Chan Praise of Ancient Verses Collection (禪宗頌古聯珠通集)

General Collection Preface

When the First Patriarch came from the West, He did not establish written words— Only direct pointing. Yet his disciples later spoke of "Not clinging to words, nor abandoning words" As a means to the Way— This already fell into the second level of teaching. Hence the record: "You have obtained my skin." The Way does not dwell in words—this is clear.

What do you think of this?

I say: Not so. Although the Way does not dwell in words, If words are appropriate, Then speaking of the Way all day long does no harm. If not, even a single word is already superfluous.

Ever since a single flower blossomed And the five petals spread their fragrance; Since the sixth patriarch transmitted the teaching And the two branches branched forth, The encounters and koans, The Five Lamps shining brilliantly, All the ancestral teachers in succession Produced "pointing to the ancient" and "verse to the ancient." Pointing to the ancient can be seen in collections Like the Eight Directions' Pearls and Jewels. For verse to the ancient, there was the Precious Mirror Master. In the Chunxi era of the Song dynasty, While dwelling at Chi Yang Bao En Temple, He gathered encounters from the Buddha and patriarchs Down to the tea-drinking elder— Three hundred twenty-five cases total, With one hundred twenty-two verse masters, And two thousand one hundred verses, Entitled "Chan Verse to the Ancient: String of Pearls." The monastic community highly valued it, But the woodblocks began to wear out.

Reflecting that nearly two hundred years Had passed since the Chunxi era, During which time great masters and eminent teachers Had appeared like stars in the sky, Their verse to the ancient was no less than that of the ancients. Yet a work continuing the string of pearls Was still absent.

For years I have felt ashamed To be part of the Zen school Without having realized Zen Or attained the Way, Wanting to compose such a work Yet stopping again and again, Hesitating many times.

In the first year of Yuanzhen (1295), I was assigned to administer the temple on Yiwu Mountain. With few duties, I began compiling a continuation. Gathering only one or two fragments, Travelling here and there, Seeing and recording as I went, Over twenty-three or twenty-four years, It gradually took shape.

For encounters already with verses, I continued them. For those without, I added them. Thus I added four hundred ninety-three encounters, Masters numbering four hundred twenty-six, Verses totaling three thousand fifty, And titled it "Zen Verse to the Ancient: String of Pearls, Comprehensive Collection." I plan to have it printed and distributed For later students to share.

A confused person said: "The Way is not found in this. The flower picked and the slight smile, Obtaining marrow with three bows— Not a single word was exchanged with him, Yet it shone clearly between mind and eye, The Way spreading without limit. How could it come to this today— Harmonizing tones and rhymes, Playing with phrases and sentences, Drumming and fooling later people, Causing them to abandon the root and chase the leaves? This is truly lamentable!"

I smiled without answering. After a long silence, I chanted:

"In the midst of the five-colored clouds, an immortal appears, Holding a red silk fan to cover their face. You must quickly focus your eyes to see the immortal, Not gaze at the fan in the immortal's hand."

Then I said to him: "What you discuss is the fan in the hand. What I have collected— Is it truly in the fan?

Alas! Those who understand me, And those who condemn me— Perhaps it all comes from this collection."

In the early summer of the year Wuwu of the Yanyou era (1318 CE), the monk Puhui, who had previously resided at Tianyi Wanshou Chan Temple in Shaoxing Prefecture, wrote this preface himself at Qiantang.