User:Paxse/Five Houses of Chan

The Five Houses of Chan (五家) (also called Five Schools of Chan, or the Five Houses of Zen) were the five major branches of Chan (Zen) Buddhism that arose in Tang dynasty China. The five houses were the Linji (臨濟宗), Caodong (曹洞宗), Guiyang school (潙仰宗), Yunmen (雲門宗) and Fayan (法眼宗) branches, each named after their respective Chan masters.

After the collapse of the Tang Dynasty, and the reunification under the Song Dynasty, Chan circulated through tales and aphorisms. It began to flourish soon after and out of competition arose distinct schools. Each of these schools represented a lineage that surrounded one and sometimes two acknowledged masters to champion their style of Chan.

Three of the five houses expired within a short period of time, out of which the Linji and Caodong still survive today. The Linji school became Rinzai school in Japan, and the Caodong School became the Soto School.