Nanshou City Sixth Patriarch Temple

Nanshou City Sixth Patriarch Temple

The Nanshou City Sixth Patriarch Temple is a cultural tourism attraction.

The Nanshou City Sixth Patriarch Temple is located 150 meters south of Meiguan Pass. It is said to have been originally built during the Tang Dynasty and was renovated in the summer of 1995. The temple was constructed in honor of the eminent monk and Zen master Huineng, the founding patriarch of the Southern School of Chan Buddhism.

The Sixth Patriarch Temple and the Bowl-Setting Stone

The Sixth Patriarch Temple stands quietly in a secluded valley about 200 meters south of Meiguan Gate, with the perennially flowing Zhuo Xi Spring beside the temple.

Huineng, the Sixth Patriarch, had the secular surname Lu and was a native of Xinxing County in Guangdong Province, with ancestral roots in Fanyang, Hebei (now Wanping, Beijing). He was born on the eighth day of the second lunar month in the twelfth year of the Zhenguan era (638) during the reign of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty. He lost his father at the age of three and lived in extreme poverty. In his later childhood, he made a living by selling firewood. One day at the age of 24, while selling firewood in the county town, he heard someone reciting the Diamond Sutra, which sparked his interest and led him to develop an aspiration for Buddhism. Later, with the support of the person who had been chanting the sutra, he went to Dongshan Temple in Huangmei, Hubei, to become a monk. The Fifth Patriarch Hongren was presiding over the temple there. It is said that the twenty-eighth patriarch of Indian Buddhism, Bodhidharma, brought the robe and alms bowl of Dharma transmission to China to preach, residing at Shaolin Temple on Mount Song, and became the founding patriarch of Chinese Chan Buddhism. Bodhidharma passed the robe and bowl to Huike as the Second Patriarch, Huike to Sengcan as the Third Patriarch, Sengcan to Daoxin as the Fourth Patriarch, and Daoxin to Hongren as the Fifth Patriarch.

After Huineng arrived at the temple, Hongren assigned him to chop wood and pound rice in the backyard. Huineng worked at the temple for over eight months and earned high praise from Hongren. Originally, Hongren had intended to pass the robe and bowl to his senior disciple Shenxiu. However, ever since Huineng joined the temple, Hongren realized that Huineng surpassed Shenxiu significantly in understanding Zen principles and spiritual insight. Therefore, he shifted his attention toward passing the robe and bowl to Huineng.

One day, Hongren gathered all his disciples and said to them: “Now, each of you may go and compose a gatha (verse) that captures the essence of your true mind. If anyone truly comprehends the core teaching, I will pass the robe and bowl to them and appoint them as the Sixth Patriarch.” The senior disciple Shenxiu composed the following gatha:

The body is the bodhi tree,

The mind is like a bright mirror stand.

Always diligently polish it,

And let no dust collect.

In response to Shenxiu’s gatha, Huineng also composed one:

Bodhi is fundamentally no tree,

Nor is the bright mirror a stand.

Originally there is not a single thing—

Where could any dust be attracted?

Hongren believed that Huineng had deeply grasped the true nature and insightfully understood the profound truth, showing extraordinary potential. He thus decided to pass the robe and bowl to Huineng.

The next day, the Fifth Patriarch went to the pounding room and saw Huineng pounding rice with a stone tied to his waist. He asked, “Is the rice ready?” Huineng replied, “The rice has been ready for a long time; it only awaits sifting.” The Fifth Patriarch struck the mortar three times with his staff and then left.

In the middle of the night at the third watch, the perceptive Huineng went to Hongren’s meditation room. The Fifth Patriarch taught him the Diamond Sutra alone: “One should produce a thought which is nowhere supported.” Seeing that Huineng had attained great enlightenment, he passed the robe and bowl to Huineng, making him the Sixth Patriarch. Hongren then instructed Huineng to quickly leave Huangmei and go to Lingnan to spread the Dharma.

The next day, when Shenxiu learned that Huineng had taken the robe and bowl, he led a group in pursuit to kill him.

When Huineng reached Meiling, exhausted and starving, to avoid conflict with Shenxiu, he placed the robe and bowl on a large rock by the roadside and hid in the dense forest.