Hung-jen (Jap., Gunin or Konin), 601-74; the fifth patriarch of Ch’an (Zen) in China; the dharma successor (hassu) of Tao-hsin (Jap., Dōshin) and the master of Hui-neng (Jap., E’nō) and Shen-hsiu (Jap., Jinshū). According to tradition Hung-jen met the fourth patriarch at age fourteen and impressed Tao hsin, already at this first encounter, by his deep realization of Zen mind.
The dialogue between the fourth and the (later) fifth patriarch is passed down in the Denkō-roku. In it the two great masters punned on the characters for name and nature which are pronounced almost the same. Since the play on words with their double meanings cannot be reproduced in English, in the following translation name is used for both the words, read in Japanese sei and sho:
“The thirty-second patriarch [counting from Shākyamuni Buddha] Daiman Zenji [honorific title for Hung-jen] met the thirty-first patriarch [Tao-hsin] on the road to Ōbai.
The patriarch [Tao-hsin] asked, ‘What is your family name?’
The master [Hung-jen] said, ‘Although I have a name [sei], it is nonetheless no ordinary name.’
The patriarch said, ‘What kind of name is it then?’
The master said,’ ‘It is buddha-nature.’
The patriarch said, ‘Don’t you have a family name?’
The master said, ‘I don’t, since that nature is empty.’
The patriarch was quiet and noted that he was a dharma vessel. And he gave him the dharma robe.”
With the passing along of the robe (Den’e), the fourth patriarch confirmed Hung-jen as his dharma successor and installed him as the fifth patriarch in the lineage of Ch’an (Zen).
After the death of his master, Hung-jen founded the monastery on Mount Huang-mei (Jap., Ōbai) in which the memorable episode concerning the dharma succession of the sixth patriarch took place (Hui-neng), which split Ch’an (Zen) into a Northern and a Southern school.
Source: The Encyclopedia of Eastern Philosophy and Religion: Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Zen. Shambhala Publications, Inc.
Books on Hung-jen
External links: dharma / hassu / Tao-hsin (Dōshin) / Hui-neng / Shen-hsiu (Jinshū) / Denkō-roku / Shākyamuni / Buddha / Tao-hsin / den’e / Southern school