Yunyan Tianyou 雲巖典牛天游

School: Linji | Teacher: Zhantang Wenzhun | Students: Jingshan Zhice

Song Linji (Huanglong) master, 隆興府雲巖典牛天遊禪師 — Dianniu ('Herding the Ox') Tianyou. A native of Chengdu, surname Zheng 鄭. He passed the examinations at two prefectures but declined the registration and slipped out through the pass under an assumed name. He first called on Sixin without connecting, then attached himself to Zhantang Wenzhun at Letan and inherited his dharma; his preaching was said to carry Zhantang's manner. He taught at Yungai, then Yunyan, and finally built a hermitage at Wuning and never left it again. His sobriquet comes from ox-herding verses like the one the batch cites, capping Attendant Zhong: 「兩角指天,四足踏地。拽斷鼻繩,牧甚屎屁」 — two horns point at the sky, four hooves tread the earth; snap the nose-rope — what the hell is there to herd?

References: DILA Authority A008655

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