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144 ChaPteR 7 Silent Illumination and the Caodong Tradition in the previous chapter, i argued that dahui meant to target the entire new Caodong tradition of the twelfth century, including hongzhi Zhengjue , with his attacks on silent illumination. there are also strong indications that before dahui, Zhenjing Kewen, too, criticized the teachings of the new Caodong tradition, and Yuanwu Keqin and others may have done so as well. But a remaining important issue is whether the revived Caodong tradition did in fact teach something that might reasonably be called “silent illumination ” and whether dahui and other critics depicted its teachings accurately. in this chapter, i shall discuss the teachings of hongzhi, Qingliao, and the other Caodong masters in their generation, arguing that the members of the Caodong tradition contemporary to dahui did in fact teach an approach to Chan practice that is recognizable in dahui’s criticism of silent illumination, though dahui distorts it. i shall then trace the Caodong silent illumination teachings back to their origin. Finally, i will seek to show that the silent illumination teachings of the Caodong tradition in themselves were quite orthodox and that many other Chan masters, even in the twelfth century, were expounding similar teachings. What made the Caodong teachings unique was their emphasis and style rather than their content. there is little doubt that the new Caodong tradition was able to succeed partly because its teachings of silent illumination appealed to members of the literati. the revived (or rather reinvented) Caodong tradition was able to tap into an increased interest in Buddhist practice among the educated elite and attract a number of literati with its silent illumination teachings. this must have been perceived as very disruptive by the other, longerestablished traditions of Chan, especially the dominant Linji tradition, and i will argue that it stimulated dahui’s attacks on the Caodong teachings as well as his development of kanhua Chan.1 Hongzhi and Silent Illumination hongzhi Zhengjue’s extant recorded sayings and writings are far more extensive than those of any other Caodong figure, and a fairly complete picture of his teachings can therefore be formed. We are especially fortunate Silent illumination and the Caodong tradition 145 in that a Song edition of hongzhi’s recorded sayings has been preserved in Japan. this edition contains several prefaces and postscripts that suggest that much of the material in the Song edition was first published in hongzhi ’s own lifetime, and these help to establish a chronology of his writings and sermons.2 the Song edition was ultimately the basis for the edition of hongzhi’s recorded sayings included in the modern taishō canon; however , the material has been completely rearranged in it, some material is missing, and a number of characters are misprinted.3 Research on hongzhi ’s thought must therefore be based on the Song edition; since it is not readily available, however, i shall refer to both editions in the discussion that follows. hongzhi’s thought and particular style, as we can access them through the Hongzhi lu, seem to have been very consistent throughout his career, and i will therefore treat his teachings as an integrated whole in the following analysis. the most famous text associated with silent illumination is hongzhi’s long poem, the “mozhao ming.” this poem contains the only instance in all of Caodong literature in which the term “silent illumination” is prominently used. the “mozhao ming” has been understood as a kind of manifesto of Caodong silent illumination, for in it hongzhi, in characteristic lyrical fashion, seems to set down his position on meditation and enlightenment. in the past, scholars have considered the “mozhao ming” to be hongzhi’s answer to dahui’s criticism of silent illumination,4 and in the taishō edition of hongzhi’s recorded sayings, the “mozhao ming” is placed toward the end.5 in the Song edition, however, the “mozhao ming” appears in the first section, which contains material from the earliest part of hongzhi’s career and has a preface dated 1131.6 the editors of the Song edition, at least, must have thought of the poem as belonging to hongzhi’s early period, before dahui began his attacks on silent illumination in 1134. the “mozhao ming” is translated below (leaving out several stanzas in the middle):7 1 in complete silence words are forgotten, total clarity appears before you. When you reflect it, it is boundlessly vast, and your body becomes numinous. 2 numinous it is illuminated without relying on...

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