Tongxuan’s 100 Chan Questions

Abstract The third chapter presents a translation of the three parts of each case—inquiry, reply, and verse—along with the author’s comments concerning the origins and implications of Tongxuan’s 100 Chan Questions’ instructional methods and spiritual messages concerning the purpose of religious discipline and the pathway to attaining an awakened level of insight. Each case is unpacked in terms of how it refers or alludes to and creatively interprets traditional Chan and other Buddhist doctrines, in addition to diverse aspects of Chinese religions, folklore, cultural history, and customs. The expositions that summarize and epitomize the importance of the symbolism of each case are written in the traditional Chinese philosophical spirit of providing critical interpretive comments (pinglun) that seek to illuminate the meaning and message while preserving, or at least not intruding upon, the insightful levels of Chan ambiguity and uncertainty expressed in 100 Questions.