Chuzan Ryoun
Chuzan Ryoun
1350 – 1432
Chuzan Ryoun (1350–1432) was a Sōtō master of the late-Nanbokuchō and early-Muromachi period, receiving Dharma transmission from Keigan Eisho and passing it to Gisan Tonin (1386–1462). He practiced and taught through the reunification of the Northern and Southern imperial courts in 1392 and the early decades of Ashikaga dominance — a period when the Sōtō school's provincial character became increasingly distinct from the Gozan system that absorbed state patronage[1].
Chuzan's position in the lineage made him a relay figure in what Bodiford identifies as the critical provincial network of Sōtō: the chain of masters running from Keizan Jōkin's circle through Gasan Jōseki's twenty-five heirs and then into the branches that eventually reached Gesshū Sōko's reform movement. In the absence of detailed sectarian records for this generation, his significance lies in the unbroken continuity of personal transmission he maintained between teacher and student, ensuring that the embodied teaching practice survived the prolonged institutional instability of the Muromachi era[1].
Names
Disciples of Chuzan Ryoun
Teachers and lineage of Chuzan Ryoun
Teacher / root master:
Teachings
When a monk observed that Chuzan was not widely known outside his own region, the master replied: 'The middle of the mountain is not the peak and not the valley, and so it goes unnoticed by both climbers and pilgrims. This suits the dharma well. The dharma does not require to be seen from a distance. It requires to be practiced up close. Come close. Sit. That is all I have to offer, and it is everything.'
Eighty-two years, a middling peak. Neither summit nor valley had my name. The practice does not need a famous place — wherever you sit, it is already the center.
Other masters in Sōtō
Master Record Sources
- datesZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
1350-1432
- nameZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
Chuzan Ryoun
- schoolZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
Soto
- teachersZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
Keigan Eisho (Terebess Harada profile - Dharma lineage)