Record of the Transmission of Illumination

by the Great Ancestor, Zen Master Keizan

(Taiso Keizan Zenji senjutsu Denkōroku 太祖瑩山禪師撰述傳光錄)

瑩山和尚傳光錄　侍者編
Reverend Keizan’s Record of the Transmission of Illumination
compiled by his acolyte1
師於正安二年正月十二日始請益。
On the 12th day of the 1st month in the 2nd year of the Shōan Era,2 the
Master3 responded for the first time to a request for edification.4
1 compiled by his acolyte (jisha hen 侍者編). Presumably this was a monk who served
Keizan as secretary acolyte (shojō jisha 書状侍者), which was one of five kinds of acolyte
that Zen abbots in medieval Japan had as personal assistants. → acolyte. The name of the
acolyte, not given here, is unknown; it is possible that more than one person held that
title and helped to compile the records that became the Denkōroku. Nor is it clear what
“compile” (hen 編) means in this context. It could be that an acolyte simply wrote down
what Keizan said as he was speaking, but it is equally possible that Keizan spoke from
notes that his acolyte later had access to. The question of the genesis of the Denkōroku is
discussed in the Introduction that appears in Volume 2 of the present work.
2 12th day of the 1st month in the 2nd year of the Shōan Era (Shōan ni nen shō gatsu
jūni nichi 正安二年正月十二日). The date corresponds to February 3, 1300. Printed
editions of the Denkōroku state that Keizan’s presentation began on the 12th day. All
the extant manuscript versions, however, identify the day as the 11th. Busshū Sen’ei 佛
洲仙英 (1794–1864) must have changed the date from the 11th to the 12th when he
edited the text for printing.
3 the Master (Shi 師). The reference is to Zen Master Keizan, abbot of Daijō Mon-
astery. In the records of the transmission of the flame and discourse record genres of
Chan/Zen literature, it is a fixed convention for the Chan/Zen monk who is featured
as the subject of the biography to be identified and quoted within it as “Master” (C.
shi 師; J. shi), even when he is depicted as a youthful trainee (one who has not yet re-
ceived dharma transmission) engaged in dialogue with his own teacher or other senior
monks. The use of the term “Master” in the preface to the Denkōroku indicates, wheth-
er accurately or not, that everything that follows is a verbatim record of words actually
spoken by Zen Master Keizan, although those words also include his direct quotation
of other texts, especially in the Root Case and Pivotal Circumstances sections of each
chapter. Presumably, the voice speaking in this sentence is that of the aforementioned
acolyte who is said to have compiled the Denkōroku.
4 responded for the first time to a request for edification (C. shi qingyi 始請益; J.
hajimete shin’eki su 始めて請益す). This line implies that the sermons by Keizan that
became the Denkōroku were the very first that he delivered upon being installed as the

1
 LEAD CHAPTER (Shushō 首章)

Root Case1 【本則】

釋迦牟尼佛、見明星悟道曰、我與大地有情、同時成道。
Śākyamuni Buddha saw the morning star, awakened to the way, and said,
“I, together with the great earth and sentient beings, simultaneously attain
the way.”
Pivotal Circumstances 【機縁】
夫れ釋迦牟尼佛は、西天の日種姓なり。十九歳にして子夜に城を踰え、檀特
山にして斷髪す。それよりこのかた、苦行六年、遂に金剛座上に坐して、蛛網
を眉間に入れ、鵲巢を頂上に安じて、葦、坐をとほし、安住不動、六年端坐、
三十歳臘月八日、明星の出しとき、忽ち悟道、最初獅子吼するに是言あり。
Śākyamuni Buddha belonged to the Sūrya-vamśa Clan in Western Lands.
At nineteen years of age he leapt over the palace walls at midnight, then
cut off his hair on Dandaka Mountain. Thereafter he practiced austerities
for six years. Then he sat on the vajra seat as spiderwebs formed between
his eyebrows, a magpie’s nest rested atop his head, and reeds sprouted up
through his seat. Peacefully abiding, without moving, for six [more] years
he sat erect. On the 8th day of the last month2 of his thirtieth year, when
the morning star emerged, he suddenly awakened to the way, and his very
first lion’s roar consisted of these words.3

abbot of Daijō Monastery. In this context, “request for edification” probably refers to
a regularly scheduled series of sermons given by Keizan to his disciples in the setting of
small convocations in the front meeting area of the abbot’s quarters, but the expression
was also used for less formal meetings between a Zen master and one or more of his
disciples that took place in his personal room. → request for edification.
1 Root Case (C. benze 本則; J. honsoku). The passage given here is a block of Chinese
text, but it is not a direct quotation of any single extant source. Rather, the phrases
contained in it appear to have been pieced together by Keizan on the basis of several
works that were circulating in his day. For source texts, → morning star; → “I, together
with the great earth and sentient beings, simultaneously attain the way.”
2 8th day of the last month (C. la yue bari 臘月八日; J. rō getsu yōka). The last (12th)
month of the year was named after the winter sacrifice (C. la 臘; J. rō), which in ancient
times took place three days after the winter solstice.
3 consisted of these words (kono gen ari 是言あり). That is to say, the words quoted in
Chinese in the Root Case.

2
爾しより以來、四十九年、一日も獨居することなく、暫時も衆の爲に、説法
せざることなし。一衣一鉢欠くことなし。三百六十餘會、時時に説法す。終
に正法眼藏を摩訶迦葉に付囑す。流傳して今に及ぶ。實に梵漢和の三國
に流傳して、正法修行すること之を以て根本とす。
After that, for forty-nine years he [Śākyamuni] did not dwell alone for a
single day, and there was not even a short time when he did not preach
the dharma for the congregation. He was never without one robe and one
bowl. At more than three hundred and sixty assemblies, from time to time
he preached the dharma. In the end, he entrusted the treasury of the true
dharma eye to Mahākāśyapa, and it has been disseminated down to the
present. Indeed, it has been transmitted in the three countries of India,
China, and Japan, where it has been used to form the basis for cultivating
the true dharma.
彼の一期の行狀、以て遺弟の表準たり。設ひ三十二相、八十種好を具足す
ると雖も、必ず老比丘の形にして、人人にかはることなし。故に在世より
このかた、正像末の三時、彼の法儀を慕ふ者、佛の形儀をかたどり、佛の
受用を受用して、行住坐臥、片時も自己を先とせざることなし。
His [Śākyamuni’s] bearing during that lifetime became the standard for
his bereaved disciples. Although he was fully equipped with the thirty-two
marks and eighty pleasing features, he always took the appearance of an
old bhiksu, no different from other people. Thus, ever since his time in the
world, throughout the three periods of the true, semblance, and enfeebled
[dharma], those who admire his proper manner have adopted the Buddha’s
appearance and deportment, received and used what the Buddha received
and used,1 and whether walking, standing, sitting, or reclining, never

1 adopted the Buddha’s appearance and deportment, received and used what the
Buddha received and used (hotoke no gyōgi wo katadori, hotoke no juyū wo juyū shite 佛
の形儀をかたどり、佛の受用を受用して). These words are a transcription into Japa-
nese (yomikudashi 読み下し) of a passage that appears in the opening chapter of Rules
of Purity for Chan Monasteries under the heading “Receiving the Precepts”:
It is no trifling matter to adopt the appearance and deportment of the Buddha,
equip oneself with the Buddha’s moral precepts, and obtain what the Buddha
received and used.
《禪苑清規》像佛形儀、具佛戒律、得佛受用、此非小事。(CBETA, X63, no.
1245, p. 523, a22 // Z 2:16, p. 439, a9 // R111, p. 877, a9).
The Japanese verb katadoru (かたどる [= 象る]), translated here as to “adopt,” rep-
resents the Chinese glyph xiang 像, which means to “imitate” or “model after.” → what
the Buddha received and used.

3
ceased to give priority to their own selves for even the shortest period of
time.1
佛佛祖祖、單傳し來りて、正法斷絶せず。今の因縁分明に指説す。設ひ四
十九年、三百六十餘會、指説すること異なりと雖も、種々因縁、譬喩言説、
この道理に過ぎず。
What this episode clearly indicates is that the true dharma has come down
to us through the individual transmission from buddha to buddha and an-
cestor to ancestor, without ever being cut off. Although what he preached
differed over forty-nine years and more than three hundred and sixty as-
semblies, the various episodes and parables he told do not go beyond this
principle.2
Investigation 【拈提】
謂ゆる我とは釋迦牟尼佛に非ず。釋迦牟尼佛も、この我より出生し來る。
唯、釋迦牟尼佛出生するのみに非ず。大地有情も皆是れより出生す。大綱
を擧るとき、衆目悉く擧るが如く、釋迦牟尼佛成道するとき、大地有情も
成道す。唯、大地有情成道するにのみに非ず、三世諸佛も皆成道す。恁麼
なりと雖も、釋迦牟尼佛に於て、成道の思ひをなすことなし。大地有情の
外に釋迦牟尼佛を見ること勿れ。設ひ山河大地、森羅萬像、森森たりと雖
も、悉く是れ瞿曇の眼晴裏を免がれず。汝等諸人、また瞿曇の眼晴裏に立
せり。唯立せるのみに非ず、今の諸人に換却しおはれり。又瞿曇の眼晴肉團
子となりて、人人の全身、箇箇壁立萬仞せり。故に亙古亙今、明明たる眼晴、
歴歴たる諸人と思ふこと勿れ。諸人卽ち是れ瞿曇の眼晴なり、瞿曇卽ち是
れ諸人の全身なり。若し恁麼ならば、何を呼でか、成道底の道理とせん。
The “I” spoken of here3 is not Śākyamuni Buddha. Śākyamuni Buddha,
too, was born from this “I.” And it was not only Śākyamuni Buddha who
was born: the great earth and sentient beings, too, were all born from this.
1 never ceased to give priority to their own selves for even the shortest period of time
(katatoki mo jiko wo saki to sezaru koto nashi 片時も自己を先とせざることなし). In
other words, they made it a priority to realize their true own-nature, which is the bud-
dha-nature.
2 do not go beyond this principle (kono dōri ni sugizu この道理に過ぎず). The ex-
pression “this principle” refers to the treasury of the true dharma eye that was entrusted
to Mahākāśyapa and individually transmitted down through the Chan/Zen Lineage
of ancestral teachers. The claim is that the variety of verbal sermons (sūtras) preached
by the Buddha do not surpass, or contain any more wisdom, than that.
3 The “I” spoken of here (iwayuru ga to wa 謂ゆる我とは). This refers to the first word
attributed to Śākyamuni in the Root Case, where he is quoted as saying, “I, together
with the great earth and sentient beings, simultaneously attain the way.” Keizan here
begins a word-for-word commentary on that saying.

4
“When one lifts up a great net, all of its pieces are lifted up together.” In
like manner, when Śākyamuni Buddha attained the way, the great earth
and sentient beings also attained the way. And it was not only the great
earth and sentient beings who attained the way: the buddhas of the three
times, too, all attained the way. Although this is so, Śākyamuni Buddha
himself formed no thought of attaining the way.1 Do not regard Śākyamu-
ni Buddha as apart from the great earth and sentient beings. Even though
mountains and rivers and the great earth — all the myriad, interconnected
phenomena — are like a dense forest, none avoid being within Gautama’s
eyes.2 All of you people are also standing within Gautama’s eyes. And it is
not only that you are standing [within Gautama’s eyes]: they have been
replaced by all of you here.3 You have also become the lumps of flesh that
are Gautama’s eyes,4 and each and every person’s entire body, one by one, is
1 Śākyamuni Buddha himself formed no thought of attaining the way (Shakamuni
Butsu ni oite, jōdō no omoi wo nasu koto nashi 釋迦牟尼佛に於て、成道の思ひをなす
ことなし). The corresponding line in the Kenkon’in manuscript reads: “Do not think
that Śākyamuni Buddha thereupon attained the way” (Shakamuni Butsu wo jōdō no
omoi wo nasu koto nakare 釋迦牟尼佛於成道の思ひを作すこと無れ). The negative
imperative ending (nakare 無れ) found in the Kenkon’in manuscript is parallel to
that of the following sentence, which begins, “Do not regard...” Nonetheless, in the
1857 woodblock edition compiled by Busshū Sen’ei 佛洲仙英 (1794–1864), the neg-
ative copula “is not” (nashi 無シ) appears instead, and that usage is perpetuated in
the Shūmuchō edition of the Denkōroku translated here. In handwritten katakana, the
forms 無レ and 無シ are easily confused, which may be what happened. In any case,
the subject of the sentence shifts from the reader, who “must not think,” to Śākyamuni
Buddha, who “formed no thought.”
2 within Gautama’s eyes (Kudon no ganzeiri 瞿曇の眼晴裏). Because Gautama’s “eyes”
(ganzei 眼晴) represents the Buddha’s awakening, to be “within” (ri 裏) those eyes
means to exist within the buddha-mind or buddha-nature, understood here as some
kind of universal ground of being.
3 they have been replaced by all of you here (ima no shonin ni kankyaku shi owareri
今の諸人に換却しおはれり). That is to say, Gautama’s eyes have been “exchanged”
(kankyaku 換却) for, or “replaced by,” the people in Keizan’s audience, so those people
now must act as Gautama’s eyes.
4 become the lumps of flesh that are Gautama’s eyes (Kudon no ganzei niku dansu to
narite 瞿曇の眼晴肉團子となりて). There is a play on words here, wherein the bodies
of the people present and the eyeballs of the Buddha are both called “meatballs” or
“lumps of flesh” (niku dansu 肉團子). The translation here takes “all of you people”
(nanjira shonin 汝等諸人) as the ongoing subject of the verb to “become” (naru な
る). The modern Japanese translations of Azuma (p. 101) and Iida (p. 15) assume that
“Gautama’s eyes” (Kudon no ganzei 瞿曇の眼晴) are the subject of the verb to “be-
come” (naru なる), as if those words were followed by the subject-marking particle
“wa” (は). The English translations of Cook (p. 30) and Cleary (p. 2) do the same.

5
a cliff rising ten thousand fathoms. But do not think, on that account, that
through past and through present those are exalted people1 with perfectly
clear eyes. You people are identical with Gautama’s eyes, and Gautama is
identical with the entire body of each of you. If so, then what will you call
the principle that underlies attainment of the way?
且問す、大衆、瞿曇の諸人と與に成道するか、諸人の瞿曇と與に成道する
か。若し諸人の瞿曇と與に成道すると言ひ、瞿曇の諸人と與に成道する
と言はば、全くこれ瞿曇の成道にあらず。因て成道底の道理と爲すべから
ず。成道の道理、親切に會せんと思はば、瞿曇、諸人、一時に拂却して、早
く我なることを知るべし。我の與なる、大地有情なり。與の我なる、是れ瞿
曇老漢に非ず。子細に點檢し、子細に商量して、我を明らめ、與を知るべし。
設ひ我を明らめたりといふとも、與を明らめずんば、亦た一隻眼を失す。
Well, monks of the great assembly, is it that Gautama attains the way to-
gether with you people, or is it that you people attain the way together
with Gautama? If you say that you attain the way together with Gautama,
or if you say that Gautama attains the way together with you, then that
is not at all Gautama’s attainment of the way. Accordingly, it cannot be
regarded as the principle that underlies attainment of the way. If you wish
to intimately understand the principle of attaining the way, then you must
simultaneously brush away “Gautama” and “you people,” and quickly un-
derstand what “I” represents. The “together with” of “I” is the great earth
and sentient beings, but the “I” of “together with” is not that Old Guy
Gautama. You must examine this in detail, consider it in detail, clarify “I,”
and understand “together with.” Even if you clarify “I,” if you do not clarify
“together with,” then you will still lose the one eye.2
然と雖も我と與と一般に非ず、兩般に非ず。正に汝等の皮肉骨髓、盡く與
なり。屋裏の主人公、是れ我なり。皮肉骨髓を帶せず、四大五蘊を帶せ
ず。畢竟して言はば、庵中不死の人を識らんと欲せば、豈今這の皮袋を離
れんや。然れば大地有情の會をなすべからず。

1 exalted people (rekireki taru shonin 歴歴たる諸人). The reference is apparently to

the “buddhas of the three times,” mentioned above. Elsewhere in the Denkōroku the
adjective rekireki 歴歴 is translated as “perfectly obvious,” but in the present context
it probably has the meaning of “very important people,” “notables,” or “dignitaries” (o
rekireki お歴々).
2 lose the one eye (isseki gen wo shissu 一隻眼を失す). There is a double meaning here.
The expression isseki, in ordinary Japanese, means “one of a pair,” i.e. one of a person’s
two eyes. However, in Chan/Zen texts, the “one eye” (C. yizhi yan 一隻眼; J. isseki gen)
refers to the dharma eye: the awakened eye of a buddha.

6
While this is so, “I” and “together with” are not one thing, nor are they
two different things. Truly, the skin, flesh, bones, and marrow of you all
are entirely “together with.”1 The lord master within the house: that is the
“I.” It does not involve skin, flesh, bones, and marrow, nor does it involve
the four primary elements or the five aggregates.2 To sum the matter up in
words, “if you wish to recognize the undying person within the hermitage,
how could you possibly do so apart from this present bag of skin?”3 This
being so, you should not form an understanding of “the great earth and
sentient beings.”
設ひ春夏秋冬に、轉變し來りて、山河大地、時と與に異なりと雖も、知るべ
し、是れ瞿曇老漢の、揚眉瞬目なる故に、萬像之中獨露身なるなり。撥萬
像也、不撥萬像也。法眼曰く、甚麼の撥不撥とか説かん。又地藏曰く、甚麼
を喚でか萬像と作さん。然あれば、横參竪參し七通八達して、應に瞿曇の
悟處を明らめ、自己の成道を會すべし。
Although spring, summer, autumn, and winter each come in turn, and the
mountains and rivers and great earth change together with time, we know
from Old Guy Gautama’s raising the eyebrows and blinking the eyes that
“amidst the myriad phenomena there is a solitary exposed body.” [There is
a Zen saying] “would that expunge the myriad phenomena, or not expunge
the myriad phenomena?” Fayan said, “What expunging or not expunging

1 the skin, flesh, bones, and marrow of you all are entirely “together with” (nanjira no
hi niku kotsu zui, kotogotoku yo nari 汝等の皮肉骨髓、盡く與なり). There is a double
meaning here. The expression “skin, flesh, bones, and marrow” refers to the different
levels of understanding evinced by four disciples of Bodhidharma when he tested them
and selected Huike as his principal dharma heir. Thus, Keizan is affirming that all peo-
ple, regardless of whether their understanding is shallow or deep, gain awakening “to-
gether with” Gautama. At the same time, Keizan is continuing the trope in which he
argues that the “entire body” (zenshin 全身) of everyone in his audience, including
their physical skin, flesh, bones, and marrow, is identical with Gautama.
2 nor does it involve the four primary elements or the five aggregates (shidai goun wo
tai sezu 四大五蘊を帶せず). The four primary elements and the five aggregates are
both Buddhist doctrinal formulas that analyze the human organism into its constit-
uent elements.
3 “If you wish to recognize the undying person within the hermitage, how could you
possibly do so apart from this present bag of skin?” (anchū fushi no hito wo shiran to
hosseba, ani ima kono hitai wo hanaren’ya 庵中不死の人を識らんと欲せば、豈今這の
皮袋を離れんや). This quote is a transcription into Japanese (yomikudashi 読み下し)
of the last line of a classical Chinese verse, “Venerable Shitou’s Song of the Thatched
Hut Hermitage.” → “If you wish to recognize the undying person within the hermitage,
how could you possibly do so apart from this present bag of skin?”

7
could one possibly talk about?”1 And Dizang said, “What could you pos-
sibly be calling ‘myriad phenomena’?”2 Thus, you should investigate hori-
zontally and investigate vertically3 until, with seven penetrations and eight
masteries, you clarify Gautama’s place of awakening and understand attain-
ment of the way by your own self.
恁麼の公案、子細に見得し、一一に胸襟より流出して、前佛及び今時の人
の語句をからず、次の請益の日を以て下語説道理すべし。
Having been able to see such a kōan4 in detail, on the next day that we
hold a request for edification, one by one you must explain the principle
with appended words produced from within your own breasts, not words
borrowed from previous buddhas or present people.
1 Fayan said, “What expunging or not expunging could one possibly talk about?”
(Hōgen iwaku, nan no hatsu fuhatsu to ka tokan? 法眼曰く、甚麼の撥不撥とか説か
ん). This is a transcription into Japanese (yomikudashi 読み下し) of a line attributed
to Fayan in a debate with Senior Seat Zifang, as reported by Hongzhi (a.k.a. Tiantong
Jue) in his commentary to Case #64 of the Congrong Hermitage Record: 眼曰... 説甚麼
撥不撥 (T 2004.48.267b27). Keizan cites the line because it helps explain what Fayan
meant when he rejected both the “yes” and “no” answer to the question, “would that
expunge the myriad phenomena, or not expunge the myriad phenomena?”
2 Dizang said, “What could you possibly be calling ‘myriad phenomena’?” (Jizō
iwaku, nani wo yonde ka banshō to nasan 地藏曰く、甚麼を喚でか萬像と作さん).
This is a transcription into Japanese (yomikudashi 読み下し) of a line attributed to
Dizang Guichen 地藏桂琛 ( J. Jizō Keichin; 867–928) in a debate with Shaoxiu 紹
修 ( J. Shōshu; d.u.), as reported by Hongzhi Zhengjue 宏智正覺 ( J. Wanshi Shōgaku;
1091–1157) (a.k.a. Tiantong Jue) in his commentary to Case #36 of the Qingyi Re-
cord:
《請益錄》藏曰、汝喚甚麼作萬象 (CBETA, X67, no. 1307, p. 478, c4 // Z 2:22,
p. 423, c10 // R117, p. 846, a10).
Exactly the same words are also attributed to Fayan Wenyi 法眼文益 ( J. Hōgen
Mon’eki; 885–958) in a debate with Senior Seat Zifang, found in Case #64 of the
Congrong Hermitage Record:
《從容錄》眼曰、喚甚麼作萬象 (T 2004.48.267b25–26).
Fayan and Shaoxiu were fellow disciples studying under Dizang Guichen (a.k.a. Luo-
han Guichen), and both eventually received dharma transmission from him.
3 investigate horizontally and investigate vertically (C. hengcan shucan 横參竪參; J.
ōsan jusan). That is, “investigate” (C. can 參; J. san) the matter “horizontally and verti-
cally” (C. hengshu 横竪; J. ōju), i.e. “this way and that,” or “from every possible angle.”
→ vertical and horizontal.
4 such a kōan (inmo no kōan 恁麼の公案). The reference here is probably to the Root
Case cited at the outset of this chapter, rather than any of the other kōans cited or
alluded to in the Investigation section, but the grammar does not demand that inter-
pretation.

8
山僧、亦た此一則下に卑語を着けんことを思ふ。諸人聞かんと要すや。
This mountain monk1 also thinks he will try to attach some humble words
to this single case. People, do you wish to hear them?

Verse on the Old Case【頌古】

一枝秀出老梅樹。荊棘與時築著來。
A single twig sprouts from the old plum tree;2
Thorns and brambles,3 as time goes by, encroach4 on it.

1 this mountain monk (C. shanseng 山僧; J. sanzō). This is a self-deprecating term used
by Chan/Zen masters to refer to themselves.
2 plum tree (C. meishu 梅樹; J. baiju). In the literature of Chan/Zen, plum blossoms
are a symbol of awakening, and the five petals of the plum flower represent the five
houses of the Chan/Zen lineage that flourished after the Sixth Ancestor, Huineng.
In the chapter of Dōgen’s Treasury of the True Dharma Eye entitled “Seeing Buddha”
(Kenbutsu 見佛), to see buddha is likened to “seeing a single branch of plum” (ken isshi
bai 見一枝梅).
3 thorns and brambles (C. jingji 荊棘; J. keikyoku). In the Daoist classic The Way and
its Power, thorns and brambles are said to grow in the place where there has been a war,
and are thus an ill omen (DDB, s.v. 荊棘). In the literature of Chan/Zen, entangled
vines are a metaphor for convoluted, deluded conceptualizing and the verbiage asso-
ciated with it.
4 encroach (C. zhuzhu 築著; J. chikujaku). This is a tentative translation. In colloquial
Song dynasty Chinese, the verb zhuzhu 築著 ( J. chikujaku) meant to “strike” or “hit,”
as with a fist or a staff. In the literature of Chan, masters are sometimes said to literally
“hit” their disciples (typically on the nose, but also on the head, legs, etc.) to startle
them out of their deluded attachments, but more often masters are merely quoted as
saying, “I hit you,” as a kind of rebuke that invokes corporal punishment in a figura-
tive way but remains strictly verbal. → strike resounding blows. In the present context,
however, the gradual growth of thorns and brambles on the old plum tree can scarcely
be translated as “strike” or “hit.” Other meanings of the verb zhu 築 ( J. chiku) include:
(1) to “poke,” “prod,” or “stab” with a sharp object; or (2) to “stimulate” or “irritate” by
such poking. The second character in the compound, 著, when prounounced zhuo or
zhao 著 ( J. chaku, jaku), is interchangeable with 着, which means to “attach,” “stick to,”
or “append.” Thus, Keizan seems to be comparing his own “attachment” (tsuku koto 着
くこと) of “words” (go 語) to the kōan with prickly vines that grow clinging to a plum
tree. The “plum tree” (C. meishu 梅樹; J. baiju) in this trope represents the Buddha’s
awakening, while the “thorns and brambles” (C. jingji 荊棘; J. keikyoku) that grow on
it may stand for Keizan’s own “irritating” comment.