Cuiyan Kezhen

Cuiyan Kezhen was a Linji school master who taught at Mount Cuiyan during the Song dynasty. He is recorded in the lamp literature as a teacher whose encounters with students maintained the directness and intensity characteristic of the Linji tradition. His dialogues reflect the mature form of Linji pedagogy, employing the full range of methods—shouts, blows, paradoxical questions, and sudden reversals.

Cuiyan's recorded encounters, though not as numerous as those of the most famous masters, show a teacher firmly rooted in the Linji style. He understood that the purpose of the encounter was not to demonstrate cleverness but to precipitate a moment of genuine seeing—a break in the habitual stream of conceptual thought that allows the student's true nature to shine forth.