Five Houses and Seven Schools of Chan

E940289

Chan Buddhist lineage grouping Chan Buddhist lineage system Chan school classification of Chan sub-schools historical classification of Chan schools

The Five Houses and Seven Schools of Chan were the principal lineages and sub-schools of Chinese Chan (Zen) Buddhism that crystallized during the Tang and Song dynasties, shaping the later development of Zen in East Asia.

Try in SPARQL Jump to: Surface forms Disambiguation Statements Elicitation Referenced by

All labels observed (3)

Label	Occurrences
Five Houses and Seven Schools of Chan canonical	2
Seven Schools of Chan	1
Southern School of Chan	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T11673437 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Five Houses and Seven Schools of Chan
Context triple: [Guiyang school, memberOf, Five Houses and Seven Schools of Chan]

A. Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch
The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch is a foundational Chan Buddhist scripture attributed to Huineng that expounds the doctrine of sudden enlightenment and the nature of mind.
B. Blue Cliff Record
The Blue Cliff Record is a classic 11th-century Chan (Zen) Buddhist koan anthology, widely studied for its profound teachings and influential commentaries on enlightenment.
C. Book of the Eight Tones
The Book of the Eight Tones is a liturgical hymn book used in Eastern Christian worship that organizes chants according to eight musical modes.
D. Classified Conversations of Master Zhu
Classified Conversations of Master Zhu is a collected record of the sayings, discussions, and teachings of the influential Song-dynasty Neo-Confucian philosopher Zhu Xi.
E. School of Names
The School of Names was an ancient Chinese philosophical tradition known for its focus on logic, language, and paradoxes, often compared to early forms of analytical philosophy.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Five Houses and Seven Schools of Chan
Target entity description: The Five Houses and Seven Schools of Chan were the principal lineages and sub-schools of Chinese Chan (Zen) Buddhism that crystallized during the Tang and Song dynasties, shaping the later development of Zen in East Asia.

A. Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch
The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch is a foundational Chan Buddhist scripture attributed to Huineng that expounds the doctrine of sudden enlightenment and the nature of mind.
B. Blue Cliff Record
The Blue Cliff Record is a classic 11th-century Chan (Zen) Buddhist koan anthology, widely studied for its profound teachings and influential commentaries on enlightenment.
C. Book of the Eight Tones
The Book of the Eight Tones is a liturgical hymn book used in Eastern Christian worship that organizes chants according to eight musical modes.
D. Classified Conversations of Master Zhu
Classified Conversations of Master Zhu is a collected record of the sayings, discussions, and teachings of the influential Song-dynasty Neo-Confucian philosopher Zhu Xi.
E. School of Names
The School of Names was an ancient Chinese philosophical tradition known for its focus on logic, language, and paradoxes, often compared to early forms of analytical philosophy.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (50)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Chan Buddhist lineage grouping ⓘ Chan Buddhist lineage system ⓘ Chan school ⓘ Chan school ⓘ Chan school ⓘ Chan school ⓘ Chan school ⓘ classification of Chan sub-schools ⓘ historical classification of Chan schools ⓘ
associatedWith	koan practice ⓘ monastic institutions ⓘ
consolidatedIn	Song dynasty China ⓘ linked to: Song dynasty
coreDoctrine	Buddhist meditation practice ⓘ direct realization of Buddha-nature ⓘ emphasis on lineage transmission ⓘ
countryOfOrigin	China ⓘ China ⓘ China ⓘ China ⓘ China ⓘ China ⓘ
culture	Chinese Buddhism ⓘ
developedIn	Tang dynasty China ⓘ linked to: Tang dynasty
geographicRegion	East Asia ⓘ
hasPart	Caodong school ⓘ Fayan school ⓘ Five Houses of Chan ⓘ Guiyang school ⓘ Linji school ⓘ linked to: Linji school of Chan Seven Schools of Chan ⓘ linked to: Five Houses and Seven Schools of Chan Yunmen school ⓘ
historicalRole	shaped later development of East Asian Zen ⓘ
influenced	Japanese Zen Buddhism ⓘ linked to: Zen Buddhism in Japan Korean Seon Buddhism ⓘ linked to: Korean Buddhism Rinzai school of Japanese Zen ⓘ linked to: Rinzai Sōtō school of Japanese Zen ⓘ linked to: Sōtō Zen Vietnamese Thiền Buddhism ⓘ linked to: Thiền Buddhism
languageOfPrimarySources	Classical Chinese ⓘ
namedAfter	Caoshan Benji ⓘ Dongshan Liangjie ⓘ Fayan Wenyi ⓘ Guishan Lingyou ⓘ Linji Yixuan ⓘ Yangshan Huiji ⓘ Yunmen Wenyan ⓘ
period	Song dynasty ⓘ Tang dynasty ⓘ
religiousTradition	Chan Buddhism ⓘ Zen Buddhism ⓘ linked to: Zen
subClassOf	Five Houses and Seven Schools of Chan ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (4)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Hongren → influenced → Southern School of Chan ⓘ

linked to: Five Houses and Seven Schools of Chan

Guiyang school → memberOf → Five Houses and Seven Schools of Chan ⓘ

Fayan school of Chan → oneOf → Five Houses and Seven Schools of Chan ⓘ

Five Houses and Seven Schools of Chan → hasPart → Seven Schools of Chan ⓘ