2. Zong of the North

Three of these students, Shen-hsiu, Hui-neng and Chih-hsien started their own schools based on variations of Hung-jen's teachings.

Perhaps Hung-jen's best Dharma Heir was a brilliant student named Fa-ju. However, as writers of history are fickle, Fa-ju has never actually been included in the list of patriarchs, because a formal theory of a patriarchal lineage had not been established. Despite the succession of Fa-ju, the most gifted heir to Hung-jen, according to the reliable Confucian scholar Ch'ang Yueh (667-730), was Shen- hsiu. It was this Shen-hsui  who was maligned and defamed by a later student of Hui Neng called Ho-tse Shen-hui.

As for Hui-neng's actual teachings, it is believed that they were no different from those of Shen-hsiu. In fact, Ch'eng-kuan of the Hua-yen school, for example, was unable to see any significant difference between the teachings of Shen-hsiu and Hui-neng. Even the arguments over sudden versus gradual awakening were not Hui-neng's ideas, but were generated by this notorious oportunist Ho-tse Shen-hui.

Shen-hsiu moved to Lo-yang, the capital, in 701. He was accepted by the Emperor and Empress and even tailored his teachings to fit their needs. Shen-hsiu named his school the "East Mountain Teaching" in honor of his teacher Hung-jen, who taught on what was known as the East Mountain.

Up to this time, there was no conflict between methods of spiritual practice. This harmonious period between the time of Hung-jen and the deaths of Shen-hsiu and Hui-neng was the most creative period of Ch'an and many Dharma Heirs flourished that later gave impetus to the Golden Age.

 But conflicts began with the dubious claims of Ho-tse Shen-hui.

It is through him and his successors that the colorful legends of Ch'an are created and developed. Before him, there had been no Northern and Southern schools, clear divisions of gradual or sudden enlightenment, or even a  lineage.

Ho-tse Shen-hui was determined to start his own school of Ch'an. He was born in 684 and in his early 20's studied with Hui-neng for about seven years, until Hui-neng's death in 713. Twenty ters later In 732, Shen-hui held a conference in Hua-t'ai at the Ta-yun Temple. Here he planned his vicious attack against the school of Shen-hsiu, which included referring to Shen-hsiu's school as the Northern School. For his own clear advantage, generated accounts of a false battle for lineage, placing Hui-neng as the next patriarch. Shen-hui's substitution of Hui-neng as the real Dharma heir involves a series of fabricated stories and teachings, including lineage fables, and attempting to prove that Hung-jen intended for Hui-neng to be his successor.

 He then attacked Shen-hsiu's school on doctrinal points and once his attack was successful, declared himself Hui-neng's successor.

At that time the Gradual teachings had been replaced by the original Chan teachings of the old masters before Bodhidharma, namely, the fifth century teachers Hsieh Ling-yun (385-433), Seng-chao (374-414) and Tao-sheng (360-434), and sudden awakening was considered by all to be the central fount of all Chan contemplations.

Shen-hui then labeled Shen-hsiu's school "The Northern School" of inferior teachings, namely gradual awakening.

Shen-hui first makes his point by saying that from the time of Bodhidharma, each master has given his robes to his successor. This line of succession continues all the way down to Hung-jen, who, according to Shen-hui, gave his robes to Hui-neng. Shen-hui wrote:

"The robe is the proof of the Dharma, and the Dharma is the Doctrine of the robe. Both the Dharma and robe are passed on through each other. There is no other transmission,

Without  the robe, the Dharma cannot be spread, and without the Dharma the robe cannot be obtained."

Up to this point, the idea of a singular line of succession did not exist.

In fact, when Shen-hui first told this story at the conference in Hua-t'ai, a representative from Shen-hsiu's lineage expressed puzzlement: "Confused, Ch'ung-yuan asked why there could be only one succession in each generation and whether the transmission of the Dharma was dependent on the transmission of the robe."

To substantiate this position, Shen-hui created  a fictional dialogue that he used in his teachings, declaring that during his lifetime the Ch'an Master Shen-hsiu stated that the robe, symbolic of the Dharma, as transferred in the sixth generation, was at Shao-chou (near Hui-neng's temple)."

The most clever and effective tale from one of Shen-hui's texts, called Nan-yang ho-shang wen-ta tsa-cheng i, was the purported  dialogue between Shen-hsiu and the Empress Wu.

"When the Empress Wu invited Shen-hsiu  to court, in the year 700 or 701, this learned priest is alleged to have said that in Shao-chou there was a great master (Hui-neng) who had in secret inherited the Dharma of the Fifth Patriarch."

Thus, not only is the generous passing of the Dharma destroyed but only those in direct succession with the robe are in possesion of the truth. This tragic anti-Dharma idea would desenfranchise most of the great past masters, but sadly that same idea persists to give validity to any idea presented.  Without the robe and lineage there is no Dharma. How can that be?

Shen-hui then attacks "The Northern School" on doctrinal differences.  To back up his Northern school inferiority claim, he uses several fabricated dialogues similar to the ones he used in his robe claims. The most famous one is a dialogue between Master Yuan and Shen-hui about two of Shen-hsiu's successors, P'u-chi and Hsiang-mo:

The master Yuan said: "P'u-chi chan-shih of Sung-yueh and Hsiang-mo of Tung-shan, these priests of great virtue, teach men to concentrate the mind to enter "dhyana", to settle the mind to see purity, to stimulate the mind to illuminate the external, to control the mind to demonstrate the internal.”  On this they base their teachings....

The priest (Shen-hui) said: "If I taught people to do these things, it would be a hindrance to attaining awakening. The sitting meditation I'm talking about means not to give rise to thoughts. The Contemplation of Chan that I am talking about is to see the Original Nature." 

The Northern School indeed taught a form of sudden enlightenment. Its teachings were a sophisticated blend of practices derived from the Heart Sutra, the Lankavatara Sutra and the teachings of Hua-Yen. As Philip Yampolsky points out, it may have been closer to the teachings of Hung-jen than what Shen-hui promoted.

These descriptions of Ho-tse Shen-hui's attacks were one-sided. The "East Mountain School" as it is known today, ignored Shen-hui. There is not a single reference to Shen-hui in any Northern School text. 

Even if these attacks failed, however, they gave Ho-tse Shen hui's school much needed attention. If it had not been for Shen-hui's attack, which drew attention to the school of Hui-neng, Hui- neng's school probably would have drifted into obscurity.

The downside to this for Ho-tse Shen-hui, was that his outspoken attacks attracted the attention of the imperial censor, Lu I, who was in favor of the Northern School. After an interview with Emperor Hsuan-tsung in 753, government officials were convinced that Ho-tse Shen-hui was a dangerous person, and therefore banished him from the capital, Lo-yang. Ho-tse Shen-hui was sent to various places during his exile, all of which were strongholds of Northern School teachings. He used this situation to his advantage, preaching and gaining increasing influence through his attacks.

The government which banished Shen-hui was driven into exile in 756, when a rebel army took the capital cities in the An Lu-Shan Rebellion. Forced to defend themselves from this attack, the government began fund-raising efforts to support their armies, which included setting up ordination platforms to sell certificates of ordination.

Ho-tse Shen-hui was brought back from exile to help in these efforts. In return for his service, the government promised him a position of authority and power.

Ho-tse Shen Hui's school, fostered by the government, became the predominant school of Ch'an. By being so close to the imperial court, East Mountain Ch'an had become the "fashionable" religion of the day. However, it was during this period that China was invaded by Tibet and lost the city of Tun-Huang, creating a new interest in Ch'an from the Tibetan court. East Mountain Ch'an, although appearing on the scene in Central asia later than other schools, had a major influence in the area.