---
title: "劍關子益禪師語錄 · 劍關和尚初住隆興府興化禪寺語錄"
description: "劍關子益禪師語錄由侍者善珙、德修、慧澄、銳彰、心寧、慧恭編錄，成書於宋元時期，是臨濟宗高僧子益禪師的傳世法語集。內容收錄其開示、機鋒、公案及偈頌，體現了禪宗直指人心、見性成佛的宗旨，反映了南宋禪林的修行風貌與思想精髓。該語錄是研究臨濟宗禪法與宋元禪宗歷史的重要文獻，對後世禪學發展影響深遠，為佛教禪宗典籍中的權威著作之一。"
url: "https://rushiwowen.co/en/r/cmcxlqlug05wgl804ikusjddh"
---
### 劍關和尚初住隆興府興化禪寺語錄
> Recorded Sayings of Master Jianguan upon First Residing at Xinghua Chan Monastery, Longxing Prefecture
侍者 善珙 德修 編
> Attendant editors: Shan'gong, Dexiu
師。於嘉熈三年正月入院。
> The Master entered the monastery in the first month of the third year of the Jiaxi era.
指三門。我此一門。初無關鍵。半合半開。東扇西扇。雖然。千聞不如一見。
> Pointing to the three gates. This single gate of mine has never had a lock or bar. Half closed, half open. An east leaf, a west leaf. Even so, hearing about it a thousand times is not as good as seeing it once.
踞方丈。不行喝不行棒。負命衲僧。不釣自上。
> Sitting squarely in the abbot's seat, he neither shouts nor strikes. Monks who come to test him—he catches them without lifting a hook.
山門疏。一字不著畫。八字沒兩。文彩甚分明。何待重饒舌。
> A foreword for the mountain gate. Not a single stroke is written, not a single character is split in two—yet the elegant pattern is perfectly clear. Why wait for someone to spell it out again?
江湖疏。行不到處行一步。說不到處道一句。徑山諸公。見義勇為。靈隱師伯。拔劒相助。且道。節文在甚麼處。眼睛裏聽取。
> A public notice to the world of Zen: Where the path cannot be walked, take one step. Where words cannot reach, speak one phrase. The elders of Jingshan, seeing what is right, act with courage. My dharma-uncle of Lingyin, draws his sword to help. Now tell me—where does the essential passage lie? Listen with your eyes.
拈法衣。黃梅夜半。雞足峯前。承虗接響。互相熱瞞。益上座。只今瞞你諸人去也。遂搭衣。
> Holding up the Dharma robe. At midnight in Huangmei. Before Mount Jizu. Carrying on an empty echo, passing down a sound. Each deceiving the other warmly. Yishang, the senior monk, is now about to deceive all of you as well. Then he put on the robe.
提綱。伏虎嵓高。風生萬壑。青龍水急。浪湧千尋。古佛門庭。八字打開。第一義諦。熾然宣說。新長老。到這裏。通身是口。通身是舌。更說箇甚麼即得。未免只據見成公案。舉似諸人。俊快底承當得去。便見三邊肅靜。四海晏清。塊雨條風。民康物阜。正恁麼時如何。道泰不傳天子令。時清休唱太平歌。
> Outline. The tiger-taming cliff stands high; wind rises through ten thousand valleys. The azure dragon's waters rush; waves surge a thousand fathoms. The ancient Buddha's doorway opens wide in eight characters. The supreme truth blazes forth in proclamation. The new elder, arriving here, is nothing but mouth, nothing but tongue, all over. What more could he possibly say? He cannot help but take the case as it stands and present it to everyone. Those sharp and quick who can accept it will at once see the three borders in quiet order, the four seas calm and clear. Seasonable rain and gentle breeze; the people in health, all things in abundance. At just such a time, how is it? When the Way prevails, the Son of Heaven's decrees go unproclaimed; when the times are clear, the songs of peace are left unsung.
舉三聖道。我逢人即出。出則不為人。興化道。我逢人即不出。出則便為人。
> The path of the Three Sages: "When I meet people, I immediately come out. When I come out, I do not act for people." The path of Xinghua: "When I meet people, I do not immediately come out. When I come out, I immediately act for people."
拈云。大眾。還知二大老落處麼。亞夫金皷從天落。韓信鎗旗背水陳。
> Let me ask you all: do you know where these two great masters truly stand? Zhou Yafu's war drums fell from the sky; Han Xin's spears and banners were arrayed with their backs to the river.
當晚小參。問答不錄長劒倚天。鋒鋩不露。三賢莫辨。十聖那知。竪主杖云看看。鋒鋩露也。寒光射斗。勁氣凌霜。逢佛殺佛。逢祖殺祖。盡大地人。誰敢正眼覰著。這裏莫有不頋危亡。向刃下翻身底麼。卓主丈放過一著。
> That evening, during the informal gathering. Questions and answers are not recorded. A long sword leans against the sky. Its sharp edge is not revealed. Even the three wise ones cannot discern it. How could the ten sages know it? Holding up his staff, he said: Look, look! The sharp edge is revealed. Its cold light shoots toward the stars. Its fierce spirit braves the frost. Meeting a Buddha, kill the Buddha. Meeting a patriarch, kill the patriarch. Among all the people in the great earth, who dares to look at it directly? Is there anyone here who, heedless of danger and death, can turn over within the blade? He struck the ground with his staff. I let this one pass.
復舉。馬大師令僧馳書往徑山國一祖師處。一發緘。乃見一圓相。遂於圓相中。下一點封回。忠國師聞得乃云。欽師猶被馬師惑。
> Here is a past example: Master Ma sent a monk to deliver a letter to National Master Yiguo at Jing Mountain. When the master opened the letter, he saw only a circle. So he placed a dot in the center of the circle and sent it back. When National Master Zhong heard of this, he said, "Master Qin was still fooled by Master Ma."
拈云。馬大師用盡平生伎倆。到國一面前。不消一點。因甚南陽却道。欽師猶被馬師惑。良久云人必自侮。國必自伐上堂。㝡初句向上機。瞿曇不會。達磨不知。知不知。雨餘千嶂碧。春水一溪肥。
> A monk raised this: "Great Master Ma exhausted every trick he knew in his lifetime, yet before National Teacher Yi, not even a dot of it was needed. Why then did Nanyang say, 'Even Master Qin was deluded by Master Ma?'" After a pause, he said: A person brings humiliation upon themselves; a state brings destruction upon itself. The master took the seat and said: "The very first phrase, the upward-reaching mechanism—Gautama did not understand it, Bodhidharma did not know it. Knowing and yet not knowing: after the rain, a thousand peaks are green; spring waters swell one whole stream."
觀靜二維那至上堂。一槌便就。瞞瞞盰盰。不假一槌。無端無端。畢竟如何。忙裏工夫閑處覔。閙中消息靜中觀。
> To the two temple administrators, Guan and Jing, at the upper hall: With a single hammer stroke, it is done—yet this is muddled and blind. Without relying on a single hammer stroke—this is pointless and groundless. After all, how is it? Seek the work amid busyness in a place of leisure; observe the message amid noise in a place of stillness.
中秋上堂。天上月圓。人間月半。明眼衲僧。見似不見。見麼。擲下拂子盞子撲落地。楪子成七片上堂。向上一路。千聖不傳。未曾擬議。早隔大千。所以。雪峰輥毬。禾山打皷。仰山插鍬。地藏種田。雖然。短綆那汲深泉。
> On the Mid-Autumn Festival, the master ascended the teaching seat and said: The moon in heaven is full; among people, the moon is half. The clear-eyed monk sees as though not seeing. Do you see? He threw down his whisk. The cup crashed to the ground; the saucer broke into seven pieces. Ascending the seat: The upward path—a thousand sages have not transmitted it. Before you can even think or discuss it, you are already separated by a billion worlds. That is why Xuefeng rolled the ball, Heshan beat the drum, Yangshan planted the spade, and Dizang planted the field. And yet—how can a short rope draw water from a deep spring?
至節上堂。去年今日逢冬節。撲頭撲面迎霜雪。今年冬節又來臨。屋角梅花弄曉晴。拍膝笑它魯史謾書雲。
> At the winter solstice assembly: Last year on this day we greeted the winter festival— frost and snow blew straight into our faces. This year the winter solstice has come around again, and plum blossoms in the corner of the courtyard play in the morning sunlight. He slaps his knee. I laugh at how the Lu scribes vainly recorded the clouds.
上堂。與麼寒。何處避。氷稜上。深雪裏。有來由。沒巴鼻。丹霞燒木佛。院主眉鬚墮。
> A teaching: If it's this cold, where can you hide? On icy ridges, deep in the snow. There's a reason, yet no handle to grasp. Danxia burned a wooden Buddha, and the temple abbot's eyebrows and beard fell off.
上堂。拈拂云信手拈來。萬選萬中。輕若鴻毛輕。重似丘山重。擲拂云雖是死蛇。也要活弄上堂。四九三十六。夜眠如露宿。銀海眩生花。玉樓寒起粟。翻笑二祖立雪謾齊腰。活埋一片無瑕玉。
> The master ascended the platform. Holding up the whisk, he said: Picked up casually by hand, Every choice hits the mark. Light as a goose feather, Heavy as a mountain. Throwing down the whisk, he said: Though it is a dead snake, It must still be brought to life. Ascending the platform: Four times nine is thirty-six. Sleeping at night is like camping in the dew. The silver sea dazzles and flowers appear, The jade tower shivers with cold, goosebumps rise. I laugh at the Second Patriarch standing in the snow, waist-deep in vain— Burying alive a flawless piece of jade.
上堂。昨日雨。今日晴。桃花開口笑。無處覔靈雲。今日莫有不釣自上者麼。良久云掩彩殺人佛生日上堂。二千年前。通身是垢。二千年後。滿面埃塵。直饒九曲黃河水。洗到驢年也不清。
> A teaching from the master's seat: Yesterday it rained. Today it's clear. The peach blossoms open their mouths and smile. But you won't find anywhere the spirit of Lingyun.\* Today, is there anyone here who catches fish without even fishing?\* \*After a long pause, he said:\* Birthday of the Buddha teaching from the master's seat: Two thousand years ago, the whole body was filth. Two thousand years later, the face is covered in dust. Even if you took the winding waters of the Yellow River, and washed until the Year of the Donkey, you still wouldn't get clean.
謝首座藏主秉拂上堂。潑天聲價陳睦州。咬人火急瞌睡虎。行不到處行一步。道不到處道一句。德山臨濟眼𥉌𭿇。棒喝交馳無所措。興化忍俊不禁。卓主丈隨例赫日光中飛白雨。驀召大眾照顧濕却袈裟角。
> Chief Seat Xie and the Sutra Librarian took the ceremonial whisk and ascended the hall to teach. Chen of Muzhou, whose fame resounds to the heavens— a sleepy tiger that bites the moment you stir. Where footsteps cannot reach, take a step. Where words cannot reach, speak a phrase. Deshan and Linji, their eyes bleary and blurred, trade blows and shouts, at a loss what to do. Xinghua cannot hold back a grin— strikes the master's staff and, following custom, sends white rain flying through the blazing sunlight. Suddenly calls to the assembly: Watch out—don't let the corner of your robe get wet!
上堂。世事悠悠。不如山丘。臥藤蘿下。塊石枕頭。所以許由洗耳。巢父飲牛。又有底道。何不餔其糟而啜其醨。隨其波而混其流。這一隊擔板漢。能收不能放。能放不能收。且如何是全収全放底句。以拂擊禪床大鵬展翅盖十洲。籬邊燕空啾啾。
> A monk once said: The world's affairs go on and on— better to be like the hills. Lying beneath the vines, resting my head on a stone. That is why Xu You washed out his ears, and Chao Fu watered his ox. Yet someone else said: Why not eat the dregs and drink the thin wine? Follow the waves and mingle with the current. This crowd of plank-carriers— they can gather but cannot let go; they can let go but cannot gather. So what is the phrase that is both total gathering and total letting go? Struck the meditation seat with his whisk. The great peng spreads its wings and covers the ten continents. By the fence, the swallows chirp uselessly in the empty air.
端午上堂。舉拂子。召大眾云還見麼。名不得。狀不得。脫胎換骨方。起死回生訣。信得及底。不消一服。諸病頓除。脫體安樂。何必善財重採藥。
> On the Dragon Boat Festival, the master ascended the dharma seat. He raised his whisk and called to the assembly, saying: Do you all see it? It cannot be named; it cannot be described. It is the method for shedding one's mortal body and exchanging one's bones, the secret for bringing the dead back to life. For those whose faith is firm, there is no need for even a single dose—all illnesses vanish at once, and the whole body is at peace and bliss. Why should Sudhana need to go searching for more medicine?
中夏上堂。一日復一日。眨眼過半夏。興化老無知。鉢盂安柄。引得四海參玄人。三三兩兩聚頭。商量這个話。阿呵呵。六月賣松風。人間恐無價。
> The summer retreat begins. Day after day passes, and in the blink of an eye, half the summer is gone. Old Xinghua, knowing nothing, fixes a handle on his alms bowl. He draws seekers of the profound from the four seas, who gather in twos and threes, heads together, discussing this matter. Ah, ha ha! Selling pine-scented breeze in the sixth month—in the human world, its price is likely beyond measure.
請監收上堂。欲明此道。須遇其人。其人既遇。十倍收成。且道。是那个道字。良久云明破即不堪重九上堂。秋未霜。菊正芳。千朵萬朵香吐蘂。三枝兩枝金樣黃。不作世諦流布。亦非佛法商量。九月九日是重陽。
> A monk asked for instruction, and I took the high seat. If you wish to understand this path, you must meet the right person. Once you have met that person, your harvest is tenfold. Now tell me — what is this "path"? After a long pause, he spoke: Once it is spelled out plainly, it cannot be tolerated. On the Double Ninth Festival, I took the high seat. Autumn has not yet brought frost; the chrysanthemums are at their fragrant best. A thousand blossoms, ten thousand blossoms, each one bursting with fragrance. Two or three branches here, two or three there, golden yellow. This is not a worldly proclamation, nor is it a discussion of the Dharma. The ninth day of the ninth month is the Double Ninth Festival.
上堂。恠得深夜寒。破曉清霜重。雙㵎水無聲。千峯雲欲凍。這裏冷湫湫。那邊熱閧閧。不知那个得便宜。慚愧楊岐老凍膿。
> The master entered the hall and spoke: Strange how the deep night turns cold, At dawn the clear frost lies heavy. The two streams make no sound, A thousand peaks' clouds are about to freeze. Here it is chill and desolate, There it is hot and bustling. Who knows which one comes out ahead? How humbling—old Yangqi, that frozen bag of pus.
謝西堂首座藏主上堂。竪拂云格外提持。斗轉星移。智藏不會。海兄不知。尀耐睦州擔板漢。教壞臨濟小𤺊兒。拍床云此意明明說向誰上堂。見見之時。羯諦羯諦。見非是見。波羅羯諦。見猶離見。波羅僧羯諦。見莫能及。菩提薩婆訶。驀召大眾云還見釋迦老子麼便下座上堂。天寒地冷。晝短夜長。死灰撥盡。沒可商量。昨夜三更月到窗。
> The West Hall's Chief Seat and the abbot of the storehouse collection addressed the assembly. Raising his whisk, he said: "Beyond the ordinary, I raise and hold it up. The Dipper turns, the stars shift. Wisdom's store cannot grasp it. Brother Hai does not know it. That stubborn blockhead Muzhou — teaching the little rascal Linji all wrong." Striking the meditation platform, he said: "This meaning, so plain and clear — to whom shall I speak it? Do not give rise to deluded thoughts. Do not give rise to deluded thoughts. See what is not seen. Utterly transcend deluded thoughts. See yet beyond seeing. Utterly transcend beyond transcendence. Seeing can never reach it. Thus, Enlightenment! Suddenly addressing the great assembly, he said: "Do you still see old Shakyamuni?" Then he stepped down from the seat. He addressed the assembly: "Cold is the sky, cold is the earth. Short is the day, long is the night. When dead ashes are swept away completely, there is nothing left to discuss. Last night at the third watch, the moon reached my window."
上堂。作無所作。為無所為。灰頭土面。帶水拖泥。恁麼要見興化。快須照顧兩莖眉。
> Now I take the high seat. Doing what need not be done. Acting without acting. My face is smeared with ash, my head caked with dirt. Trailing mud and dragging water. If you want to meet Xinghua this way, you'd better watch out for your two eyebrows!
上堂。如來禪只在口皮邊。祖師意不過方寸地。因甚十个五双。知似不知。見如不見。良久云只為太近聖節上堂。正法輪輕撥轉。日出中天。雲開嶽面。如優曇花時一現。
> When the master took his seat, he said: The Zen of the Tathagata lies only at the edge of your lips. The patriarchs' intent goes no further than an inch of your heart. So why is it that among ten or a dozen people, they know as if not knowing, see as if not seeing? After a long pause, he said: It is only because it is too close. For the sacred occasion of the emperor's birthday, I take my seat. The wheel of the true Dharma turns with the lightest touch. The sun rises to mid-sky. The clouds part to reveal the mountain's face. Like the udumbara flower, it appears but once in an age.
上堂。有一人。在百尺竿頭。闊行大步。口不能言。有一人。在萬人叢裏。罵雨呵風。足不能履。且道。那个優。那个劣。卓主丈云分浴佛上堂。佛身長三尺。杓柄長三尺。佛身長丈六。杓柄長丈六。佛身長無量百千萬億那由他由旬。此之杓柄亦復爾。青龍將底報深恩。隨例香湯灌頂門。
> Here is the accessible modern translation: In the hall, I say: Suppose there is a person standing atop a hundred-foot pole, striding about freely in great strides—but their mouth cannot speak. And suppose there is another person in the midst of a great crowd, cursing the rain and scolding the wind—but their feet cannot walk. Now tell me: which one is better? Which is worse? Striking the emblem of the master's staff and speaking A separate teaching for the Bathing the Buddha ceremony. The Buddha's body is three feet tall; the ladle's handle is three feet long. The Buddha's body is sixteen feet tall; the ladle's handle is sixteen feet long. The Buddha's body is immeasurably vast—hundreds of thousands of millions of billions of yojanas—and this ladle's handle is exactly the same. How does a green dragon repay such deep kindness? Following the custom, pouring fragrant water over the crown of the head.
舊住至上堂。玄沙不出嶺。拄杖生根休用剪。保壽不渡河。鉢盂無柄不須安。只如善財童子。於覺城東際。受文殊教。遊歷百一十城。參五十三善知識。末後於彌勒樓閣彈指聲中。還有這个消息也無。乃云蘇嚧蘇嚧。
> The old resident monk entered the hall and said: Xuansha never left the mountain ridge—the walking staff has taken root, so there is no need to cut it. Baoshou never crossed the river—the alms bowl has no handle, so there is no need to fix one. Take, for example, the youth Sudhana. At the eastern edge of the city of Enlightenment, he received Manjushri's teachings and traveled through one hundred and ten cities, visiting fifty-three good spiritual friends. In the end, within the sound of Maitreya's finger-snap at the tower pavilion—is there still this message or not? Then he said: Su Lu Su Lu.
六月望上堂。酷暑炎炎何處避。不在鑊湯爐炭裏。北窗一枕黑甜餘。細聽松風雜流水。
> On the full moon day of the sixth month, the abbot addressed the assembly: Where can one escape the blazing heat of summer? Not in a cauldron of boiling water or a pit of burning coals. Behind the north window, after a pillow of sweet dark sleep, listen closely—the pine wind mingles with the sound of flowing water.
謝首座藏主秉拂。上堂。一見便見。天回地轉。宗通說通。風虎雲龍。只如百丈被馬祖一喝。因甚三日耳聾。良久云閩蜀同風上堂。日可冷月可熱。眾魔不能壞真說。且作麼生是真說。屋頭泉溜響無休。砌下寒蛩聲更切。
> When the chief seat and the scripture keeper held the whisk, \[the master\] ascended the hall and said: See it and you see it at once—heaven turns, earth revolves. Understanding the essence and understanding the teaching—wind and tiger, cloud and dragon. Just consider: Baizhang was shouted at by Mazu—why was he deaf for three days? After a long pause, he said: Ascending the hall: "Fujian and Sichuan share the same customs. The sun may grow cold, the moon may grow hot, but all demons cannot destroy the true teaching. So what is the true teaching? The spring on the rooftop gurgles without end; below the steps, the cold crickets' cries grow even more urgent."
上堂。一日復一日。一秋復一秋。從頭屈指數。屈指又從頭。烏飛兔走幾時休。召大眾云莫有不隨世態炎凉底麼拍禪床下座修橋上堂。得路塞路。過橋斷橋。不拘兩岸。不滯中流。直饒你會得步行騎水牛。我更問你。空手因甚把鋤頭。
> A teaching from the master: One day follows another, one autumn follows another. Counting on your fingers from the beginning, then counting again from the start — how long will the sun and moon keep racing on? Calling to the assembly, he said: Is there anyone here who does not drift along with the world's fickle warmth and cold? He struck the meditation platform and left his seat. A teaching on building a bridge: When you find a path, block the path. When you cross a bridge, cut off the bridge. Do not linger on either shore; do not get stuck in midstream. Even if you can grasp walking on foot while riding a water buffalo, I still ask you: with empty hands, why are you holding a hoe?
上堂。冬前冬後。沙飛石走。時節到來。不容袖手。興化雖無駈風走電之謀。也要應个時候。卓主丈云一九二九。
> A teaching from the master's seat: Before winter and after winter, sand flies and stones tumble. When the season arrives, you cannot simply stand by with folded hands. Though Xinghua may lack the schemes to drive the wind and make lightning run, he still must answer the moment. The master struck his staff and said: One nine, two nines.
謝維郍知客副寺典座上堂。十聲槌下定綱宗。送去迎來事一同。竪百橫千有通變。笊籬無柄舀春風。
> Xie Weina, the Guest Master and Assistant Monastic Manager, took the high seat. A single strike of the mallet settles the guiding principle; seeing off and welcoming in are one and the same. Upright, a hundred; horizontal, a thousand — all is flexible and adaptive. The bamboo strainer without a handle scoops up the spring breeze.
上堂。般若鋒。金剛𦦨。覿面當機。突出難辨。竪拂云見麼。春風一陣來。落花飛片片。
> The Abbot ascended the platform. The blade of wisdom, the flame of diamond — confronted face to face, it defies all description. He raised his whisk and said: Do you see it? A single gust of spring wind comes — and petals fall, scattering one by one.
黃龍寧首座至上堂。憶昔玉几時。分贓不合火。今日驀相逢。依然眾恁麼。不恁麼。睦州檐板。雲門脚跛。
> When the former head monk Huanglong Ning took the high seat, he said: I remember those days at Yuji, sharing the loot but never quite agreeing on the fire. Today we suddenly meet again, and still everyone is just like this — or not like this. Muzhou's carrying board, Yunmen's lame leg.