The S’ung dynasty Zen (Ch’an) master Hsueh Tou Ch’ung Hsien compiled and commented upon the collection of 100 koans that now comprise the Blue Cliff Record.  After being edited into its present form by Yuan Wu K’och’in about a century later, the Record, like its counterparts the Gateless Gate and Book of Equanimity, has stood the test of time as a masterpiece of Chinese poetry and Zen philosophy. A koan in the Blue Cliff Record would be familiar to readers of the Vimalakirti’s Discourse sutra. The koan recounts a snippet of dialogue between Vimalakirti and Manjushri in which Vimalakirti remains silent when prodded by Manjushri to explain how a Bodhisattva should cease dualistic thinking.

Koans of The Gateless Gate:

    The Highest Meaning Of The Holy Truths
    The Ultimate Path Is Without Difficulty
    Master Ma Is Unwell
    Te Shan Carrying His Bundle
    Hsueh Feng’s Grain Of Rice
    Yun Men’s Every Day Is A Good Day
    Hui Ch’ao Asks About Buddha
    Ts’ui Yen’s Eyebrows
    Chao Chou’s Four Gates
    Mu Chou’s Thieving Phoney
    Huang Po’s Gobblers Of Dregs
    Tung Shan’s Three Pounds of Hemp
    Pa Ling’s Snow In A Silver Bowl
    Yun Men’s Appropriate Statement
    Yun Men’s Upside-Down Statement
    Ching Ch’ing’s Man In The Weeds
    Hsiang Lin’s Meaning Of The Coming From The West
    National Teacher Chung’s Seamless Monument
    Chu Ti’s One-Finger Ch’an
    Lung Ya’s Meaning Of The Coming From The West
    Chih Men’s Lotus Flower, Lotus Leaves
    Hsueh Feng’s Turtle-Nosed Snake
    Pao Fu’s Summit Of The Mystic Peak
    Kuei Shan And Iron Grindstone Liu
    The Hermit Of Lotus Flower Peak Holds Up His Staff
    Pai Chang’s Sitting Alone On Ta Hsiung Mountain
    Yun Men’s The Body Exposed, The Golden Wind
    Nan Ch’uan’s Truth That’s Never Been Spoken
    Ta Sui’s It Goes Along With It
    Chao Chou’s Big Turnips
    Ma Ku Carrying His Ring-Staff
    Elder Ting Stands Motionless
    Ministry President Ch’en Sees Tzu Fu
    Yang Shan Asks, “Where Have You Come From?”
    The Dialogue of Manjusri and Wu Cho
    Ch’ang Sha Wandering In The Mountains
    P’an Shan’s There Is Nothing In The World
    Feng Hsueh’s Workings Of The Iron Ox
    Yun Men’s Flowering Hedge
    Nan Ch’uan’s It’s Like A Dream
    Chao Chou’s Man Who Has Died The Great Death
    Layman P’ang’s Good Snowflakes
    Tung Shan’s No Cold Or Heat
    Ho Shan’s Knowing How To Beat The Drum
    Chao Chou’s Seven-Pound Cloth Shirt
    Ching Ch’ing’s Sound Of Raindrops
    Yun Men’s Six Do Not Take It In
    Turning Over The Tea Kettle At Chao Ch’ing
    San Sheng’s Golden Fish Who Has Passed through the Net
    Yun Men’s Every Atom Samadhi
    Hsueh Feng’s What Is It
    Chao Chou’s Lets Asses Cross, Lets Horses Cross
    Pai Chang’s Wild Ducks
    Yun Men Extends Both Hands
    Tao Wu’s Condolence Call
    Ch’in Shan’s One Arrowpoint Smashes Three Barriers
    Chao Chou’s Stupid Oaf
    Chao Chou’s Can’t Explain
    Chao Chou’s Why Not Quote It Fully?
    Yun Men’s Staff Changes into a Dragon
    Feng Hsueh’s One Atom of Dust
    Yun Men’s Within There Is a Jewel
    Nan Ch’uan’s Kills A Cat
    Nan Ch’uan Questions Chao Chou
    An Outsider Questions the Buddha
    Yen T’ou’s Getting Huang Ch’ao’s Sword
    Mahasattva Fu Expounds the Scripture
    Yang Shan’s What’s Your Name?
    Nan Ch’uan’s Circle
    Kuei Shan Attends on Pai Chang
    Wu Feng’s Shut Up, Teacher
    Pai Chang Questions Yun Yen
    Ma Tsu’s Permutations of Assertion and Denial
    Chin Niu’s Rice Pail
    Wu Chou’s Unjust Beating
    Tan Hsia’s Have You Eaten Yet?
    Yun Men’s Cake
    Sixteen Boshisattvas Go In to Bathe
    T’ou Tzu’s All Sounds
    Chao Chou’s Newborn Baby
    Yao Shan’s Shooting the Elk of Elks
    Ta Lung’s Hard and Fast Body of Reality
    Yun Men’s Ancient Buddha’s and the Pillar
    Vimalakirti’s Gate of Nonduality
    The Hermit of T’ung Feng Makes a Tiger’s Roar
    Yun Men’s Kitchen Pantry and Main Gate
    Medicine and Disease Subdue Each Other
    Hsuan Sha’s Guiding and Aiding Living Beings
    The Hands and Eyes of the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion
    Chih Men’s Body of Wisdom
    Yen Kuan’s Rhinoceros
    The World Honored One Ascends The Seat
    Ta Kuang Does A Dance
    The Surangama Scripture’s Not Seeing
    Ch’ang Ch’ing’s Three Poisons
    Chao Chou’s Three Turning Words
    The Diamond Cutter Scripture’s Scornful Revilement
    T’ien P’ing’s Travels on Foot
    Su Tsung’s Ten-Body Controller
    Pa Ling’s Blown Hair Sword

 

Chinese (Pinyin):  Bìyán Lù