INSPIRATION AND PROOF: TWO KINDS OF “POETRY TO UNDERSTAND ZEN” TECHNIQUE BY SHI SHOUZHUO

Abstract

As per the effort of Shi Huinan, Huang Longzong had paid great attention to “using text to understand Zen”. Until the generation of Shi Shouzhuo, poetry has become an important tool for Zenunderstanding. His poetrywas the second highest among Huang Longzong poets in the Northern Song Dynasty. Shouzhuo's poetry was based on "Inspiration" and "Proof". "Inspiration" was an important skill to inspireand stimulate learner’s own comprehension. Shouzhuo would raise questions to stopnormal cognition of learners, then he would give an unexpected answer to force them understand “what is Zen”. "Proof" emphasized on displaying his own view, so that learners can learn from it. This article is mainly focus Shouzhuo's poetry, in order to elaborate his special skill of Zen comprehension.