Schools
The houses of Chan and the Zen schools that grew from them: where each came from, how it is practised, and who is counted in it.
Chan禪宗Chinafrom 6th century, traditionally14 peopleThe Chinese school of Buddhism that all Zen schools descend from. Tradition traces it to Bodhidharma; a monk of that name is first mentioned in 547, and Daoxuan’s biographies of eminent monks, compiled in the mid-seventh century, give the first accounts of him, Huike and Daoxin.Caodong曹洞宗Chinafrom 9th century18 peopleOne of the five houses of Chan, named for Dongshan Liangjie and his student Caoshan Benji. In the Song its teacher Hongzhi Zhengjue taught silent illumination (mozhao); Dōgen carried the line to Japan as Sōtō.Linji臨濟宗Chinafrom 9th century8 peopleThe house of Chan descending from Linji Yixuan. In the Song its teacher Dahui Zonggao taught kanhua, looking into the key phrase (huatou) of a koan.Sōtō曹洞宗Japanfrom 12279 peopleThe Japanese branch of Caodong, brought from China by Dōgen in 1227. Keizan Jōkin, fourth in its Japanese line, and his disciples’ students spread it across Japan, mainly in the countryside. The school gives its size as about 15,000 temples and some eight million adherents.Rinzai臨済宗Japanfrom 119110 peopleThe Japanese branch of Linji. Eisai first brought a Linji line from China, returning in 1191; the Rinzai head temples' joint history counts his as one of twenty-four Zen lines that took root in Japan, and every present Rinzai line as descending from Hakuin Ekaku.Sanbō Zen三宝禅Japanfrom 19544 peopleA lay-oriented Zen organisation founded by Yasutani Hakuun in 1954, independent of the Sōtō institution. It combines Sōtō shikantaza with Rinzai-style koan study. By 1989, 21 non-Japanese disciples had finished its formal course.