Nanquan kills the cat
- Told in
- The Gateless Gate (case 14)The Blue Cliff Record (cases 63 and 64)Book of Serenity (case 9)
- People
- Nanquan Puyuan (the teacher)Zhaozhou Congshen (the student)
- Place
- Nanquan, Anhui
- Used as
- Koan
- Standing
- Traditional: told by the tradition, not independently attested
The monks of the east and west halls at Nanquan’s were arguing over a cat. Nanquan picked it up and said: if any of you can say a word, I will spare it; if not, I will cut it in two. No one answered. He cut the cat in two.
That evening Zhaozhou came back from outside and Nanquan told him what had happened. Zhaozhou took off his sandals, put them on his head, and walked out. Nanquan said: if you had been there, the cat would have been saved.
The story is told in the Gateless Gate, the Blue Cliff Record and the Book of Serenity. In the Blue Cliff Record, Yuanwu says that monasteries everywhere argue over it, some placing the point in the lifting of the cat and some in the cutting, and asks who in the end cut it; Wumen asks what Zhaozhou meant by putting the sandals on his head.
Retold for this site from The Gateless Gate, case 14.
In the text
南泉和尚因東西堂爭貓兒。泉乃提起云。大眾道得即救。道不得即斬卻也。眾無對。泉遂斬之。晚趙州外歸。泉舉似州。州乃脫履安頭上而出。泉云。子若在即救得貓兒。
Because the monks of the east and west halls were fighting over a cat, Nanquan held it up and said: if the assembly can say something, I will save it; if not, I will cut it. No one answered. Nanquan cut it. In the evening Zhaozhou returned from outside and Nanquan told him. Zhaozhou took off his sandals, put them on his head, and went out. Nanquan said: if you had been here, you would have saved the cat.
What the tradition does with it
- a story the tradition tells against itself
- precepts and the teacher’s act
- what cannot be said
Sources
- Wumen Huikai 無門慧開; compiled by Zongshao 宗紹, Wumen guan 無門關 (Gateless Gate) (1228), Taishō T.2005
- Xuedou Chongxian 雪竇重顯 (verses); Yuanwu Keqin 圜悟克勤 (commentary), Biyan lu 碧巖錄 (Blue Cliff Record) (1125), Taishō T.2003
- Hongzhi Zhengjue 宏智正覺 (verses); Wansong Xingxiu 萬松行秀 (commentary), Congrong lu 從容錄 (Book of Serenity): Wansong laoren pingchang Tiantong Jue heshang songgu Congrong an lu 萬松老人評唱天童覺和尚頌古從容庵錄 (1224), Taishō T.2004
Checked against sources 2026-11-04 by pipeline/claude-opus-5-5@03c4b3e. Report an error.