Editing Koan (section)

===Academic criticism===
According to Mario Poceski, encounter dialogues (which make up the content of koans/''gong'an'') are not historically reliable and "have little or nothing to do with the lives, ideas, and teachings of the [[Tang dynasty|Tang-era]] protagonists who are featured in them."<ref>Mario Poceski, Killing Cats and Other Imaginary Happenings: Milieus and Features of Chan Exegesis, in ''Communities of Memory and Interpretation: Reimagining and Reinventing the Past in East Asian Buddhism, Hamburg Buddhist Studies 10,'' edited by Mario Poceski, page 116, Numata Center for Buddhist Studies, Projekt Verlag, 2017</ref> Such stories instead reflect the artistic license and religious imagination of mid-tenth century Chan.<ref>Mario Poceski, Killing Cats and Other Imaginary Happenings: Milieus and Features of Chan Exegesis, in ''Communities of Memory and Interpretation: Reimagining and Reinventing the Past in East Asian Buddhism, Hamburg Buddhist Studies 10,'' edited by Mario Poceski, pages 116, 118, Numata Center for Buddhist Studies, Projekt Verlag, 2017</ref> Poceski further observes that although Zen is often portrayed as promoting spontaneity and freedom, encounter-dialogue exegesis actually points in the opposite direction, namely towards a tradition bound by established parameters of orthodoxy.<ref>Mario Poceski, Killing Cats and Other Imaginary Happenings: Milieus and Features of Chan Exegesis, in ''Communities of Memory and Interpretation: Reimagining and Reinventing the Past in East Asian Buddhism, Hamburg Buddhist Studies 10,'' edited by Mario Poceski, pages 116-117, Numata Center for Buddhist Studies, Projekt Verlag, 2017</ref> According to Poceski, on the whole, the encounter-dialogue genre is marked by formulaic repetition and cliché.<ref>Mario Poceski, Killing Cats and Other Imaginary Happenings: Milieus and Features of Chan Exegesis, in ''Communities of Memory and Interpretation: Reimagining and Reinventing the Past in East Asian Buddhism, Hamburg Buddhist Studies 10,'' edited by Mario Poceski, page 118, Numata Center for Buddhist Studies, Projekt Verlag, 2017</ref> He describes encounter-dialogue stories as "mass produced" and "artificially manufactured."<ref>Mario Poceski, Killing Cats and Other Imaginary Happenings: Milieus and Features of Chan Exegesis, in ''Communities of Memory and Interpretation: Reimagining and Reinventing the Past in East Asian Buddhism, Hamburg Buddhist Studies 10,'' edited by Mario Poceski, pages 141-142, Numata Center for Buddhist Studies, Projekt Verlag, 2017</ref> He says: <blockquote>In the end, notwithstanding the iconoclastic ethos imputed to them, it is apparent that these textual sources are products of a conservative tradition that, in the course of its growth and transformation during the Tang-Song transition, was keen to promote a particular version of Buddhist orthodoxy and secure its place as the main representative of elite Chinese Buddhism.<ref>Mario Poceski, Killing Cats and Other Imaginary Happenings: Milieus and Features of Chan Exegesis, in ''Communities of Memory and Interpretation: Reimagining and Reinventing the Past in East Asian Buddhism, Hamburg Buddhist Studies 10,'' edited by Mario Poceski, pages 118-119, Numata Center for Buddhist Studies, Projekt Verlag, 2017</ref></blockquote>

Poceski points out how, in commenting on ''gong'an'', Chan masters' interpretive possibilities are limited by "the straightjacket of a certain type of Chan orthodoxy."<ref name="Mario Poceski page 124">Mario Poceski, Killing Cats and Other Imaginary Happenings: Milieus and Features of Chan Exegesis, in ''Communities of Memory and Interpretation: Reimagining and Reinventing the Past in East Asian Buddhism, Hamburg Buddhist Studies 10,'' edited by Mario Poceski, page 124, Numata Center for Buddhist Studies, Projekt Verlag, 2017</ref> This refers to "ideological constraints and clerical agendas" which take encounter-dialogue stories as depictions of the enlightened behavior of perfected beings that point to some rarefied truth, despite there being no compelling empirical evidence for this.<ref>Mario Poceski, Killing Cats and Other Imaginary Happenings: Milieus and Features of Chan Exegesis, in ''Communities of Memory and Interpretation: Reimagining and Reinventing the Past in East Asian Buddhism, Hamburg Buddhist Studies 10,'' edited by Mario Poceski, pages 124-125, Numata Center for Buddhist Studies, Projekt Verlag, 2017</ref> According to Poceski, as this is never up for questioning or scrutiny, ''gong'an'' stories amount to "received articles of faith, reinforced by a cumulative tradition and embedded in specific institutional structures."<ref>Mario Poceski, Killing Cats and Other Imaginary Happenings: Milieus and Features of Chan Exegesis, in ''Communities of Memory and Interpretation: Reimagining and Reinventing the Past in East Asian Buddhism, Hamburg Buddhist Studies 10,'' edited by Mario Poceski, page 125, Numata Center for Buddhist Studies, Projekt Verlag, 2017</ref>

Poceski explains how ''gong'an'' have been put in the service of institutional agendas and have historically been tied up with nexuses of power. Commenting on ancient cases bolstered Chan masters as living embodiments of a mystical Chan lineage, reinforcing their status and authority.<ref name="Mario Poceski page 124"/> At the same time, the ostentatious literary form such exegesis often took served to impress literati supporters, the sociopolitical elites of [[Song dynasty|Song China]], who were its intended audience.<ref name="Mario Poceski page 124"/> In this way, ''gong'an'' exegesis aligned with the cultural predilections and aesthetic sensibilities of the establishment.<ref name="Mario Poceski page 124"/> What's more, Alan Cole states that, in China, koan writing "appears to have been a thoroughly literary affair, with little or nothing to do with meditation."<ref>Alan Cole, Patriarchs on Paper: A Critical History of Medieval Chan Literature, page 271, University of California Press, 2016</ref>

According to Foulk, commenting on a ''gong'an'' doesn't merely serve to elucidate the wisdom of the patriarchs for a student's sake, but rather functions as a device for demonstrating a master's authority,<ref>T. Griffith Foulk, The Form and Function of Koan Literature: A Historical Overview, in ''The Koan: Texts and Contexts in Zen Buddhism,'' edited by Steven Heine and Dale S. Wright, page 17, Oxford University Press, 2000</ref> not only in relation to a living disciple, but also in relation to the patriarchs themselves.<ref name="T. Griffith Foulk page 34">T. Griffith Foulk, The Form and Function of Koan Literature: A Historical Overview, in ''The Koan: Texts and Contexts in Zen Buddhism,'' edited by Steven Heine and Dale S. Wright, page 34, Oxford University Press, 2000</ref> That is, in commenting on a ''gong'an'', a master's authority is demonstrated to be both derivative and absolute: derivative in that it draws on the prestige of the earlier patriarchs, absolute in the sense that it gives the living master the last word and ultimate judgment.<ref name="T. Griffith Foulk page 34"/> Similarly, Cole points out that koan exegesis is a kind of performance which positions the commentator as an absolute master of tradition, "one who has even mastered the Chan masters of the Tang" (who appear as the main characters in koan stories).<ref>Alan Cole, Patriarchs on Paper: A Critical History of Medieval Chan Literature, page 258, University of California Press, 2016</ref>

According to Stuart Lachs, koans are largely literary fictions which serve to reinforce hierarchical structures within Zen institutions.<ref>Stuart Lachs, Means of Authorization: Establishing Hierarchy in Ch'an/Zen Buddhism in America, page 21, Revised paper from presentation at the 1999 Meeting of the American Academy of Religion</ref> Lachs also observes that the ritual koan interview between a student and master is so presented as to give a sense of timelessness in which the student is made to feel that the procedure is an inherent part of Zen that has existed since the beginning, despite its being an institutional construction.<ref name="Stuart Lachs page 24">Stuart Lachs, Means of Authorization: Establishing Hierarchy in Ch'an/Zen Buddhism in America, page 24, Revised paper from presentation at the 1999 Meeting of the American Academy of Religion</ref> Lachs quotes from Peter Berger's analysis of religious legitimation, stating that the point of the ritual is to "let people forget that this order was established by men and continues to be dependent on the consent of men."<ref name="Stuart Lachs page 24"/><ref>Peter Berger, The Sacred Canopy, Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion, page 44, Open Road Integrated Media, 2011</ref>

Poceski points out how ''gong'an'' exegesis deploys certain strategies to deflect criticism or challenges to authority which continue all the way to the present.<ref name="Mario Poceski page 131">Mario Poceski, Killing Cats and Other Imaginary Happenings: Milieus and Features of Chan Exegesis, in ''Communities of Memory and Interpretation: Reimagining and Reinventing the Past in East Asian Buddhism, Hamburg Buddhist Studies 10,'' edited by Mario Poceski, page 131, Numata Center for Buddhist Studies, Projekt Verlag, 2017</ref> These often involve the charge that critics lack genuine Chan experience and understanding.<ref>Mario Poceski, Killing Cats and Other Imaginary Happenings: Milieus and Features of Chan Exegesis, in ''Communities of Memory and Interpretation: Reimagining and Reinventing the Past in East Asian Buddhism, Hamburg Buddhist Studies 10,'' edited by Mario Poceski, pages 131-132, Numata Center for Buddhist Studies, Projekt Verlag, 2017</ref> As this can be true even for [[bodhisattva]]s of the tenth level, this also reflects a sectarian notion that Chan is superior to canonical Buddhism.<ref>Mario Poceski, Killing Cats and Other Imaginary Happenings: Milieus and Features of Chan Exegesis, in ''Communities of Memory and Interpretation: Reimagining and Reinventing the Past in East Asian Buddhism, Hamburg Buddhist Studies 10,'' edited by Mario Poceski, page 132, Numata Center for Buddhist Studies, Projekt Verlag, 2017</ref> Poceski says:

<blockquote>A person daring to articulate any sort of meaningful criticism can simply be dismissed as being an unenlightened ignoramus whose mind is filled with shallow views and one-sided attachments. So much for intellectual freedom and the need to question established authority.<ref name="Mario Poceski page 131"/></blockquote>

According to Poceski, modern publications and popular Zen books tend to be confined to the same strictures and ideological suppositions as the classical sources.<ref>Mario Poceski, Killing Cats and Other Imaginary Happenings: Milieus and Features of Chan Exegesis, in ''Communities of Memory and Interpretation: Reimagining and Reinventing the Past in East Asian Buddhism, Hamburg Buddhist Studies 10,'' edited by Mario Poceski, page 133, Numata Center for Buddhist Studies, Projekt Verlag, 2017</ref> A noteworthy element of modern interpretations of ''gong'an'' material is the tendency to stick uncritically to conventional lines of exegesis that fail to question normative traditions and the untenable assumptions which buttress them.<ref name="Mario Poceski page 134">Mario Poceski, Killing Cats and Other Imaginary Happenings: Milieus and Features of Chan Exegesis, in ''Communities of Memory and Interpretation: Reimagining and Reinventing the Past in East Asian Buddhism, Hamburg Buddhist Studies 10,'' edited by Mario Poceski, page 134, Numata Center for Buddhist Studies, Projekt Verlag, 2017</ref> This includes the idea that ''gong'an'' represent timeless truths that must be "unlocked via dedicated Zen practice, undertaken under proper spiritual guidance."<ref name="Mario Poceski page 134"/> This again reflects a concern for orthodoxy and authority, as it reinforces the modern Zen master as gatekeeper of truth and "prime arbiter of value and meaning."<ref>Mario Poceski, Killing Cats and Other Imaginary Happenings: Milieus and Features of Chan Exegesis, in ''Communities of Memory and Interpretation: Reimagining and Reinventing the Past in East Asian Buddhism, Hamburg Buddhist Studies 10,'' edited by Mario Poceski, page 137, Numata Center for Buddhist Studies, Projekt Verlag, 2017</ref> In this way, ideological suppositions about ''gong'an'' are entwined with social relationships and power structures, as they aim to perpetuate a religious institution whose members derive tangible benefits by virtue of their status in it as maintainers of tradition.<ref>Mario Poceski, Killing Cats and Other Imaginary Happenings: Milieus and Features of Chan Exegesis, in ''Communities of Memory and Interpretation: Reimagining and Reinventing the Past in East Asian Buddhism, Hamburg Buddhist Studies 10,'' edited by Mario Poceski, pages 124, 137, Numata Center for Buddhist Studies, Projekt Verlag, 2017</ref> As Lachs points out, advancement within Zen institutions requires a sufficient degree of socialization, and this entails not questioning institutional positions and authority.<ref>Stuart Lachs, Means of Authorization, Establishing Hierarchy in Ch'an/Zen Buddhism in America, page 27, Revised paper from presentation at the 1999 Meeting of the American Academy of Religion</ref> In regards to this state of affairs, Poceski asks:<blockquote>However, was it not the case that Chan/Zen was supposed to take us in an entirely different direction, away from the familiar intersections of knowledge and power? Wasn't it supposed to blow away archaic ideological smokescreens and obliterate all forms of conceptual posturing, rather than conjure or shore them up? Perhaps not, or so it seems.<ref>Mario Poceski, Killing Cats and Other Imaginary Happenings: Milieus and Features of Chan Exegesis, in ''Communities of Memory and Interpretation: Reimagining and Reinventing the Past in East Asian Buddhism, Hamburg Buddhist Studies 10,'' edited by Mario Poceski, pages 137-138, Numata Center for Buddhist Studies, Projekt Verlag, 2017</ref></blockquote>