[Buddha-l] 6th Zen Ancestor

[Piya Tan]

Hi Gary,

This is from "How Buddhism Became Chinese" (http://dharmafarer.org):


[5.2.4.1] According to a biography of Huìnéng by *Wáng Wéi* (王維 701-761)
[5.2.4.2], written between 734 and
740,[1]<file:///H:/My%20Works%20&%20Courses/My%20works/Sutta%20Discovery%20MAIN/Sutta%20Disco%20v40b%20How%20Buddhism%20Became%20Chinese%202008d/40b.5%20Transmission%20outside%20the%20scriptures.doc#_ftn1>Huìnéng
was born of a lowly family in Lǐngnán
嶺南, where an aborigine tribe lived peace­fully with the Chinese. In fact,
in Shénhuì’s brief account of Huìnéng’s life, and in the Platform Sutra, he
was called a *Gé**lǎo
*獦獠,[2]<file:///H:/My%20Works%20&%20Courses/My%20works/Sutta%20Discovery%20MAIN/Sutta%20Disco%20v40b%20How%20Buddhism%20Became%20Chinese%202008d/40b.5%20Transmission%20outside%20the%20scriptures.doc#_ftn2>one
of the abo­ri­ginal peoples of the south­west (north of Vietnam). He
was a man­ual laborer, moving northward and finding work at the monastery
where the master Hóngrěn resided, where he was a quick learner. After the
alleged trans­mission of the patri­archal robe, he returned to the south
where for 16 years living among the poor and the lowly, the farmers and the
small tradesmen. Then, he was discovered by a teacher of the Pari­nirvāṇa
Sūtra[3]<file:///H:/My%20Works%20&%20Courses/My%20works/Sutta%20Discovery%20MAIN/Sutta%20Disco%20v40b%20How%20Buddhism%20Became%20Chinese%202008d/40b.5%20Transmission%20outside%20the%20scriptures.doc#_ftn3>who
ordained him and started him on his own teaching career.

------------------------------

[1]<file:///H:/My%20Works%20&%20Courses/My%20works/Sutta%20Discovery%20MAIN/Sutta%20Disco%20v40b%20How%20Buddhism%20Became%20Chinese%202008d/40b.5%20Transmission%20outside%20the%20scriptures.doc#_ftnref1>Wang
Wei’s inscription is undated. The year 740 is most likely as he became
Censor of General Affairs in 739, and since the *Shénhuì Yülu *gives this
title (Hu Shih 1968: 137). For discussion, see Yampolsky 1967: 23.

It also made an early reference to Shénhuì’s being persecuted for his
“desire to present to his prince a pre­cious pearl.” (Hu Shih 1953: 10)

[2]<file:///H:/My%20Works%20&%20Courses/My%20works/Sutta%20Discovery%20MAIN/Sutta%20Disco%20v40b%20How%20Buddhism%20Became%20Chinese%202008d/40b.5%20Transmission%20outside%20the%20scriptures.doc#_ftnref2>The
Gelao region (same name) is now called Nhu Xuan, Thanh Hoa, in
Vietnam.
The Gelao are one of the oldest peoples of China. According to the ancient
chronicles, their ancestors came from the border region between Sichuan and
Shaanxi Provinces, from where they migrated toward Guizhou Province in the
5th cent BCE. Possibly they were one of the main components of the Yelang
Kingdom that was established in Guizhou about this time. During the Han
period, Yelang kingdom (known then as Lao) became its tributary.

 See http://www.ethnic-china.com/Gelao/gelaoindex.htm.

[3]<file:///H:/My%20Works%20&%20Courses/My%20works/Sutta%20Discovery%20MAIN/Sutta%20Disco%20v40b%20How%20Buddhism%20Became%20Chinese%202008d/40b.5%20Transmission%20outside%20the%20scriptures.doc#_ftnref3>
*Dà bānn**ièpán jīng* 大般涅槃經 (Nirvāṇa Sūtra), T12.374.365-606. Accessible at
http://www.cbeta.org/­result/T12/T12n0374.htm<http://www.cbeta.org/result/T12/T12n0374.htm>.




Hope this is helpful. Perhaps more updated info might be posted after this.



Piya Tan.


On Mon, Apr 8, 2013 at 11:42 PM, Gary Gach <gary.gach at gmail.com> wrote:

> ¿ Anyone heard of 6th Zen Ancestor Hui Neng having come from Vietnam ?
>
>     Enjoying spring freshness
>     Hope you are too
>
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