Qingyuan Xingsi

Qingyuan Xingsi
School	Chán
Personal
Born	660 Jiangxi, China
Died	740
Senior posting
Title	Chán master
Predecessor	Dajian Huineng
Successor	Shitou Xiqian
Religious career
Teacher	Dajian Huineng
Students	Shitou Xiqian

Qingyuan Xingsi (Chinese: 青原行思; pinyin: Qīngyuán Xíngsī; Japanese: Seigen Gyōshi; Korean: Chǒngwǒn Haengsa; Vietnamese: Thanh Nguyên Hành Tư) was a Zen Buddhist monk during the Tang Dynasty. Three of the five traditionally recognized houses of Zen are commonly believed to have developed out of his lineage: the Caodong/Sōtō, Yunmen/Unmon, and Fayan/Hōgen. There is scant information about his life. He is said to have lived in the Quiet Abode Temple on Mount Qingyuan. The Transmission of the Lamp claims he was Huineng's foremost student, although this was written during the Song Dynasty over 200 years after Qingyuan's death. The earliest source of information about Qingyuan comes from the Zutang ji (Patriarch's Hall Record), which was completed in 952 by Wendeng. The scholar Albert Welter suggests that Wendeng may have invented Qingyuan in order to legitimize Shitou Xiqian, Qingyuan's supposed student, and in turn himself since he was descended from Shitou. Shitou's original teacher, Huineng, died when Shitou was only 13, so Qingyuan was necessary for him to receive legitimate dharma transmission.

As with most Tang Dynasty Zen monks, there are many vivid stories about Qingyuan's encounters with students and other teachers. They are almost certainly not historical events, however. The Transmission of the Lamp, for example, recounts the following:

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