Ch'an

Chan Buddhism
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese	禅
Traditional Chinese	禪
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Chán Yue: Cantonese Jyutping Sim4 Middle Chinese Middle Chinese Dzyen
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese	Thiền
Korean name
Hangul	선
Hanja	禪
Transcriptions Revised Romanization Seon
Japanese name
Kanji	禅
Transcriptions Romanization Zen
Sanskrit name
Sanskrit	dhyāna

Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Chán
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutping	Sim4
Middle Chinese
Middle Chinese	Dzyen

Transcriptions
Revised Romanization	Seon

Transcriptions
Romanization	Zen

Chan (simplified Chinese: ; traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: Chán; abbr. of Chinese: ; pinyin: chánnà), from Sanskrit dhyāna (meaning "meditation" or "meditative state"), is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism combined with Taoism. It developed in China from the 6th century CE onwards, becoming dominant during the Tang and Song dynasties. After the Yuan, Chan more or less fused with Pure Land Buddhism.

Chan spread south to Vietnam as Thiền and north to Korea as Seon, and, in the 13th century, east to Japan as Zen.

The historical records required for a complete, accurate account of early Chan history no longer exist.

The history of Chan in China can be divided in several periods. Chan as we know it today is the result of a long history, with many changes and contingent factors. Each period had different types of Chan, some of which have remained influential, while others vanished.

Ferguson distinguishes three periods from the fifth century into the thirteenth century:

Although McRae has reservations about the division of Chan's history in phases or periods, he nevertheless distinguishes four phases in the history of Chan:

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Wikipedia