Wumen Huikai

PersonType	Category:Classical Chinese Authors
FirstName / namefirst	Wumen
LastName / namelast	Huikai
MainNamePhon	Wumen Huikai
MainNameTib	無門慧開
SortName	Huikai, Wumen
bio	Wumen Huikai. (J. Mumon Ekai; K. Mumun Hyegae 無門慧開) (1183-1260). In Chinese, "Gateless, Opening of Wisdom"; Chan master in the Linji zong; author of the eponymous Wumen guan ("Gateless Checkpoint"), one of the two most important collections of Chan gong'an (J. kōan; K. kongan). A native of Hangzhou prefecture in present-day Zhejiang province, Huikai was ordained by the monk "One Finger" Tianlong (d.u.), who also hailed from Hangzhou (see also Yizhi Chan). Wumen later went to the monastery of Wanshousi in Jiangsu province to study with Yuelin Shiguan (1143-1217), from whom Huikai received the wu gong'an of Zhao zhou Congshen; Huikai is said to have struggled with this gong’an for six years. In 1218, Huikai traveled to Baoyinsi on Mt. Anji, where he succeeded Yuelin as abbot. He subsequently served as abbot at such monasteries as Tianningsi, Pujisi, Kaiyuansi, and Baoningsi. In 1246, Huikai was appointed as abbot of Huguo Renwangsi in Hangzhou prefecture, and it is here that the Japanese Zen monk Shinichi Kakushin studied under him. Emperor Lizong (r. 1224–1264) invited Huikai to provide a sermon at the Pavilion of Mysterious Virtue in the imperial palace and also to pray for rain. In honor of his achievements, the emperor bestowed upon him a golden robe and the title Chan master Foyan (Dharma Eye). (Source: "Wumen Huikai." In The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, 1002. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)
YearBirth	1183
YearDeath	1260
BornIn	Hangzhou prefecture in present-day Zhejiang province
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Full Name

Wumen Huikai, 1183-1260 (traditional Chinese: 無門慧開; Wade-Giles: Wu-men Hui-k'ai; Japanese: Mumon Ekai) (1183-1260)

Alternate Spellings:

• Wumen
• Wu-men
• Mumon
• Mumon Ekai
• Wu-men Hui-k'ai
• Wumen Huikai
• Zen Shu Mumon Ekai

Affiliation

Song period Ch'an master, 1183-1260

Biographical Data

Wumen compiled the collection of Zen anecdotes and koans, called in Chinese the Wumenguan (The Gateless Gate), in Japanese the Mumonkan. These stories were some of the first and most well known that were translated into English in the 20th century.

Wumen Huikai (traditional Chinese: 無門慧開; Wade-Giles: Wu-men Hui-k'ai; Japanese: Mumon Ekai) (1183-1260) is a Song period Chán (Japanese: Zen) master most famous as the compiler of and commentator on the 48-koan collection The Gateless Gate (Japanese: Mumonkan). Wumen was at that time the head monk of Longxiang (Wade-Giles: Lung-hsiang; Japanese: Ryusho) monastery. Wumen was born in Hangzhou and his first master was Gong Heshang. However, it was Zen master Yuelin Shiguan (月林師觀; Japanese: Gatsurin Shikan) (1143-1217) who gave Wumen the koan "Zhaozhou’s dog", with which Wu-men struggled for six years before he finally attained realization.