The way
124-602: The "goal" Background Chinese texts Classical Post-classical Contemporary Zen in Japan Seon in Korea Thiền in Vietnam Western Zen The Rinzai school ( Japanese : 臨 済 宗 , romanized : Rinzai-shū , simplified Chinese : 临济宗 ; traditional Chinese : 臨濟宗 ; pinyin : Línjì zōng ), named after Linji Yixuan (Romaji: Rinzai Gigen, died 866 CE)
248-404: A gōng'àn . Thus, by the time of Dahui Zonggao (1089–1163) , this practice was well established. Dahui promoted and popularized the practice extensively, under the name of "observing the phrase zen" ( kanhua chan ). In this practice, students were to observe ( kan ) or concentrate on a single word or phrase ( huatou ), such as the famous mu of the mu-kōan , and develop
372-443: A kōan . According to Hori, a central theme of many kōan is the 'identity of opposites': [K]ōan after kōan explores the theme of nonduality. Hakuin's well-known kōan , "Two hands clap and there is a sound, what is the sound of one hand?" is clearly about two and one. The kōan asks, you know what duality is, now what is nonduality? In "What is your original face before your mother and father were born?"
496-603: A Linji school of Chan Buddhism , which is known in Japan as Rinzai. Decades later, Nanpo Shōmyō ( 南浦紹明 ) (1235–1308), who also studied Linji teachings in China, founded the Japanese Ōtōkan lineage, the most influential and only surviving branch of the Rinzai school of Zen. Rinzai Zen was established in Japan as the samurai rose to power. Along with early imperial support, Rinzai came to enjoy
620-559: A pure vowel system, phonemic vowel and consonant length, and a lexically significant pitch-accent . Word order is normally subject–object–verb with particles marking the grammatical function of words, and sentence structure is topic–comment . Sentence-final particles are used to add emotional or emphatic impact, or form questions. Nouns have no grammatical number or gender , and there are no articles . Verbs are conjugated , primarily for tense and voice , but not person . Japanese adjectives are also conjugated. Japanese has
744-553: A Chan master would cite a story about a famous master and then demand that his students comment." Later on, certain questions (like: "Why did Bodhidharma come from the West?") developed independently from the traditional stories and were used in the same fashion. Schlütter also notes that "most commonly used gongan in the Song originally came from the influential Transmission of the Lamp , although
868-624: A benefit from the in-group to the out-group) means "[I/we] explained [it] to [him/her/them]". Such beneficiary auxiliary verbs thus serve a function comparable to that of pronouns and prepositions in Indo-European languages to indicate the actor and the recipient of an action. Japanese "pronouns" also function differently from most modern Indo-European pronouns (and more like nouns) in that they can take modifiers as any other noun may. For instance, one does not say in English: The amazed he ran down
992-538: A complex system of honorifics , with verb forms and vocabulary to indicate the relative status of the speaker, the listener, and persons mentioned. The Japanese writing system combines Chinese characters , known as kanji ( 漢字 , ' Han characters') , with two unique syllabaries (or moraic scripts) derived by the Japanese from the more complex Chinese characters: hiragana ( ひらがな or 平仮名 , 'simple characters') and katakana ( カタカナ or 片仮名 , 'partial characters'). Latin script ( rōmaji ローマ字 )
1116-446: A corollary to this, Ta-hui warned that the intellectuals who in his day were the ones most interested in kōan meditation would be the least likely to succeed at it, given their tendency to think. His advice to them, therefore, was to cease completely any effort to resolve the kōan and "to give up the conceit that they have the intellectual tools that would allow them to understand it." The primary effort required in this enterprise
1240-414: A distinct language of its own that has absorbed various aspects from neighboring languages. Japanese has five vowels, and vowel length is phonemic, with each having both a short and a long version. Elongated vowels are usually denoted with a line over the vowel (a macron ) in rōmaji , a repeated vowel character in hiragana , or a chōonpu succeeding the vowel in katakana . /u/ ( listen )
1364-419: A glide /j/ and either the first part of a geminate consonant ( っ / ッ , represented as Q) or a moraic nasal in the coda ( ん / ン , represented as N). The nasal is sensitive to its phonetic environment and assimilates to the following phoneme, with pronunciations including [ɴ, m, n, ɲ, ŋ, ɰ̃] . Onset-glide clusters only occur at the start of syllables but clusters across syllables are allowed as long as
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#17328586233021488-609: A highly literary approach, such as ascribing specific meanings to the cases, or become too involved in book learning. Dahui Zonggao is even said to have burned the woodblocks of the Blue Cliff Record , for the hindrance it had become to the study of Chán by his students. During the late Song dynasty (11th–12th century), the practice of assigning specific gōng'àn to students for contemplation had become quite common and some sources contain examples of Zen masters (e.g. Touzi Yiqing) who became enlightened through contemplating
1612-425: A lay-audience, and most Rinzai lineages claim descent from him, though his engagement with formal Rinzai-institution was minimal. When he was installed as head priest of Shōin-ji in 1718, he had the title of Dai-ichiza , "First Monk": It was the minimum rank required by government regulation for those installed as temple priests and seems to have been little more than a matter of paying a fee and registering Hakuin as
1736-479: A listener depending on the listener's relative social position and the degree of familiarity between the speaker and the listener. When used in different social relationships, the same word may have positive (intimate or respectful) or negative (distant or disrespectful) connotations. Japanese often use titles of the person referred to where pronouns would be used in English. For example, when speaking to one's teacher, it
1860-471: A new contemplative technique, he also invented a whole new kind of Chan in the process." Whatever the case, Dahui was extremely influential in shaping the development of the Linji school in the Song. Dale S. Wright also writes that Dahui: [...] maintained that the hua-t'ou had no meaning and that any intellectualization, any conceptual thinking at all, would obstruct the possibility of break- through. As
1984-402: A sense of "great doubt" within until this ball of doubt "shattered", leading to enlightenment. Dahui's invention was aimed at balancing the insight developed by reflection on the teachings with developing śamatha , calmness of mind. This idea of observing a key phrase or word was Dahui's unique contribution, since the earlier method of gōng'àn contemplation never taught the focusing on
2108-408: A sentence need not be stated and pronouns may be omitted if they can be inferred from context. In the example above, hana ga nagai would mean "[their] noses are long", while nagai by itself would mean "[they] are long." A single verb can be a complete sentence: Yatta! ( やった! ) "[I / we / they / etc] did [it]!". In addition, since adjectives can form the predicate in a Japanese sentence (below),
2232-428: A single adjective can be a complete sentence: Urayamashii! ( 羨ましい! ) "[I'm] jealous [about it]!". While the language has some words that are typically translated as pronouns, these are not used as frequently as pronouns in some Indo-European languages, and function differently. In some cases, Japanese relies on special verb forms and auxiliary verbs to indicate the direction of benefit of an action: "down" to indicate
2356-403: A single man, but rather the hundreds and thousands of bodhisattvas of the three realms and ten directions . This principle accords with the spiritual source, tallies with the mysterious meaning, destroys birth-and-death, and transcends the passions. It cannot be understood by logic; it cannot be transmitted in words; it cannot be explained in writing; it cannot be measured by reason. It is like
2480-455: A single word, nor did it teach to develop a "ball of doubt that builds up before finally shattering." According to Wright, instead of focusing on the full narrative of a kōan , Dahui promoted "intense focus on one critical phrase, generally one word or element at the climax of the kōan ." Dahui also taught that meditation on just one huatou of a single gōng'àn was enough to achieve enlightenment, since penetrating one gōng'àn
2604-415: A specific lineage or school. This formal authorization or confirmation ({{|zh|印可|yìn kě}}, Japanese: inka , Korean: inga ) was given by their teacher and was often part of a process of " dharma transmission " ( Chinese : 傳法 ) in a specific lineage. This formal act placed the "confirmed" Chan master in a special unique position as an interpreter and guide to the gōng'àn . The importance of
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#17328586233022728-405: A standardized curriculum of kōans , which must be studied and "passed" in sequence. This process may include standardized questions ( sassho ) and common sets of "capping phrases" ( jakugo ) or poetry citations that are memorized by students as answers. A student's understanding of a kōan is presented to the teacher in a private interview ( dokusan , daisan , or sanzen ) and the teacher's job
2852-453: A thing, would be a booming, buzzing confusion, a sensory field of flashes of light, unidentifiable sounds, ambiguous shapes, color patches without significance. This is not the consciousness of the enlightened Zen master. Gōng'àn literature developed at some point in between the late Tang dynasty (10th century) to the Song dynasty (960–1279), though the details are unclear. They arose out of
2976-520: Is Havredal Zendo established by a Dharma Heir of Eido Shimano, Egmund Sommer (Denko Mortensen). Aside from Rinzai and Sōtō, there is a third tradition of Zen present in Japan, the Ōbaku Zen sect. It was brought to Japan in the 17th century, and shows significant influence from the Pure Land school. This reflects the syncretistic tendencies that developed in Chinese Buddhism in the centuries after
3100-624: Is compressed rather than protruded , or simply unrounded. Some Japanese consonants have several allophones , which may give the impression of a larger inventory of sounds. However, some of these allophones have since become phonemic. For example, in the Japanese language up to and including the first half of the 20th century, the phonemic sequence /ti/ was palatalized and realized phonetically as [tɕi] , approximately chi ( listen ) ; however, now [ti] and [tɕi] are distinct, as evidenced by words like tī [tiː] "Western-style tea" and chii [tɕii] "social status". The "r" of
3224-466: Is a compound word, consisting of the characters 公 ('public; official; governmental; common; collective; fair; equitable') and 案 ('table; desk, altar; (law) case; record; file; plan; mandate, proposal.') According to the Yuan dynasty Zen master Zhongfeng Mingben ( 中峰明本 1263–1323), gōng'àn originated as an abbreviation of gōngfǔ zhī àndú ( 公府之案牘 , Japanese kōfu no antoku —literally
3348-504: Is a story , dialogue , question, or statement from Chinese Chan Buddhist lore, supplemented with commentaries, that is used in Zen Buddhist practice in different ways. The main goal of kōan practice in Zen is to achieve kenshō (Chinese: jianxing 見性), to see or observe one's buddha-nature . Extended study of kōan literature as well as meditation ( zazen ) on a kōan
3472-626: Is a major feature of modern Rinzai Zen. They are also studied in the Sōtō school of Zen to a lesser extent. In Chinese Chan and Korean Seon Buddhism, meditating on a huatou , a key phrase of a kōan , is also a major Zen meditation method. The Japanese term kōan is the Sino-Japanese reading of the Chinese word gong'an ( Chinese : 公案 ; pinyin : gōng'àn ; Wade–Giles : kung-an ; lit. 'public case'). The term
3596-445: Is also seen in o-medetō "congratulations", from medetaku ). Late Middle Japanese has the first loanwords from European languages – now-common words borrowed into Japanese in this period include pan ("bread") and tabako ("tobacco", now "cigarette"), both from Portuguese . Modern Japanese is considered to begin with the Edo period (which spanned from 1603 to 1867). Since Old Japanese,
3720-519: Is also used in a limited fashion (such as for imported acronyms) in Japanese writing. The numeral system uses mostly Arabic numerals , but also traditional Chinese numerals . Proto-Japonic , the common ancestor of the Japanese and Ryukyuan languages , is thought to have been brought to Japan by settlers coming from the Korean peninsula sometime in the early- to mid-4th century BC (the Yayoi period ), replacing
3844-440: Is appropriate to use sensei ( 先生 , "teacher"), but inappropriate to use anata . This is because anata is used to refer to people of equal or lower status, and one's teacher has higher status. Japanese nouns have no grammatical number, gender or article aspect. The noun hon ( 本 ) may refer to a single book or several books; hito ( 人 ) can mean "person" or "people", and ki ( 木 ) can be "tree" or "trees". Where number
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3968-684: Is associated with comedy (see Kansai dialect ). Dialects of Tōhoku and North Kantō are associated with typical farmers. The Ryūkyūan languages, spoken in Okinawa and the Amami Islands (administratively part of Kagoshima ), are distinct enough to be considered a separate branch of the Japonic family; not only is each language unintelligible to Japanese speakers, but most are unintelligible to those who speak other Ryūkyūan languages. However, in contrast to linguists, many ordinary Japanese people tend to consider
4092-462: Is better documentation of Late Middle Japanese phonology than for previous forms (for instance, the Arte da Lingoa de Iapam ). Among other sound changes, the sequence /au/ merges to /ɔː/ , in contrast with /oː/ ; /p/ is reintroduced from Chinese; and /we/ merges with /je/ . Some forms rather more familiar to Modern Japanese speakers begin to appear – the continuative ending - te begins to reduce onto
4216-532: Is considered one of the 15 Rinzai branches mentioned above, Ōbaku Zen is administratively separate from the other 14 branches and continues to maintain its own distinct identity. A final Japanese Zen sect that self-identified as descending from the Linji school was the Fuke sect; Fuke Zen was suppressed with the Meiji Restoration in the 19th century and no longer exists. Its influence on the development of music for
4340-509: Is correlated with the sex of the speaker and the social situation in which they are spoken: men and women alike in a formal situation generally refer to themselves as watashi ( 私 , literally "private") or watakushi (also 私 , hyper-polite form), while men in rougher or intimate conversation are much more likely to use the word ore ( 俺 "oneself", "myself") or boku . Similarly, different words such as anata , kimi , and omae ( お前 , more formally 御前 "the one before me") may refer to
4464-417: Is important, it can be indicated by providing a quantity (often with a counter word ) or (rarely) by adding a suffix, or sometimes by duplication (e.g. 人人 , hitobito , usually written with an iteration mark as 人々 ). Words for people are usually understood as singular. Thus Tanaka-san usually means Mx Tanaka . Words that refer to people and animals can be made to indicate a group of individuals through
4588-422: Is known as a destination for healing. Remarkable results of the early relationship between Rinzai Zen and the ruling classes were a strong Rinzai influence on education and government, and Rinzai contributions to a great flowering of Japanese cultural arts such as calligraphy , painting , literature , tea ceremony , Japanese garden design, architecture and even martial arts . A perhaps unanticipated result
4712-722: Is less common. In terms of mutual intelligibility , a survey in 1967 found that the four most unintelligible dialects (excluding Ryūkyūan languages and Tōhoku dialects ) to students from Greater Tokyo were the Kiso dialect (in the deep mountains of Nagano Prefecture ), the Himi dialect (in Toyama Prefecture ), the Kagoshima dialect and the Maniwa dialect (in Okayama Prefecture ). The survey
4836-545: Is made up of 15 sects or branches, the largest being the Myoshin-ji line. Some influential modern Rinzai figures include Ōmori Sōgen (大森 曹玄, 1904–1994), Sōkō Morinaga (盛永 宗興, 1925–1995), Shodo Harada (原田 正道), Eshin Nishimura (西村 惠信; born 1933), Keidō Fukushima (福島 慶道, 1933 – 2011) and D.T. Suzuki (鈴木 大拙 貞太郎, 1870–1966). Rinzai is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that draws from the various Indian Mahayana sutras (like
4960-410: Is marked by its emphasis on kenshō (見性, "seeing one's/ self nature" or "to see clearly into the buddha-nature ") as the gateway to authentic Buddhist practice . Rinzai also stresses the importance of post- kensho spiritual training that actualizes awakening for the benefit of all beings. The student's relationship with a Zen teacher is another central element of Rinzai Zen practice. This includes
5084-420: Is often called a topic-prominent language , which means it has a strong tendency to indicate the topic separately from the subject, and that the two do not always coincide. The sentence Zō wa hana ga nagai ( 象は鼻が長い ) literally means, "As for elephant(s), (the) nose(s) (is/are) long". The topic is zō "elephant", and the subject is hana "nose". Japanese grammar tends toward brevity; the subject or object of
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5208-418: Is often considered to be a dharma heir of Hakuin, despite the fact that "he did not belong to the close circle of disciples and was probably not even one of Hakuin's dharma heirs." Gasan's students Inzan Ien (1751–1814), who also studied with Gessen Zen'e, and Takujū Kosen (1760–1833) created a systematized way of koan-study, with fixed questions and answers. In 1808 Inzan Ien became abbott of Myoshin-ji , one of
5332-520: Is one of three sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism , along with Sōtō and Ōbaku . The Chinese Linji school of Chan Buddhism was first transmitted to Japan by Myōan Eisai (1141 –1215). Contemporary Japanese Rinzai is derived entirely from the Ōtōkan lineage transmitted through Hakuin Ekaku (1686–1769), who is a major figure in the revival of the Rinzai tradition. Rinzai is the Japanese line of
5456-489: Is preserved in words such as matsuge ("eyelash", lit. "hair of the eye"); modern mieru ("to be visible") and kikoeru ("to be audible") retain a mediopassive suffix - yu(ru) ( kikoyu → kikoyuru (the attributive form, which slowly replaced the plain form starting in the late Heian period) → kikoeru (all verbs with the shimo-nidan conjugation pattern underwent this same shift in Early Modern Japanese )); and
5580-531: Is that Soto Zen temples, with their connection and appeal to commoners, eventually came to outnumber Rinzai temples. Japanese language Japanese ( 日本語 , Nihongo , [ɲihoŋɡo] ) is the principal language of the Japonic language family spoken by the Japanese people . It has around 123 million speakers, primarily in Japan , the only country where it is the national language , and within
5704-456: Is the 'table' or 'bench' an of a 'magistrate' or 'judge' kung . Gong'an was itself originally a metonym—an article of furniture involved in setting legal precedents came to stand for such precedents. For example, Di Gong'an ( 狄公案 ) is the original title of Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee , the famous Chinese detective novel based on a historical Tang dynasty judge. Similarly, Zen kōan collections are public records of
5828-402: Is the version of Japanese discussed in this article. Formerly, standard Japanese in writing ( 文語 , bungo , "literary language") was different from colloquial language ( 口語 , kōgo ) . The two systems have different rules of grammar and some variance in vocabulary. Bungo was the main method of writing Japanese until about 1900; since then kōgo gradually extended its influence and
5952-429: Is to guide the student to kensho, in part by judging the student's kyōgai . Kōan-inquiry may be practiced during zazen (sitting meditation) , kinhin (walking meditation), and throughout all daily activities. In general, the Rinzai school is known for the rigor and severity of its training methods. The Rinzai style may be characterized as somewhat martial or sharp (following in the spirit of Linji Yixuan ). Since
6076-471: Is used for the present and the future. For verbs that represent an ongoing process, the -te iru form indicates a continuous (or progressive) aspect , similar to the suffix ing in English. For others that represent a change of state, the -te iru form indicates a perfect aspect. For example, kite iru means "They have come (and are still here)", but tabete iru means "They are eating". Questions (both with an interrogative pronoun and yes/no questions) have
6200-405: Is why some linguists do not classify Japanese "pronouns" as pronouns, but rather as referential nouns, much like Spanish usted (contracted from vuestra merced , "your ( majestic plural ) grace") or Portuguese você (from vossa mercê ). Japanese personal pronouns are generally used only in situations requiring special emphasis as to who is doing what to whom. The choice of words used as pronouns
6324-416: The kōan was eliminated in the focus on a single point", that is the hua-t'ou (which was said to have no meaning), such a practice became a śamatha -like zazen practice (which even resembles Caodong silent illumination ), even if this was never acknowledged by the masters of the Linji school in the Song. Furthermore, Wright also argues that this practice was anti-intellectual since all learning
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#17328586233026448-662: The àndú ('official correspondence; documents; files') of a gōngfǔ ('government post')), which referred to a "public record" or the "case records of a public law court" in Tang dynasty China. Kōan / gong'an thus serves as a metaphor for principles of reality beyond the private or subjective opinion of one person, and a teacher may test the student's ability to recognize and understand that principle. Commentaries in kōan collections bear some similarity to judicial decisions that cite and sometimes modify precedents. An article by T. Griffith Foulk claims: Its literal meaning
6572-772: The Diamond Sutra and the Heart Sutra ) and shastras (treatises) of the Indian masters. Rinzai also closely follows the works of the Chinese Chan tradition, particularly that of the masters of the Linji school like Linji Yixuan (d. 866) and Dahui Zonggao (1089–1163) and various traditional records of that school, like the Transmission of the Lamp , and the Línjì yǔlù (臨濟語錄; Jp: Rinzai-goroku ,
6696-499: The Chinese Linji school of Chan Buddhism, which was founded during the Tang dynasty by Linji Yixuan (Japanese: Rinzai Gigen). Though there were several attempts to establish Rinzai lines in Japan, it first took root in a lasting way through the efforts of the monk Myōan Eisai . In 1168, Myōan Eisai traveled to China, where he studied Tendai for twenty years. In 1187, he went to China again, and returned to Japan to establish
6820-628: The Japanese diaspora worldwide. The Japonic family also includes the Ryukyuan languages and the variously classified Hachijō language . There have been many attempts to group the Japonic languages with other families such as the Ainu , Austronesian , Koreanic , and the now-discredited Altaic , but none of these proposals have gained any widespread acceptance. Little is known of the language's prehistory, or when it first appeared in Japan. Chinese documents from
6944-455: The Japonic language family, which also includes the Ryukyuan languages spoken in the Ryukyu Islands . As these closely related languages are commonly treated as dialects of the same language, Japanese is sometimes called a language isolate . According to Martine Irma Robbeets , Japanese has been subject to more attempts to show its relation to other languages than any other language in
7068-504: The Philippines , and various Pacific islands, locals in those countries learned Japanese as the language of the empire. As a result, many elderly people in these countries can still speak Japanese. Japanese emigrant communities (the largest of which are to be found in Brazil , with 1.4 million to 1.5 million Japanese immigrants and descendants, according to Brazilian IBGE data, more than
7192-506: The Shōgun , Sōtō for the peasants" (臨済将軍、曹洞土民, Rinzai Shōgun, Sōtō Domin ). The Rinzai school also adopted certain Taoist energy cultivation practices. They were introduced by Hakuin (1686–1769) who learned them from a hermit named Hakuyu. These energetic practices are called naikan. They are mainly based on focusing the mind and one's vital energy ( ki ) on the tanden (a spot slightly below
7316-716: The United States (notably in Hawaii , where 16.7% of the population has Japanese ancestry, and California ), and the Philippines (particularly in Davao Region and the Province of Laguna ). Japanese has no official status in Japan, but is the de facto national language of the country. There is a form of the language considered standard : hyōjungo ( 標準語 ) , meaning "standard Japanese", or kyōtsūgo ( 共通語 ) , "common language", or even "Tokyo dialect" at times. The meanings of
7440-794: The de facto standard Japanese had been the Kansai dialect , especially that of Kyoto . However, during the Edo period, Edo (now Tokyo) developed into the largest city in Japan, and the Edo-area dialect became standard Japanese. Since the end of Japan's self-imposed isolation in 1853, the flow of loanwords from European languages has increased significantly. The period since 1945 has seen many words borrowed from other languages—such as German, Portuguese and English. Many English loan words especially relate to technology—for example, pasokon (short for "personal computer"), intānetto ("internet"), and kamera ("camera"). Due to
7564-600: The hagiographical Jingde Record of the Transmission of the Lamp (Chinese Jǐngdé Chuándēnglù , early 11th century). Zhongfeng Mingben (1263–1323), a Chinese Chan master who lived at the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty , revitalized the Chinese Linji school . Zhongfeng put a strong emphasis on the use of gōng'àn , seeing them as a "work of literature [that] should be used as objective, universal standards to test
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#17328586233027688-511: The shakuhachi (bamboo flute), however, has been great. Ichibata Yakushi Kyodan (properly written Ichiba Yakushi Kyōdan 一畑薬師教団) is today generally considered an independent school of Buddhism, though it was previously associated with Myōshin-ji (and before that Tendai ), and may still be considered part of Rinzai, though its practices and beliefs have little in common with Rinzai. It places great importance in faith in Yakushi (Medicine Buddha), and
7812-437: The shōgun for the governing of state affairs. Not all Rinzai Zen organisations were under such strict state control. The Rinka monasteries, which were primarily located in rural areas rather than cities, had a greater degree of independence. The Ōtōkan lineage, which centered on Daitoku-ji , also had a greater degree of freedom. It was founded by Nanpo Shōmyō, Shūhō Myōchō, and Kanzan Egen. A well-known teacher from Daitoku-ji
7936-448: The standard dialect moved from the Kansai region to the Edo region (modern Tokyo ) in the Early Modern Japanese period (early 17th century–mid 19th century). Following the end of Japan's self-imposed isolation in 1853, the flow of loanwords from European languages increased significantly, and words from English roots have proliferated. Japanese is an agglutinative , mora -timed language with relatively simple phonotactics ,
8060-518: The 1.2 million of the United States ) sometimes employ Japanese as their primary language. Approximately 12% of Hawaii residents speak Japanese, with an estimated 12.6% of the population of Japanese ancestry in 2008. Japanese emigrants can also be found in Peru , Argentina , Australia (especially in the eastern states), Canada (especially in Vancouver , where 1.4% of the population has Japanese ancestry),
8184-461: The 3rd century AD recorded a few Japanese words, but substantial Old Japanese texts did not appear until the 8th century. From the Heian period (794–1185), extensive waves of Sino-Japanese vocabulary entered the language, affecting the phonology of Early Middle Japanese . Late Middle Japanese (1185–1600) saw extensive grammatical changes and the first appearance of European loanwords . The basis of
8308-1243: The Americas, and Australia, and non-Japanese practitioners have been certified as teachers and successors of those lineages. Rinzai temples, as well as practice groups led by lay practitioners, may now be found in many nations. North American Rinzai centers include Rinzai-ji founded by Kyozan Joshu Sasaki Roshi and the Pacific Zen Institute founded by John Tarrant Roshi in California, Dai Bosatsu Zendo Kongo-ji established by Eido Shimano Roshi and Soen Nakagawa Roshi in New York, Chozen-ji founded by Omori Sogen Roshi in Hawaii, Daiyuzenji in Illinois and Korinji in Wisconsin both founded by dharma heirs in Omori Sogen Roshi's line, and Chobo-Ji founded by Genki Takabayshi Roshi in Seattle, Washington. In Europe there
8432-482: The Japanese language is of particular interest, ranging between an apical central tap and a lateral approximant . The "g" is also notable; unless it starts a sentence, it may be pronounced [ ŋ ] , in the Kanto prestige dialect and in other eastern dialects. The phonotactics of Japanese are relatively simple. The syllable structure is (C)(G)V(C), that is, a core vowel surrounded by an optional onset consonant,
8556-724: The Old Japanese sections are written in Man'yōgana , which uses kanji for their phonetic as well as semantic values. Based on the Man'yōgana system, Old Japanese can be reconstructed as having 88 distinct morae . Texts written with Man'yōgana use two different sets of kanji for each of the morae now pronounced き (ki), ひ (hi), み (mi), け (ke), へ (he), め (me), こ (ko), そ (so), と (to), の (no), も (mo), よ (yo) and ろ (ro). (The Kojiki has 88, but all later texts have 87. The distinction between mo 1 and mo 2 apparently
8680-492: The Record of Linji ) . Important Japanese sources of the Rinzai school include the works of Hakuin Ekaku and his student Tōrei Enji . Torei's Undying Lamp of Zen ( Shūmon mujintō ron ) offers a comprehensive overview of Hakuin's Zen and is a major source for Rinzai Zen practice. A more modern overview of Japanese Rinzai praxis is Omori Sogen 's Sanzen Nyumon (An Introduction to Zen Training). Contemporary Japanese Rinzai Zen
8804-488: The Ryūkyūan languages as dialects of Japanese. The imperial court also seems to have spoken an unusual variant of the Japanese of the time, most likely the spoken form of Classical Japanese , a writing style that was prevalent during the Heian period , but began to decline during the late Meiji period . The Ryūkyūan languages are classified by UNESCO as 'endangered', as young people mostly use Japanese and cannot understand
8928-543: The addition of a collective suffix (a noun suffix that indicates a group), such as -tachi , but this is not a true plural: the meaning is closer to the English phrase "and company". A group described as Tanaka-san-tachi may include people not named Tanaka. Some Japanese nouns are effectively plural, such as hitobito "people" and wareware "we/us", while the word tomodachi "friend" is considered singular, although plural in form. Verbs are conjugated to show tenses, of which there are two: past and present (or non-past) which
9052-610: The adoption of Rinzai Zen by the Hōjō clan in the 13th century, some Rinzai figures have even developed the samurai arts ( budō ) within a Zen framework. One influential figure was the Rinzai priest Takuan Sōhō who was well known for his writings on Zen and budō addressed to the samurai class (see The Unfettered Mind ). In this regard, Rinzai is often contrasted with another sect of Zen deeply established in Japan, Sōtō , which has been called more gentle and even rustic in spirit. A Japanese saying reflects these perceptions: "Rinzai for
9176-564: The beginning of the Muromachi period, the Five Mountain System ( Gozan ) system was fully worked out. The final version contained five temples of both Kyoto and Kamakura, presided over by Nanzen-ji . A second tier of the system consisted of Ten Temples. This system was extended throughout Japan, effectively giving control to the central government, which administered this system. The monks, often well educated and skilled, were employed by
9300-416: The collections of the recorded sayings of Chán masters and "transmission" texts like the Transmission of the Lamp . These sources contained numerous stories of famous past Chán masters which were used to educate Zen students. According to Morten Schlütter "it is not clear exactly when the practice of commenting on old gongan cases started, but the earliest Chan masters to have such commentaries included in
9424-522: The earlier Rinzai lines had been transmitted to Japan. Ōbaku is also descended from the Chinese Linji school, and so technically may be considered a part of the Japanese Rinzai movement; further, its abbots are now part of the same Ōtōkan lineage as Rinzai branches, though they were not so originally (instead following a more recent Chinese lineage). While Manpuku-ji , the Ōbaku headquarters temple,
9548-564: The effect of changing Japanese into a mora-timed language. Late Middle Japanese covers the years from 1185 to 1600, and is normally divided into two sections, roughly equivalent to the Kamakura period and the Muromachi period , respectively. The later forms of Late Middle Japanese are the first to be described by non-native sources, in this case the Jesuit and Franciscan missionaries; and thus there
9672-527: The essence of enlightenment, since "its verification was always interpersonal. In effect, enlightenment came to be understood not so much as an insight, but as a way of acting in the world with other people." This mutual inquiry of past cases gave Zen students a role model and a sense of belonging to a spiritual family since "one looked at the enlightened activities of one's lineal forebears in order to understand one's own identity." The practice also served to confirm an individual's enlightenment and authority in
9796-472: The formal practice of sanzen , a private interview between student and master and various methods of "direct pointing" that are used by Rinzai masters to guide the student to the experience of kensho. Formal Rinzai training focuses on zazen (seated meditation). Practices such as different forms of breath meditation ( breath counting , diaphragmatic breathing and tanden , breath cultivation), kōan introspection, wato , and mantra practice (such as using
9920-609: The genitive particle ga remains in intentionally archaic speech. Early Middle Japanese is the Japanese of the Heian period , from 794 to 1185. It formed the basis for the literary standard of Classical Japanese , which remained in common use until the early 20th century. During this time, Japanese underwent numerous phonological developments, in many cases instigated by an influx of Chinese loanwords . These included phonemic length distinction for both consonants and vowels , palatal consonants (e.g. kya ) and labial consonant clusters (e.g. kwa ), and closed syllables . This had
10044-536: The genre was called niangu ('picking up the old ones'), and when poems were used to comment, the genre was termed songgu ('eulogizing the old ones'). Further commentaries would then be written by later figures on these initial comments, leading to quite complex and layered texts. The style of these Song-era Zen texts was influenced by many Chinese literary conventions and the style of "literary games" (competitions involving improvised poetry). Common literary devices included: There were dangers involved in such
10168-445: The incumbent of Shōin-ji. Hakuin considered himself to be an heir of Shōju Rōnin (Dokyō Etan, 1642–1721), but never received formal dharma transmission from him. Nevertheless, through Hakuin, all contemporary Japanese Rinzai-lineages are considered part of the Ōtōkan lineage, brought to Japan in 1267 by Nanpo Jomyo , who received his dharma transmission in China in 1265. Tōrei Enji (1721–1792), who had studied with Kogetsu Zenzai ,
10292-401: The insight of monks who aspired to be recognized as Ch'an masters". He also promoted Dahui's famous kanhua chan method of meditating on a huatou and influenced several Japanese Rinzai masters of the time who came to China to study with him, including Kosen Ingen, Kohō Kakumyō, Jakushitsu Genkō (1290–1367). According to Zhongfeng: The koans do not represent the private opinion of
10416-488: The language of law. Originally, such a story was only considered a gōng'àn when it was commented upon by another Chán master, i.e. when it was used as a "case" study for enlightenment. This practice of commenting on the words and deeds of past masters also served to confirm the master's position as an awakened master in a lineage of awakened masters of the past. According to Schlütter, these stories were also used "to challenge Chan students to demonstrate their insights:
10540-453: The languages of the original Jōmon inhabitants, including the ancestor of the modern Ainu language . Because writing had yet to be introduced from China, there is no direct evidence, and anything that can be discerned about this period must be based on internal reconstruction from Old Japanese , or comparison with the Ryukyuan languages and Japanese dialects . The Chinese writing system
10664-449: The languages. Okinawan Japanese is a variant of Standard Japanese influenced by the Ryūkyūan languages, and is the primary dialect spoken among young people in the Ryukyu Islands . Modern Japanese has become prevalent nationwide (including the Ryūkyū islands) due to education , mass media , and an increase in mobility within Japan, as well as economic integration. Japanese is a member of
10788-427: The large quantity of English loanwords, modern Japanese has developed a distinction between [tɕi] and [ti] , and [dʑi] and [di] , with the latter in each pair only found in loanwords. Although Japanese is spoken almost exclusively in Japan, it has also been spoken outside of the country. Before and during World War II , through Japanese annexation of Taiwan and Korea , as well as partial occupation of China ,
10912-593: The main Rinzai temples in Japan, where he served for a short time, while Takujū Kosen was appointed as head abbott of Myoshin-ji in 1813. All contemporary Japanese Rinzai-lineages, and their methods and styles of koan-study, stem from these two teachers, though at the end of the Tokugawa-periond his line was at the brink of extinction. During the Meiji period (1868–1912), after a coup in 1868, Japan abandoned its feudal system and opened up to Western modernism. Shinto became
11036-684: The mantric syllable Ah) are used in zazen. Other practices include walking meditation (Jp. kinhin ), ōryōki (a meditative meal practice), and samu (physical work done with mindfulness ). Chanting ( okyo ) Buddhist sutras or dharanis is also a major element of Rinzai practice. Kōans are a common object of meditation when engaged in formal zazen. Shikantaza ("just sitting") is less emphasized in Rinzai, but still used. This contrasts with Sōtō practice, which has de-emphasized kōans since Gentō Sokuchū (circa 1800), and instead emphasizes shikantaza. The Rinzai school developed its own formalized style of kōan introspection and training. This includes
11160-420: The material in the recorded sayings collections of individual Song Chan masters consists of the master quoting ("raising"; ju ) a story about a famous past Chan figure's encounter with disciples or other interlocutors and then offering his own comments on it. The stories held up for comment came to be referred to as gongan, "public cases," or guze , "old model cases," both terms borrowed, it would seem, from
11284-411: The navel). Certain Japanese arts such as painting , calligraphy , poetry , gardening , and the tea ceremony are also often used as methods of Zen cultivation in Rinzai. Hakuin is famously known for his sumi-e (ink and wash) paintings as well as for his calligraphy . Myōan Eisai is said to have popularized green tea in Japan and the famed master of Japanese tea, Sen no Rikyū (1522–1591),
11408-403: The notable sayings and actions of Zen masters and disciples attempting to pass on their teachings. The popular Western understanding sees kōan as referring to an unanswerable question or a meaningless or absurd statement. However, in Zen practice, a kōan is not meaningless, and not a riddle or a puzzle. Teachers do expect students to present an appropriate response when asked about
11532-425: The only strict rule of word order is that the verb must be placed at the end of a sentence (possibly followed by sentence-end particles). This is because Japanese sentence elements are marked with particles that identify their grammatical functions. The basic sentence structure is topic–comment . For example, Kochira wa Tanaka-san desu ( こちらは田中さんです ). kochira ("this") is the topic of the sentence, indicated by
11656-470: The out-group gives a benefit to the in-group, and "up" to indicate the in-group gives a benefit to the out-group. Here, the in-group includes the speaker and the out-group does not, and their boundary depends on context. For example, oshiete moratta ( 教えてもらった ) (literally, "explaining got" with a benefit from the out-group to the in-group) means "[he/she/they] explained [it] to [me/us]". Similarly, oshiete ageta ( 教えてあげた ) (literally, "explaining gave" with
11780-415: The particle wa . The verb desu is a copula , commonly translated as "to be" or "it is" (though there are other verbs that can be translated as "to be"), though technically it holds no meaning and is used to give a sentence 'politeness'. As a phrase, Tanaka-san desu is the comment. This sentence literally translates to "As for this person, (it) is Mx Tanaka." Thus Japanese, like many other Asian languages,
11904-451: The patronage of this newly ascendant warrior class. During the Muromachi period , the Rinzai school was the most successful of the Zen schools in Japan because it was favoured by the shōgun . The school may be said to have truly flowered and achieved a distinctly Japanese identity with Shūhō Myōchō (aka Daitō Kokushi 1283–1337) and Musō Soseki (1275–1351), two influential Japanese Zen masters who did not travel to China to study. In
12028-594: The phrase "father and mother" alludes to duality. This is obvious to someone versed in the Chinese tradition, where so much philosophical thought is presented in the imagery of paired opposites. The phrase "your original face" alludes to the original nonduality . Comparable statements are: "Look at the flower and the flower also looks"; "Guest and host interchange". Kōan are also understood as pointers to an unmediated "Pure Consciousness", devoid of cognitive activity. Victor Hori criticizes this understanding: [A] pure consciousness without concepts, if there could be such
12152-513: The poisoned drum that kills all who hear it, or like a great fire that consumes all who come near it. What is called "the special transmission of the Vulture Peak" was the transmission of this; what is called the "direct pointing of Bodhidharma at Shao-lin-ssu" is this. In later periods like the Ming dynasty , Chinese Chan developed in different directions, such as incorporating Pure Land elements and
12276-524: The practice of going to a private interview with one's Zen master ( sanzen ) where one has to prove one's understanding of kōan "is the real point of the whole exercise". Some of the key Song-era gōng'àn collections are: These texts mostly draw and develop stories which are found in other sources, mainly the Anthology of the Patriarchal Hall (Chinese Zǔtángjí , mid-10th century), and
12400-477: The proposed larger Altaic family, or to various Southeast Asian languages , especially Austronesian . None of these proposals have gained wide acceptance (and the Altaic family itself is now considered controversial). As it stands, only the link to Ryukyuan has wide support. Other theories view the Japanese language as an early creole language formed through inputs from at least two distinct language groups, or as
12524-588: The recorded sayings attributed to them appear to be Yunmen Wenyan and Fenyang Shanzhao (947–1024)." According to Robert Buswell , the gōng'àn tradition "can be viewed as the products of an internal dynamic within Chan that began in the T'ang and climaxed in the Sung." By the beginning of the Song era, Chan masters were known to use these stories in their sermons, as well as to comment on them and to use them to challenge their students. Schlütter also writes: [M]uch of
12648-463: The role the kanhua technique played in standardizing Chan practice. He argues that this contributed to the routinization of the tradition, resulting in a loss of some of the more open and creative aspects of earlier Chan. According to Kasulis, the rise of gōng'àn contemplation in Song-era Zen led to a greater emphasis on the interaction between master and student, which came to be identified as
12772-459: The same structure as affirmative sentences, but with intonation rising at the end. In the formal register, the question particle -ka is added. For example, ii desu ( いいです ) "It is OK" becomes ii desu-ka ( いいですか。 ) "Is it OK?". In a more informal tone sometimes the particle -no ( の ) is added instead to show a personal interest of the speaker: Dōshite konai-no? "Why aren't (you) coming?". Some simple queries are formed simply by mentioning
12896-797: The state as at the time the constitution was written, many of the elders participating in the process had been educated in Japanese during the South Seas Mandate over the island shown by the 1958 census of the Trust Territory of the Pacific that found that 89% of Palauans born between 1914 and 1933 could speak and read Japanese, but as of the 2005 Palau census there were no residents of Angaur that spoke Japanese at home. Japanese dialects typically differ in terms of pitch accent , inflectional morphology , vocabulary , and particle usage. Some even differ in vowel and consonant inventories, although this
13020-515: The state religion, and Buddhism adapted to the new regime. Within the Buddhist establishment the Western world was seen as a threat, but also as a challenge to stand up to. A Rinzai university was founded in 1872, Hanazono University , initially as a seminary for those entering the priesthood. Hanazono University has grown to become the major Rinzai higher education institution in Japan. Modern Rinzai Zen
13144-476: The street. (grammatically incorrect insertion of a pronoun) But one can grammatically say essentially the same thing in Japanese: 驚いた彼は道を走っていった。 Transliteration: Odoroita kare wa michi o hashitte itta. (grammatically correct) This is partly because these words evolved from regular nouns, such as kimi "you" ( 君 "lord"), anata "you" ( あなた "that side, yonder"), and boku "I" ( 僕 "servant"). This
13268-402: The subsequent transmission histories also became sources of gongan ." Over time, a whole literary genre of gōng'àn collection and commentary developed which was influenced by "educated literati " of the Song era. These collections included quotations of encounter-dialogue passages (the "cases", gōng'àn ) with a master's comment on the case attached. When a prose comment was added,
13392-534: The teacher student relationship is seen in modern Japanese kōan training which always requires an authorized teacher ( rōshi or oshō ) in a specific lineage who has the ability to judge a disciple's understanding and expression of a gōng'àn . In the Rinzai Zen school , which uses kōan extensively, the teacher certification process includes an appraisal of proficiency in using that school's extensive kōan curriculum. According to Barbara O'Brien,
13516-992: The topic with an interrogative intonation to call for the hearer's attention: Kore wa? "(What about) this?"; O-namae wa? ( お名前は？ ) "(What's your) name?". Negatives are formed by inflecting the verb. For example, Pan o taberu ( パンを食べる。 ) "I will eat bread" or "I eat bread" becomes Pan o tabenai ( パンを食べない。 ) "I will not eat bread" or "I do not eat bread". Plain negative forms are i -adjectives (see below) and inflect as such, e.g. Pan o tabenakatta ( パンを食べなかった。 ) "I did not eat bread". Koan The way The "goal" Background Chinese texts Classical Post-classical Contemporary Zen in Japan Seon in Korea Thiền in Vietnam Western Zen A kōan ( / ˈ k oʊ æ n , - ɑː n / KOH -a(h)n ; Japanese : 公案 ; Chinese : 公案 ; pinyin : gōng'àn [kʊ́ŋ ân] ; Korean : 화두 ; Vietnamese : công án )
13640-419: The two consonants are the moraic nasal followed by a homorganic consonant. Japanese also includes a pitch accent , which is not represented in moraic writing; for example [haꜜ.ɕi] ("chopsticks") and [ha.ɕiꜜ] ("bridge") are both spelled はし ( hashi ) , and are only differentiated by the tone contour. Japanese word order is classified as subject–object–verb . Unlike many Indo-European languages ,
13764-577: The two methods were both used in writing until the 1940s. Bungo still has some relevance for historians, literary scholars, and lawyers (many Japanese laws that survived World War II are still written in bungo , although there are ongoing efforts to modernize their language). Kōgo is the dominant method of both speaking and writing Japanese today, although bungo grammar and vocabulary are occasionally used in modern Japanese for effect. The 1982 state constitution of Angaur , Palau , names Japanese along with Palauan and English as an official language of
13888-413: The two terms (''hyōjungo'' and ''kyōtsūgo'') are almost the same. Hyōjungo or kyōtsūgo is a conception that forms the counterpart of dialect. This normative language was born after the Meiji Restoration ( 明治維新 , meiji ishin , 1868) from the language spoken in the higher-class areas of Tokyo (see Yamanote ). Hyōjungo is taught in schools and used on television and in official communications. It
14012-407: The verb (e.g. yonde for earlier yomite ), the -k- in the final mora of adjectives drops out ( shiroi for earlier shiroki ); and some forms exist where modern standard Japanese has retained the earlier form (e.g. hayaku > hayau > hayɔɔ , where modern Japanese just has hayaku , though the alternative form is preserved in the standard greeting o-hayō gozaimasu "good morning"; this ending
14136-482: The way kōans are handled. These head temples preside over various networks, comprising a total of approximately six thousand temples, forty monasteries, and one nunnery. The Myōshin-ji branch is by far the largest, approximately as big as the other branches combined: it contains within it about three thousand five hundred temples and nineteen monasteries. The 15 branches of Rinzai, by head temple, are: A number of Rinzai lines have been transplanted from Japan to Europe,
14260-548: The world. Since Japanese first gained the consideration of linguists in the late 19th century, attempts have been made to show its genealogical relation to languages or language families such as Ainu , Korean , Chinese , Tibeto-Burman , Uralic , Altaic (or Ural-Altaic ), Austroasiatic , Austronesian and Dravidian . At the fringe, some linguists have even suggested a link to Indo-European languages , including Greek , or to Sumerian . Main modern theories try to link Japanese either to northern Asian languages, like Korean or
14384-496: Was Ikkyū . Another Rinka lineage was the Hotto lineage, of which Bassui Tokushō is the best-known teacher. By the 18th century, the Rinzai school was challenged by the newly-imported Obaku-lineage, and by the waning of support from the ruling elites. Hakuin Ekaku (1686–1769), with his vigorous zeal for koan -practice and his orientation towards common people, became the hero of a revigorized tradition of koan-study and an outreach to
14508-560: Was a major student of Hakuin and an influential author, painter and calligrapher. He is the author of the influential The Undying Lamp of Zen ( Shūmon mujintō ron ), which presents a comprehensive system of Rinzai training. Through Torei's student Gasan Jitō (1727–1797) Hakuin's approach became a focal point in Japanese Rinzai Zen. Before meeting Hakuin, Gasan received Dharma transmission from Rinzai teacher Gessen Zen'e, who had received dharma transmission from Kogetsu Zenzai. Gasan
14632-427: Was a negative one, "nonconceptualization,"... As Robert Buswell explains, this emphasis on non-conceptual meditation on a gōng'àn meant that "there is nothing that need be developed; all the student must do is simply renounce both the hope that there is something that can be achieved through the practice as well as the conceit that he will achieve that result." Wright argues that since "the narrative structure of
14756-920: Was also trained in Rinzai. Rinzai Zen in Japan today is not a single organized body. Rather, it is divided into 15 branches (or 16, if Ōbaku is included), referred to by the names of their head temples, of which half are based in Kyoto (8, plus Ōbaku). The largest and most influential of these is the Myōshin-ji branch, whose head temple was founded in 1342 by Kanzan Egen (1277–1360). Other major branches include Nanzen-ji and Tenryū-ji (both founded by Musō Soseki ), Daitoku-ji (founded by Shūhō Myōchō ), and Tōfuku-ji (founded by Enni Ben'en , 1202–1280). These branches are purely organizational divisions arising from temple history and teacher-student lineage, and do not represent sectarian divides or fundamental differences in practice. There are nevertheless small differences in
14880-535: Was based on 12- to 20-second-long recordings of 135 to 244 phonemes , which 42 students listened to and translated word-for-word. The listeners were all Keio University students who grew up in the Kanto region . There are some language islands in mountain villages or isolated islands such as Hachijō-jima island , whose dialects are descended from Eastern Old Japanese . Dialects of the Kansai region are spoken or known by many Japanese, and Osaka dialect in particular
15004-668: Was imported to Japan from Baekje around the start of the fifth century, alongside Buddhism. The earliest texts were written in Classical Chinese , although some of these were likely intended to be read as Japanese using the kanbun method, and show influences of Japanese grammar such as Japanese word order. The earliest text, the Kojiki , dates to the early eighth century, and was written entirely in Chinese characters, which are used to represent, at different times, Chinese, kanbun , and Old Japanese. As in other texts from this period,
15128-465: Was lost immediately following its composition.) This set of morae shrank to 67 in Early Middle Japanese , though some were added through Chinese influence. Man'yōgana also has a symbol for /je/ , which merges with /e/ before the end of the period. Several fossilizations of Old Japanese grammatical elements remain in the modern language – the genitive particle tsu (superseded by modern no )
15252-456: Was penetrating into all of them. He went even further, arguing that this new meditation technique was the only way of achieving enlightenment for Chan practitioners of his day. Thus, Schlütter writes that "in this insistence, he was unusual among the Song Chan masters, who generally tended to take a rather inclusive view of Buddhist practice. It is therefore fair to say that Dahui not only developed
15376-402: Was to be renounced in the practice of kanhua chan . According to Wright, this development left Chinese Chán vulnerable to criticisms by a resurgent neo-Confucianism. According to Mario Poceski, although Dahui's kanhua Chan (in which one focuses on a huatou ) purports to be a sudden method, it essentially consists of a process of gradually perfecting concentration. Poceski also observes
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