55Linji at Longguang行錄

師行脚時到龍光，光上堂，師出，問云：「不展鋒鋩如何得勝？」光據坐。師云：「大善知識豈無方便？」光瞪目，云：「嗄。」師以手指云：「這老漢今日敗闕也。」

On his travels Linji came to Longguang, who had taken the high seat to teach. Linji stepped forward and asked, "Without ever drawing your blade, how do you win?"

Longguang just sat there.

Linji said, "A great teacher, and you've nothing better than that?"

Longguang fixed him with a stare and barked, "Hah!"

Linji jabbed a finger at him. "Old man, today you've lost."

Pointer

On his travels Linji drops in on Longguang just as the man has taken the high seat to give a talk, and instead of listening he opens with a challenge wearing the clothes of a question. The "blade" is the decisive move a teacher uses to cut a student loose, so "how do you win without ever drawing it?" is Linji asking what Longguang has when the showmanship is stripped away. Longguang runs the standard repertoire in reply: he sits in silence, then fixes Linji with a stare, then barks "Hah!" Each is a recognized Chan power move, and that's the problem Linji is pointing at, because he reads them as moves with nothing behind them, gestures borrowed off the shelf. He jabs a finger and calls the match: today you lost. The case is a lesson in the difference between the form of a sharp response and an actually live one, and Linji declares Longguang all form.