From late Ming to early Qing dynasty, Hanshan poetry was broadly disseminated in Chan Buddhism. This paper researches Renshan Jizhen’s (仁山寂震, 1631-1697) “Expanded Hanshan Poetry” (Guang-Hanshan-Shih 廣寒山詩) and explores his clarification on Sanfeng lineage’s thought in it as well as his attitude towards monk’s poems. “Expanded Hanshan Poetry” was written at Chuanshang of Tiantai (天台川上) in 1691 and compiled in Renshan Jizhen’s latest discovered work Rensou-Chanshih-Huading-Bieji (仁叟禪師華頂別集). Unlike other Linji masters at the same time such as Shihshu-Jiyue (石樹濟岳) and Fuhuei-Yezhu (福慧野竹, 1623-?), who imitated Hanshan poetry, Renshan Jizhen tried to expand one original eight-line Hanshan poem to eight new poems by using each line of the original as the first line of new ones. Thus, he clarified Chan practices, including directly pointing to a person’s mind, beating-and-shouting, Hua-Tou (話頭), sitting meditation, principles of Chan, scripture-teaching, etc. Throug “Expanded Hanshan Poetry”, Renshan Jizhen manifested Sanfeng Lineage’s thought of transmitting both the Buddha mind and the Dharma based on Prajna. Furthermore, he clearly expressP90ed that a poet-monk should use poems as a tool of transmitting the Dharma.
Keywords:
Qing dynasty Chan Buddhism, poet-monk, Renshan Jizhen, Expanded Hanshan Poetry, Sanfeng Lineage of Linji School