Editing Bodhidharma (section)

== Lineage ==

=== Construction of lineages ===
The idea of a [[Lineage (Buddhism)|patriarchal lineage]] in Ch'an dates back to the [[epitaph]] for [[Faru (monk)|Faru]] ({{lang|zh|法如}}), a disciple of the 5th patriarch [[Daman Hongren|Hongren]] ({{lang|zh|弘忍}}). In the ''Long Scroll of the Treatise on the Two Entrances and Four Practices'' and the ''Continued Biographies of Eminent Monks'', Daoyu and Dazu Huike are the only explicitly identified disciples of Bodhidharma. The epitaph gives a line of descent identifying Bodhidharma as the first patriarch.{{sfn|Dumoulin|1993|p=37}}{{sfn|Cole|2009|p=73–114}}{{efn|name="tradition"}}

In the 6th century, the biographies of famous monks were collected. From this genre, the typical Chan lineage was developed:

{{blockquote|These famous biographies were non-sectarian. The Ch'an biographical works, however, aimed to establish Ch'an as a legitimate school of Buddhism traceable to its Indian origins, and at the same time championed a particular form of Ch'an. Historical accuracy was of little concern to the compilers; old legends were repeated, new stories were invented and reiterated until they, too, became legends.{{sfn|Yampolski|2003|p=5-6}}}}

According to McRae, it is not clear that the practitioners surrounding Bodhidharma and his disciple Huike considered themselves as belonging to a unified movement or group, such as a "Chan school," nor did they have any sense of sharing any continuity with the later tradition. He says even the name "proto-Chan" is not really reflective of their activities.<ref>John McRae, Seeing through Zen: Encounter, Transformation, and Genealogy in Chinese Chan Buddhism, page 15, University of California Press, 2003</ref>

[[D. T. Suzuki]] contends that Chan's growth in popularity during the 7th and 8th centuries attracted criticism that it had "no authorized records of its direct transmission from the founder of Buddhism" and that Chan historians made Bodhidharma the 28th patriarch of Buddhism in response to such attacks.{{sfn|Suzuki|1949|p=168}}

=== Six patriarchs ===
The earliest lineages described the lineage from Bodhidharma into the 5th to 7th generation of patriarchs. Various records of different authors are known, which give a variation of transmission lines:
{| class="wikitable"
!
! ''The Continued Biographies of Eminent Monks''<br />Xù gāosēng zhuàn 續高僧傳<br />Daoxuan 道宣<br />(596–667)
! ''The Record of the Transmission of the Dharma-Jewel''<br />Chuán fǎbǎo jì 傳法寶記<br />Dù Fěi 杜胐
! ''History of Masters and Disciples of the Laṅkāvatāra-Sūtra''<br />Léngqié shīzī jì 楞伽師資紀記<br />Jìngjué 淨覺<br />(ca. 683 – ca. 650)
! ''Xiǎnzōngjì'' 显宗记 of Shénhuì 神会
|- style="text-align:center;" 
|| 1 ||style="text-align:center;" | Bodhidharma ||style="text-align:center;"| Bodhidharma ||style="text-align:center;"| Bodhidharma ||style="text-align:center;"| Bodhidharma
|- style="text-align:center;" 
| rowspan="2"| 2 || rowspan=2 style="text-align:center;" | Huìkě 慧可 (487? – 593)
|| Dàoyù 道育 ||style="text-align:center;"| Dàoyù 道育 ||style="text-align:center;"| Dàoyù 道育
|- style="text-align:center;" 
|| Huìkě 慧可 (487? – 593) ||style="text-align:center;"| Huìkě 慧可 (487? – 593) ||style="text-align:center;"| Huìkě 慧可 (487? – 593)
|- style="text-align:center;" 
|| 3 || style="text-align:center;" | Sēngcàn 僧璨 (d.606) ||style="text-align:center;"| Sēngcàn 僧璨 (d.606) ||style="text-align:center;"| Sēngcàn 僧璨 (d.606) ||style="text-align:center;"| Sēngcàn 僧璨 (d.606)
|- style="text-align:center;" 
|| 4 || style="text-align:center;" | Dàoxìn 道信 (580–651) ||style="text-align:center;"| Dàoxìn 道信 (580–651) ||style="text-align:center;"| Dàoxìn 道信 (580–651) ||style="text-align:center;"| Dàoxìn 道信 (580–651)
|-
| style="text-align:center;" | 5 || style="text-align:center;" | [[Daman Hongren|Hóngrěn]] 弘忍 (601–674) ||style="text-align:center;"| [[Daman Hongren|Hóngrěn]] 弘忍 (601–674) ||style="text-align:center;"| [[Daman Hongren|Hóngrěn]] 弘忍 (601–674) ||style="text-align:center;"| [[Daman Hongren|Hóngrěn]] 弘忍 (601–674)
|-
| rowspan=2 style="text-align:center;" | 6 || rowspan=2 style="text-align:center;" | – || style="text-align:center;" | Fǎrú 法如 (638–689) ||style="text-align:center;"| Shénxiù 神秀 (606? – 706) ||style="text-align:center;" rowspan=2 | [[Huineng|Huìnéng]] 慧能 (638–713)
|- style="text-align:center;" 
|| Shénxiù 神秀 (606? – 706) || style="text-align:center;" | Xuánzé 玄賾
|- style="text-align:center;" 
|| 7 || style="text-align:center;" | – ||style="text-align:center;"| – ||style="text-align:center;"| – ||style="text-align:center;"| Xuánjué 玄覺 (665–713)
|}

=== Continuous lineage from Gautama Buddha ===
Eventually, these descriptions of the lineage evolved into a continuous lineage from Śākyamuni Buddha to Bodhidharma. The idea of a line of descent from Śākyamuni Buddha is the basis for the distinctive lineage tradition of Chan Buddhism.

According to the ''[[Song of Enlightenment]]'' (證道歌 ''Zhèngdào gē'') by [[Yongjia Xuanjue]],{{sfn|Chang|1967}} Bodhidharma was the 28th Patriarch of Chan, in a line of descent from Gautama Buddha via his disciple [[Mahākāśyapa]]:
<poem>Mahakashyapa was the first, leading the line of transmission;
Twenty-eight Fathers followed him in the West;
The Lamp was then brought over the sea to this country;
And Bodhidharma became the First Father here
His mantle, as we all know, passed over six Fathers,
And by them many minds came to see the Light.{{sfn|Suzuki|1948|p=50}}</poem>
The ''Transmission of the Light'' gives 28 patriarchs in this transmission:{{sfn|Cook|2003}}{{sfn|Diener|friends|1991|p=266}}

{{Zen Lineage 28 Patriarchs}}