Baofu Congzhan
Baofu Congzhan
Unknown – 928
Baofu Congzhan (保福從展, d. 928) was a Dharma heir of Xuefeng Yicun who taught at Baofu Temple in modern Fujian and is paired in the lamp records most often with his fellow-student Changqing Huileng[1]. The two are the most frequently cited interlocutors in the Xuefeng-community dialogues that the *Bìyán Lù* and the *Cóngróng Lù* select as case material — a body of exchanges that, in McRae's reading, helped fix the genre of the "encounter dialogue" itself as the canonical literary form of Song-period Chan[2].
The often-cited "Wondrous Mountain Peak" exchange (*Bìyán Lù* Case 23) — Baofu and Changqing walking together; Baofu points and says "this very spot is the peak of the Wondrous Mountain"; Changqing answers, "It is so, but what a pity" — is read by Yuanwu Keqin's commentary as a model of two awakened practitioners testing each other rather than competing[3]. Baofu's recorded sayings are otherwise sparse, but his pairing with Changqing made him an enduring fixture of Song-period koan literature.
Names
Teachers and lineage of Baofu Congzhan
Teacher / root master:
Teachings
- dialogueCuiyan's Eyebrows
At the end of the summer retreat, Cuiyan said to the assembly: "All summer I have been talking for your benefit. Look—are Cuiyan's eyebrows still there?" Baofu said to Changqing, "The one who steals feels his heart beat fast." Changqing said, "They are growing." Yunmen said, "The barrier!" Later Baofu said: "People ask whether the eyebrows grew or fell out. The real question is: who is looking?"
A monk asked Baofu, "What is the Great Way?" Baofu said, "It is right before your eyes." The monk said, "Why can't I see it?" Baofu said, "Because you have a self, you cannot see it." The monk asked, "Can a person who has no self see it?" Baofu said, "There is no such person to ask."
Other masters in Qingyuan line
Master Record Sources
d. 928
Baofu Congzhan
Qingyuan line
- koan_refsChart of the Chan Ancestors
8,22,23,95 71,
- nameZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
Baofu Congzhan
- teachersZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
Xuefeng Yicun