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'''Caodong school''' ({{zh|c=曹洞宗 |p=Cáodòng zōng |w=Ts'ao-tung-tsung}}) is a [[Chinese Chan]] [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] sect, one of the [[Five Houses of Chán]].

==Etymology==
Some attribute the name "Cáodòng" as a union of "Dongshan" and "Caoshan" from one of his Dharma-heirs, [[Caoshan Benji]];<ref group=web>{{cite web|url=http://fo.ifeng.com/changshi/200906/0603_22_56306.shtml|title=Origin of Caodong School|publisher=[[ifeng.com]]|date=June 3, 2009| accessdate=August 9, 2012|language=Chinese}}</ref> however, the "Cao" much more likely came from ''Cáoxī'' (曹溪), the "mountain-name" of [[Huineng]], the Sixth Ancestor of Chan, as Caoshan was of little importance unlike his contemporary and fellow Dharma-heir, [[Yunju Daoying]]. The school emphasised [[sitting meditation (Zen)|sitting meditation]], and later "[[Shikantaza|silent illumination]]" techniques.

==History==
The Caodong school was founded by [[Dongshan Liangjie]] (807-869) and his Dharma-heir Caoshan Benji (840-901)
(Ts'ao-shan Pen-chi, Jpn. Sōzan Honjaku). Dongshan traced back his lineage to [[Shitou Xiqian]] (700-790), a contemporary of [[Mazu Daoyi]] (709–788). Sayings to the effect that Shitou and Mazu were the two great masters of their day date from decades after their respective deaths. Shítóu's retrospective prominence owes much to the importance of [[Dongshan Liangjie]].{{sfn|Poceski| 2007|p=97–98}} Shítóu does not appear to have been influential or famous during his lifetime: 
{{quote|He was a little-known teacher who led a reclusive life and had relatively few disciples. For decades after Shitou's death, his lineage remained an obscure provincial tradition.{{sfn|Poceski|2007}}}}

In the 11th century the Caodong-school nearly extinguished.{{sfn|Schlütter|2008|p=79}} [[Dayang Jingxuan]] (942-1027), the last descendant of the Caodong-lineage passed on his dharma-transmission via Fushan Fayuan, a teacher from the [[Linji school]], to Fayuan's student [[Touzi Yiqing]] (1032-1083),{{sfn|Schlütter|2008|p=80}} who was born five years after Jingxuan's death.

During the [[Northern Song]] (960-1127) the Caodong was not successful in the social elite. The [[Linji school]] and [[Yunmen school]] dominated Chán.{{sfn|Schlütter|2008|p=79}} It was Touzi Yiqing's student [[Furong Daokai]] (1043-1118) who was a successful monastic, and revived the Caodong school.{{sfn|Schlütter|2008|p=79-81}}

His dharma "grandson" [[Hongzhi Zhengjue]] (1091-1157) became very successful among elite literati in the [[Southern Song]] (1127-1279), when the Imperial Court decreased their influence on society, and Chán schools became dependent on elite literati for support. This success drew opposition of [[Dahui Zonggao]], who promoted the [[Hua Tou]] method of [[Koan|koan-study]] as an accessible means for Chán-practice, and attacked the [[Shikantaza|silent illumination]] of Hongzhi.{{sfn|Schlütter|2008}}

In 1227 [[Dōgen Zenji]], a former [[Tendai]] student, studied Caodong Buddhism under [[Tiantong Rujing]], and returned to [[Japan]] to establish the [[Sōtō]] sect.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://read.goodweb.cn/news/news_view.asp?newsid=44543|script-title=zh:道元和日本曹洞宗|publisher=|accessdate= |language=Chinese}}</ref> His lineage incorporates not only the dharma-transmission via Fushan Fayuan, but also Linji dharma-transmissions via [[Eisai]] and his student Myozen, a teacher of Dogen, and the Linji dharma-transmission of Dahui Zonggao via the [[Nōnin|Nōnin school]].{{sfn|Bodiford|1991|p=428}}

==Lineage chart==
via Shitou the Caodong traces back its origins to Huineng.

{{Zen Lineage Caodong School}}

== See also ==
* [[Schools of Buddhism]]
* [[Secular Buddhism]]
* [[Sōtō]]
* [[Koan]]

==References==
===Written references===
{{reflist|30em}}

===Web references===
{{reflist|group=web}}

==Sources==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite journal| last =Bodiford| first =William M.| authorlink =William Bodiford| title =Dharma Transmission in Soto Zen: Manzan Dohaku's Reform Movement| journal =[[Monumenta Nipponica]]| volume =46| issue =4| pages =423–451| publisher =Sophia University| location =| date =Winter 1991| doi =10.2307/2385187| id =| issn = 0027-0741| jstor=2385187}}
* {{Citation | last =Ferguson | first =Andy | year =2011 | title =Zen's Chinese Heritage. The Masters and their Teachings |  publisher =Wisdom publications}}
* {{Citation | last = Poceski | first = Mario | year = 2007 | title = Ordinary Mind as the Way: the Hongzhou School and the Growth of Chan Buddhism | publisher = Oxford University Press | isbn =978-0-19-531996-5}}
* {{Citation | last =Schlütter | first =Morten | year =2008 | title =How Zen became Zen. The Dispute over Enlightenment and the Formation of Chan Buddhism in Song-Dynasty China | place =Honolulu | publisher =University of Hawai'i Press | isbn =978-0-8248-3508-8}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* [http://ibc.ac.th/faqing/files/Soto_Zen%20Ancestors.pdf SOTO ZEN ANCESTORS IN CHINA]
* [http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/HistoricalZen/Bright_Field_of_Spirit_Hongzhi.html Matthew Gindin (2008), ''The Bright Field of Spirit: The Life and Teachings of Chan Master Hongzhi Zhengjue'']
<!-- 404 (20160523): * [http://www.caodongzazen.com/english-CaodongFamilyTree.htm Caodong Family Tree]-->
* [http://sweepingzen.com/soto-zen Taigen Dan Leighton, ''Sōtō Zen (Caodong)'']

{{WP content|Cao-dong school}}

[[Category:Chan Buddhism]]
[[Buddhism in China]]
[[Category:Zen sects]]

===Page is sourced from===

[https://encyclopediaofbuddhism.org/wiki/Cao-dong%20school www.encyclopediaofbuddhism.org Cao-dong school]