNG HOUSE

Chapter XI. UN-CHI I-HSUAN: FOUNDER OF THE UN-CHI HOUSE

Chapter XII. YUN-MEN WEN-YEN: FOUNDER OF THE YON-MEN HOUSE

Chapter XIII. FA-YEN WEN-I: FOUNDER OF THE FA-YEN HOUSE

Chapter XIV. EPILOGUE: LITTLE SPARKS OF ZEN

Notes

Index

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