Danxia Tianran
Danxia Tianran was a Chan/Zen Buddhist monk and poet during the late Tang dynasty. A student of both Mazu Daoyi and Shitou Xiqian, Danxia was famous for his wild and iconoclastic behavior, which became the inspiration for artworks and kōans throughout the Chan/Zen tradition.
Life
Danxia first studied Confucianism, but while traveling to Ch'ang-an to take the imperial exams he stayed at a lodge and dreamed of a white light filling the room, which a diviner interpreted as an omen of understanding emptiness and thereafter a Chan buddhist traveler suggested Danxia pursue Chan Buddhism instead of an imperial job.Danxia first studied under Mazu Daoyi, who gave him a dharma name Tianran after Danxia climbed onto the shoulders of a statue of Manjushri in the monk's hall.
After Mazu's death, Danxia journeyed from temple to temple, finally arriving at a temple where he became so cold he took a wooden Buddha statue, chopped it into pieces, and used the wood for a fire to warm himself.
When Danxia became 81 years old, he retired to a hermitage at Mount Danxia in Hunan province where up to three hundred Buddhist students gathered around the mountain and built a monastery around him, with Danxia teaching them in sayings and poems:
Four years after arriving at the mountain, he said to his students, “I'm going on a journey once again.” Danxia then readied his traveling hat, robe, and staff. When he put on his pilgrim's sandals, he died before his foot again touched the ground.
Legacy
Danxia's wild and unorthodox behavior became famous within the Chan/Zen Buddhist tradition and beyond. Chinese academic Hu Shih stated that Danxia's actions reflect the intellectual tendencies of a "revolutionary age" and Professor Kaiten Nukariya uses the story of Danxia burning the Buddha statue as a core example of the iconoclasm found in Chan Buddhism. Regarding said story, D. T. Suzuki remarked:The incident of Danxia burning the Buddha statue was portrayed by artists such as Hokusai, Nagasawa Rosetsu, and Sengai.
Danxia is found in kōans within the Record of the Transmission of the Light and in a kōan from the Blue Cliff Record, specifically case 76: