Qingyuan line

Chan

Qingyuan line

Branch of Chan

The Qingyuan line descends from Qingyuan Xingsi, a student of the Sixth Patriarch Huineng, and constitutes one of the two great branches of Chan. Through Qingyuan's student Shitou Xiqian—author of the Sandokai (Harmony of Difference and Equality)—this line gave rise to three of the Five Houses: the Caodong school (through Dongshan Liangjie), the Yunmen school (through Yunmen Wenyan), and the Fayan school (through Fayan Wenyi). The Qingyuan branch is broadly characterized by a more contemplative and subtle approach compared to the Nanyue line's dramatic directness, though individual masters varied widely. Key figures in the early Qingyuan line include Yaoshan Weiyan, who bridged the Shitou and Mazu traditions; Tianhuang Daowu and Longtan Chongxin, through whom the Deshan-Xuefeng lineage developed; and Chuanzi Decheng, the beloved Boat Monk. The line's emphasis on the interpenetration of the absolute and relative, expressed through Shitou's Sandokai and Dongshan's Five Ranks, became a defining contribution to Chan philosophy.