Zen's Chinese Heritage: The Masters and Their Teachings

by Andy Ferguson

Zen's Chinese Heritage surveys twenty-five generations of enlightened Buddhist teachers through brief biographies and starkly beautiful prose and poetry from Chinese Zen sources. Andrew Ferguson moves chronologically through successive generations of Zen masters, supplementing their core teachings with history, biography, and poetry. The result is an organic understanding of the tradition's evolution as a religious, literary, and historical force. Capturing the austere beauty of the Zen masters' manner of teaching — their earthy style, humor, and humanity — Zen's Chinese Heritage is an intimate and profound human portrait of the enlightened Zen ancients, and an unprecedented look into the depths of this rich cultural heritage. The book includes a deluxe fold-out lineage chart of the Zen ancestors.

Genres: Buddhism, Zen, China, Religion, History, Nonfiction

512 pages, Paperback

First published April 15, 2000

About the author

Born 1951. Andy Ferguson graduated Phi Beta Kappa in Chinese studies from the University of Oregon in 1973.

Reviews

[Ed · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent source book for the great Ch'an masters. Many great stories of their dialogs with students.

[Jughead · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cherish this book, but whenever I read anything else by AF I am always disappointed.