Shengshou Nanyin

Shengshou Nanyin was a Chan master recorded in the transmission of the lamp literature. He maintained a practice community and contributed to the development of Chan during its period of expansion across Tang dynasty China.

Nanyin's role in the tradition reflects the broad base of practitioners and teachers who sustained the Chan movement during its formative centuries. The tradition's eventual dominance of Chinese Buddhism was built on the accumulated efforts of many teachers, each contributing to the network through which the Dharma was transmitted.