Nanquan Puyuan (Chinese language: 南泉普願; Wade-Giles: Nan-ch’üan P’u-yüan; Pinyin: Nánquán Pǔyuàn; Japanese: Nansen Fugan; Korean language: 남천보원 Namcheon Bowon) (c. 749 – c. 835) was a Zen (Zen) Buddhism master in China during the Tang dynasty.[Fung Yu-lan, A History of Chinese Philosophy, vol. II, p. 397n2 states that his dates are 'variously given as 745–831, 748–834, 749–835, and 752–838.'] He was a student and Dharma successor of Master Mazu Daoyi (709–788).
Biography
In the year 795, after his enlightenment experience under Mazu, he settled in a self-made hut on Mount Nanquan, from which his dharma name is derived, and lived there in eremitic solitude for three decades.
[The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen, p. 154] In time, monks persuaded him to come down the mountain and found a monastery; from that time forward, he always had hundreds of students.
[The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen, p. 154]
Appearance in koans
Nanquan appears in several
Koan:
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4 koans in The Gateless Gate (#14, #19, #27, #34),
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6 koans in the Blue Cliff Record (#28, #31, #40, #63, #64, #69), and
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3 koans in The Book of Equanimity (#9, #69, #91).
Two gong'ans from the Blue Cliff Record (#28 & #69) depict Nanquan as an advanced student interacting with fellow students of Mazu, and the others depict him as a teacher in his own right.
A well-known koan is case #14 of the Gateless Gate, "Nanquan kills the cat":
Influence
Nanquan had seventeen Dharma successors, the most famous of whom was Zhaozhou Congshen (J. Joshu)(778–897).
[The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen, p. 154] Case #19 of the Gateless Gate recounts an interaction between Nanquan and Zhaozhou that led to the latter having a profound realization; some translators/editors, for example
Paul Reps, interpret this as Zhaozhou's enlightenment moment.
[Reps, Paul. Zen Flesh, Zen Bones, 1989, p. 105]
