Kaifu Daoning

Kaifu Daoning was a Linji school master of the Song dynasty who taught at Kaifu Temple. He was known for a teaching style that emphasized the cultivation of great doubt as the prerequisite for great awakening—a principle that would later become central to the huatou method championed by Dahui Zonggao. His dialogues pushed students to the edge of their intellectual resources.

Kaifu's emphasis on the role of doubt in the awakening process reflects a development within the Linji tradition that would have far-reaching consequences. The understanding that genuine realization requires passing through a period of intense, all-consuming questioning became one of the most distinctive features of Linji and later Rinzai practice. Kaifu's teaching contributed to the crystallization of this approach.