Linji

Chan

Linji

Branch of Nanyue line

The Linji school (臨済宗) is the most dynamic and influential of the Five Houses of Chan, founded by Linji Yixuan (d. 866) in the lineage of Mazu Daoyi through Baizhang Huaihai and Huangbo Xiyun. Linji's teaching is characterized by fierce directness—he used shouts (katsu), blows, and paradoxical exchanges to shatter students' conceptual thinking and precipitate immediate awakening. His 'True Person of No Rank' teaching and his four-fold classification of shouts became foundational for the school. During the Song dynasty, the Linji school divided into the Yangqi and Huanglong branches, with the Yangqi line eventually becoming dominant. The school produced the two greatest koan collections: the Blue Cliff Record (Yuanwu Keqin's commentary on Xuedou Chongxian's verses) and the Gateless Barrier (Wumen Huikai's forty-eight cases). Dahui Zonggao championed the huatou (keyword) method of koan practice—concentrating on a single critical phrase until all conceptual thinking is exhausted—which became the standard Linji approach. Through transmission to Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, the Linji school became the most geographically widespread form of Chan/Zen Buddhism.