Puhua

Puhua
Personal
Born	770 China (Tang Dynasty)
Died	840
Religion	Mahayana Buddhism
Nationality	Chinese
School	Chán
Lineage	Linji (Note: Puhua is considered, or at least fabled to have most likely founded "Pǔhuà zōng" or the eponymic Fuke-shū sect, historically speaking. While he tends to be revered as the lineage's forefather, other theories abound. — *See article for details.*)
Senior posting
Teacher	Panshan Baoji (J. Banzan Hoshaku)

Zhenzhou Puhua (Chinese: 普化; pinyin: Zhenzhou Pǔhuà; Japanese: Jinshu Fuke; ca. 770-840) was an obscure Chinese Chán (J. Zen) bhikku-priest, notorious for being peculiarly, indistinctly and yet essentially connected to the origin of the ephemeral Fuke[sub-]sect of Japanese Zen Buddhism, which flourished during the nation's Medieval period. It is naturally to Puhua (or in this case, transliterated to Fuke) that the Fuke school owes its namesake; and historically he is referred to as the order's founder. However Fuke Zen's most notable and unique characteristics (many more of which are still considered ill-defined or unknown), such as the development and practice of suizen ("blowing zen" or "blowing meditation") with the shakuhachi bamboo flute, and the school's mendicant adherents known as komusō, are seemingly unrelated to the of the monk, as it is known.

While much of the information regarding Puhua's connection to the komusō is most-certainly scarce, he is inextricably linked to the rise of the sect in the Feudal era of Japan's history, if not merely its ideological basis, despite the fact that accounts place him in China several centuries earlier.

Background and life

Born in Tang Dynasty China in the year 770, Puhua was a known contemporary of Linji Yixuan (临济义玄; pinyin: Línjì Yìxuán; J. Rinzai Gigen; 800–866) and a late disciple in his eponymous Linji/Rinzai lineage. The relationship between Linji and Puhua – while indefinite – is important in that a minority of scholars argue that Fuke Zen's beginnings lie not with Puhua, but rather as an alternative to the Rinzai school Linji transmitted himself, alongside it. In any case, the school was considered even by its own members to have either been majorly influenced by or an offshoot of the Rinzai school.

That aside, Puhua is traditionally considered one of the most prominent students of his master, shīfu Panshan Baoji (J. rōshi Banzan Hoshaku), himself a student of Mazu, a Patriarch in the line of Dharma transmission from the ambiguous and vague "Sudden Enlightenment" (頓教) southern Chán [proto-]school originating with the sixth and final Patriarch of Chán, Huineng.

Most of the details regarding Puhua's affairs are recorded in the Record of Linji (perhaps furthering the concept of a Yixuan-originated sect), where he is presented (albeit briefly) as Panshan's chief student. Under Panshan, he had a rather notorious reputation as a multi-talented Zen ascetic who was at once inventive, innovative and often absurdly spontaneous, as well as rough and uncompromising in the way he expressed himself. The monk was well-known for typically acting in such a strange or outlandish manner, considered by some his method of communicating nonverbally to others [on] the experiential basis of an ineffable nature inherent in all things. (A notably Zen approach to enlightenment, elucidated as Bodhidharma's (J. Daruma) "transmission outside the scriptures, not founded upon words or letters", which is clearly apparent in the koans as well.)

One story of Puhua particularly demonstrates this:

When Panshan Baoji was near death, he said to the monks, "Is there anyone among you who can draw my likeness?"

Many of the monks made drawings for Panshan, but none were to his liking.

The monk Puhua stepped forward and said, "I can draw it."

Panshan said, "Why don't you show it to me?"

Puhua then turned a somersault and went out.

Panshan said, "Someday, that fellow will teach others in a crazy manner!"

Having said these words, Panshan passed away.

The Fuke-shū

Main article: Fuke Zen

Puhua is traditionally considered to either be the direct founder of, or at least the philosophical and spiritual antecedent to the Fuke-shū (in Chinese rendered literally as Pǔhuà zōng). Fuke Zen, or Fuke-shū was