Lin-chi I-hsüan

E951816

Chan Buddhist master Chinese Buddhist monk Zen master founder of religious school

Lin-chi I-hsüan was a seminal 9th-century Chinese Chan (Zen) master and founder of the Linji school, renowned for his abrupt, iconoclastic teaching style using shouts and blows to provoke enlightenment.

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

All labels observed (3)

Label	Occurrences
Lin-chi I-hsuan	1
Lin-chi I-hsüan canonical	1
Lin-chi lu	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T11673001 — 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: Lin-chi I-hsüan
Context triple: [Linji Yixuan, alsoKnownAs, Lin-chi I-hsüan]

A. Shenxiu
Shenxiu was a prominent early Chan (Zen) Buddhist monk of the 7th century, known as a leading figure of the so-called Northern School and a key rival to Huineng in later Chan tradition.
B. Huineng
Huineng was the influential Sixth Patriarch of Chan (Zen) Buddhism in China, renowned for his teachings on sudden enlightenment and non-dual awareness.
C. Ma Lin
Ma Lin is a retired Chinese table tennis player renowned for his Olympic gold medals and exceptional skill in doubles and penhold play.
D. Dahui Zonggao
Dahui Zonggao was a prominent 12th-century Chinese Chan (Zen) master of the Linji school, best known for popularizing the practice of kanhua meditation focused on critical phrases (hua tou) from koans.
E. Zentsuji
Zentsuji is a historic city in Japan known as the birthplace of the Buddhist monk Kūkai and home to the famous Zentsū-ji Temple, one of the 88 temples on the Shikoku Pilgrimage.
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: Lin-chi I-hsüan
Target entity description: Lin-chi I-hsüan was a seminal 9th-century Chinese Chan (Zen) master and founder of the Linji school, renowned for his abrupt, iconoclastic teaching style using shouts and blows to provoke enlightenment.

A. Shenxiu
Shenxiu was a prominent early Chan (Zen) Buddhist monk of the 7th century, known as a leading figure of the so-called Northern School and a key rival to Huineng in later Chan tradition.
B. Huineng
Huineng was the influential Sixth Patriarch of Chan (Zen) Buddhism in China, renowned for his teachings on sudden enlightenment and non-dual awareness.
C. Ma Lin
Ma Lin is a retired Chinese table tennis player renowned for his Olympic gold medals and exceptional skill in doubles and penhold play.
D. Dahui Zonggao
Dahui Zonggao was a prominent 12th-century Chinese Chan (Zen) master of the Linji school, best known for popularizing the practice of kanhua meditation focused on critical phrases (hua tou) from koans.
E. Zentsuji
Zentsuji is a historic city in Japan known as the birthplace of the Buddhist monk Kūkai and home to the famous Zentsū-ji Temple, one of the 88 temples on the Shikoku Pilgrimage.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (45)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Chan Buddhist master ⓘ Chinese Buddhist monk ⓘ Zen master ⓘ founder of religious school ⓘ
alternativeName	Lin-chi I-hsuan ⓘ linked to: Lin-chi I-hsüan Linji Yixuan ⓘ Master Linji ⓘ
associatedConcept	iconoclasm in Chan teaching ⓘ sudden enlightenment ⓘ
branchOfBuddhism	Chan Buddhism ⓘ Mahayana Buddhism ⓘ linked to: Mahayana
centuryOfActivity	9th century ⓘ
countryOfCitizenship	China ⓘ
era	Tang dynasty ⓘ
ethnicGroup	Han Chinese ⓘ
founderOf	Linji school of Chan Buddhism ⓘ linked to: Linji school of Chan
goalOfTeaching	to trigger direct awakening in students ⓘ
hasLegacy	recorded sayings in the Linji lu (Record of Linji) ⓘ
historicalSignificance	major figure in the development of Chinese Chan ⓘ source of a principal lineage of East Asian Zen ⓘ
influenced	East Asian Zen practice ⓘ Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism ⓘ linked to: Rinzai
languageOfExpression	Classical Chinese ⓘ
movement	Linji school of Chan Buddhism ⓘ linked to: Linji school of Chan
nameInPinyin	Línjì Yìxuán ⓘ linked to: Linji Yixuan
nativeName	臨済義玄 ⓘ linked to: Mugaku Sogen
notableFor	abrupt and iconoclastic teaching style ⓘ influence on Rinzai Zen in Japan ⓘ use of shouts and blows to provoke enlightenment ⓘ
occupation	Buddhist monk ⓘ religious teacher ⓘ
philosophicalFocus	direct realization of Buddha-nature ⓘ rejection of attachment to words and scriptures ⓘ
placeOfActivity	China ⓘ
religion	Buddhism ⓘ
religiousTradition	Chan Buddhism ⓘ Zen Buddhism ⓘ
roleInTradition	patriarch of the Linji lineage ⓘ
school	Linji school ⓘ linked to: Linji school of Chan
teachingMethod	blows and physical gestures ⓘ paradoxical and abrupt responses ⓘ shouts (katsu) to startle students ⓘ
teachingStyle	confrontational ⓘ experiential ⓘ non-conceptual ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (3)

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

Linji Yixuan → alsoKnownAs → Lin-chi I-hsüan ⓘ

The Record of Linji → hasTitleVariant → Lin-chi lu ⓘ

linked to: Lin-chi I-hsüan

Lin-chi I-hsüan → alternativeName → Lin-chi I-hsuan ⓘ