About
A public-domain repository of Zen kōan in the original Chinese with free English translations.
Zen kōan come down to us mostly in Classical Chinese, in collections composed eight or nine centuries ago. Those original texts are unambiguously in the public domain. Most good English translations, however, are still under copyright. This project pairs the public-domain originals with new translations that are themselves freely usable — so the whole thing, original and translation alike, belongs to everyone.
The three parts of each entry
Original — the public-domain classical Chinese text, set in our own punctuation. The wording is the ancient text itself, checked character by character, not any modern edition.
Translation — faithful but readable: accurate to the Chinese, in natural modern English, with a light touch of bracketed glossing only where a term truly needs it.
Pointer — a curator's note. Not an interpretation that resolves the kōan (that would defeat its purpose) but an oblique nudge: the cultural and doctrinal context a monk in the original audience already carried, and which a modern reader usually lacks.
Sources & license
- The Gateless Gate — Original Chinese from Chinese Wikisource (public domain, tagged PD-old). Cross-referenceable with the Taishō Tripiṭaka, vol. 48, no. 2005. (source)
- The Blue Cliff Record — The Blue Cliff Record (碧巖錄), from the public-domain Taishō Tripiṭaka (vol. 48, no. 2003), set in our own punctuation. We give the core of each case — the introduction (垂示), the case (本則), and Xuedou's verse (頌); Yuanwu's prose commentary (評唱) and the interlinear capping phrases (著語) are omitted.
- The Book of Serenity — The Book of Serenity (從容錄), from the public-domain Taishō Tripiṭaka (vol. 48, no. 2004), set in our own punctuation. We give the core of each case — Wansong's instruction (示眾), the case (本則), and Hongzhi's verse (頌); the prose commentary and interlinear capping phrases are omitted.
- The Record of Linji — The Record of Linji (鎮州臨濟慧照禪師語錄), from the public-domain Taishō Tripiṭaka (vol. 47, no. 1985), set in our own punctuation. It gives the recorded sayings along the text's own divisions — the Dharma-hall discourses and instructions (上堂 / 示眾), the Critical Examinations (勘辨), and the Record of Activities (行錄). Ma Fang's preface is given on this page; the later prefaces and the printers' colophons are omitted.
- The Record of Zhaozhou — The Record of Zhaozhou (趙州真際禪師語錄并行狀), preserved in 古尊宿語錄 (fascicles 13–14) in the public-domain Xuzangjing (卍續藏, vol. 68, no. 1315), set in our own punctuation. It gives Zhaozhou's own record — his life-record (行狀), his Dharma-hall discourses and instructions (上堂 / 示眾), his Song of the Twelve Hours (十二時歌), and his occasional verses (頌); the appended encomium and elegies written by other hands are omitted.
- The Record of Layman Pang — The Record of Layman Pang (龐居士語錄), from the public-domain Xuzangjing (卍續藏, vol. 69, no. 1336), set in our own punctuation. It gives the recorded sayings (fascicle 1) — Pang's life-record followed by his encounter dialogues with the masters of his day; the two fascicles of his poems (詩) and the later masters' verses of praise (歷代讚文) are omitted.
Original texts: public domain. Translations and pointers: dedicated to the public domain under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal dedication — you may copy, adapt, and redistribute them for any purpose, no permission or attribution required.