Caodong school

A Chinese Chan Buddhist school that emerged in the ninth century and became the source of the Japanese Sōtō Zen lineage.

Dongshan Liangjie: A ninth-century Chinese Chan master traditionally regarded as the founder of the Caodong school. His teachings and lineage established the school’s identity.
Shikantaza: A form of seated meditation in Sōtō Zen in which practitioners sit without focusing on a particular object or goal. It is a central Japanese development of Caodong meditation practice.
Eihei Dōgen: A Japanese Buddhist teacher who established the Sōtō school in Japan after studying in China. He brought Caodong-derived practice and teachings into a distinct Japanese tradition.
Linji school: A Chinese Chan lineage known for forceful teaching methods and the use of striking encounters and shouts. It became Caodong’s principal rival lineage in Song-era Chan.
Caoshan Benji: A Chan master and successor of Dongshan Liangjie associated with the early Caodong lineage. His name supplies the second syllable in the school’s Chinese name.
Silent illumination: A Chan meditation approach joining stillness with clear awareness, associated with the Caodong tradition. It names a practice ideal closely linked to Caodong.
Rujing: A Chinese Caodong Chan master remembered as Eihei Dōgen’s teacher at Tiantong Monastery. Dōgen’s training under him shaped the Japanese transmission of Caodong.
Yunmen school: A Chinese Chan lineage founded by Yunmen Wenyan and known for terse, distinctive teaching expressions. It represents another major Chan lineage alongside Caodong.
Five Ranks: A framework describing five aspects of the relation between absolute and relative reality in Caodong teaching. This teaching became one of the school’s distinctive formulations.
Huatou: A Chan meditation method that concentrates on a critical phrase from a kōan to generate inquiry. Its focused inquiry contrasts with Caodong’s emphasis on silent illumination.

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