Editing Bodhidharma (section)

=== 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}}