Yunmen Wenyan

Who was Yunmen Wenyan?

Yúnmén Wényǎn, was a major Chinese Zen master in Tang-era China. He was a dharma-heir of Xuefeng Yicun

Yunmen founded the Yunmen school, one of the five major schools of Chán. The name is derived from Yunmen monastery of Shaozhou where Yunmen was abbot. The Yunmen school flourished into the early Song Dynasty, with particular influence on the upper classes, and eventually culminating in the compilation and writing of the Blue Cliff Record.

The school would eventually be absorbed by the Rinzai school later in the Song. The lineage still lives on to this day through Chan Master Hsu Yun.

Famous Quotes:

• Every day is a good day.
• ... Why should I speak of the dust on the track that is worn by the wheel?
• Men of immeasurable greatness are tossed about in the ebb and flow of words.