Shushan Kuangren

Shushan Kuangren, whose name means "the Madman of Mount Shu," was a Chan master of the Qingyuan lineage known for the unconventional and unpredictable quality of his teaching. The epithet "kuangren" (madman) in Chan does not suggest insanity but rather a freedom from convention that allowed the master to respond spontaneously to each situation without regard for propriety or expectation.

Shushan's recorded encounters show a teacher who used shock, humor, and apparent absurdity to break through students' habitual patterns of thought. This "crazy wisdom" tradition in Chan values the capacity to respond to the moment without the filter of social expectation, seeing in such freedom an expression of the unconditioned nature of awakened mind.