Ta-hui Tsung-kao

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Ta-hui Tsung-kao (Jap., Daie Soko, 1089–1163), Ch'an/Zen teacher in the Rinzai school. He was the dharma-successor (hassu) of Yüan-wu K'o-ch'in, and was a major advocate of training by use of kōans. In this he opposed his friend, Hung-chih Cheng-chüeh, who accepted kōans, but put emphasis on quiet meditation, as in his brief text, Mo-chao ming, Jap., Mokushomei (The Seal of Silent Illumination). Ta-hui called this jazen, unwise Zen, dismissing those who practise it. Ta-hui gave to this position the name mokushu zen, i.e., ‘silent-illumination zen’. Hung-chih called the way of Ta-hui k'an-hua ch'an, Japanese kanna zen, ‘Kōan-gazing zen’, and these two names were adopted as the names of these two positions.