Baofeng Kewen

Baofeng Kewen (宝峰克文, also Zhenjing Kewen, 1025–1102) was a Chinese Chan master of the Huanglong branch of the Linji school, one of the most prominent dharma heirs of the great Song teacher Huanglong Huinan^[1]. Born in Shanfu, in present-day Henan province, he received novice ordination in his youth and traveled south to study Chan under a succession of teachers, finally receiving dharma transmission in the Huanglong line. He served as abbot of Baofeng Monastery (宝峰寺) on Mount Shimen in northern Jiangxi, from which his most common honorific derives, and later at other major monastic centers^[2].

Kewen was celebrated in Song dynasty Chan circles for his role in transmitting the Huanglong style of encounter dialogue and koan-like exchange that characterized this branch of the Linji school. His dharma heirs carried the Huanglong teaching into the next generation during the period when this branch was most active in the northern Song court. He was also known by the posthumous title Zhenjing Chan Master (真净禅师), by which he appears in lamp records of the period. Dahui Zonggao, who studied with Kewen's teacher's lineage and eventually transformed Song dynasty Chan, acknowledged the significance of masters in this network as formative for his own development^[1][2].