Tanka Shijun

Biography

Tanka Shijun (Danxia Zichun in Chinese) was born in 1064 in Zitong, in present-day Sichuan province, during the Northern Song dynasty. He became a student of the famous master Fuyō Dōkai (Furong Daokai, 1043–1118), the 46th patriarch, from whom he received the transmission of the dharma. He later settled at Danxia Monastery (丹霞寺, "Purple Cloud"), from which he derived his Dharma name: Tanka Shijun means "Master Zichun of Danxia."

Although he himself remained discreet in history, his three major disciples — Chōro Seiryō (Zhenxie Qingliao, 長蘆清了), Wanshi Shōgaku (Hongzhi Zhengjue, 宏智正覺), and Huizhao Qingyu — each became extremely famous masters of their time. It was through Chōro Seiryō, the 48th patriarch, that the patriarchal lineage was perpetuated.

Tanka Shijun passed away in 1117, at the age of 53. He is buried south of Mount Hong, near present-day Wuhan.

Teachings: Silent Illumination

Tanka Shijun is one of the main representatives of the Silent Illumination (mokushō zen, 黙照禅) current, which would later be systematized by his disciple Wanshi Shōgaku. This approach, inherited from Fuyō Dōkai and the Caodong tradition, emphasizes silent sitting as the direct realization of awakening, in contrast to the kōan practice favored by the Rinzai school.

This radical instruction summarizes the essence of his practice: to abandon all mental grasping, all attachment to the world, in order to “die” to oneself — and in that death, to find the source of all life.

The practice of “dry wood”

The image of the “hall of dry wood” (枯木堂, kokodō) frequently appears in the texts of the Caodong school of that era. It designates a state of complete inner emptiness — a mind emptied of all agitation, all seeking, all expectation. It is in this state, paradoxically, that “all things of the universe” are established: Silent Illumination does not lead to nihilism, but to the fullness of non-dual experience.

Works

Tanka Shijun is the only disciple of Fuyō Dōkai whose collection of sayings has come down to us intact. The Collection of the Discourses of Danxia Zichun (丹霞子淳語錄) is a precious source for understanding the practice and teaching of the Caodong branch in the 11th century, just before the great revival of the Sōtō school.

The collection notably contains:

• Sermons and instructions to the assembly
• Poems and gāthās expressing the experience of Silent Illumination
• Dialogues with his disciples, including the future great masters
• Commentaries on the teachings of ancient masters

Legacy and Posterity

Tanka Shijun's influence is twofold. On one hand, he is the direct link in the Sōtō patriarchal lineage through his disciple Chōro Seiryō (48th patriarch), who transmitted to Tendō Sōkaku, Set-chō Chikan, Tendō Nyojō, and finally Dōgen. Without Tanka Shijun, the patriarchal lineage might have been interrupted.

On the other hand, his doctrinal legacy is immense through the intermediary of Wanshi Shōgaku (Hongzhi Zhengjue, 1091–1157), who is not the direct patriarch of the main lineage (that role is occupied by Chōro Seiryō) but who is the author of the Mokushō Meikō (黙照銘, “Inscription of Silent Illumination”), one of the foundational texts of Sōtō Zen. It was Wanshi Shōgaku who systematized and disseminated the teaching of Silent Illumination, relying on the instructions of his master Tanka Shijun.

In the Sōtō lineage, Tanka Shijun is the 47th patriarch, between Fuyō Dōkai (46th) and Chōro Seiryō (48th).

Sources

• Wikipedia — Danxia Zichun
• Andy Ferguson, Zen's Chinese Heritage: The Masters and Their Teachings, Wisdom Publications, 2011
• Morten Schlütter, How Zen Became Zen: The Dispute Over Enlightenment and the Formation of Chan Buddhism in Song-Dynasty China, University of Hawaii Press, 2010
• Wanshi Shōgaku, Mokushō Meikō (Inscription of Silent Illumination)
• Danxia Zichun Yulu (丹霞子淳語錄) — Collection of the Discourses of Danxia Zichun