Han-shan

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Han-shan (Jap., Kanzan). A Chinese layperson, who practised Chʾan Buddhism in his own style, in approximately the 7th cent. CE. He wrote poems on any surface available, some of which were later collected in Han-shan-shih (Poems from Cold Mountain). He undertook no formal training or discipline, but did consult Feng-kan (Jap., Bukan) in the monastery, Kuʾo-ching, in dokusan. A cook's assistant, Shih-te, supplied Han-shan with food, and together the two realized the buddha-nature (buddhatā) more profoundly than most of the monks. The two have become symbols (extremely common in Zen art) of the lay approach to enlightenment; they are sometimes represented with Feng-kan and a tiger, all lying down in sleep together.

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