Heinrich Dumoulin, Zen Buddhism: A History- India and China

Summary by Emily Joyce

This article analyzes the life of Bodhidharma (the 28th Indian patriarch and First Chinese Zen patriarch) as a historical figure in relation to his role as the legendary, mythic figure that transferred Buddhist ideology from India to China.  Dumoulin claims that historical figures turn into legends to tell stories and to serve the motives of relaying teachings, and ideals of the culture from which they emerge (85). “No single founder is responsible for the origins and early development of the Zen movement…many of its roots lie deep in native China’s thought”(89).    

The texts that address the Bodhidharma’s historical existence leave much unclear in the way of origin and evidence for the validity of the legendary claims about his life and teachings.  According to Dumoulin, legends amplify historical realities to become more significant and larger in scope, this is particularly important when a new movement is trying to convey the import of its arrival (85-6). “In the Bodhidharma legend we find the same impulse that is the lifeblood of all legends: to relate something new and unexpected” (86).

All the texts that Dumoulin cites point to the historical existence of Bodhidharma.  However, none of them offer any certainty around the events of his life beyond his dedication to meditation, visiting temples, preaching the Dharma and the fact that he faced opposition (86-90).  Bodhidharma is essentially utilized as an “‘ideal figure’… [to symbolize] the essence of Zen in the form of an idealized, unreachable model … Followers can extrapolate from the image of Bodhidharma … the inner content of the way to enlightenment” (90). The two main functions of Bodhidharma as a legendary symbol in Chinese Zen Buddhism allowed for the lineage of the Buddha mind to transfer from India to China and for a new style of meditation to emerge (90).  Bodhidharma is associated with six treatises, though whether they were written by him cannot be proven.  Bodhidharma’s Short Treatise on the Four Practices of Mahayana Way closely parallels Mahayana teachings and introduces the “wall-gazing” meditation that is attributed to Bodhidharma (93).        



Heinrich Dumoulin, Zen Buddhism: A History- India and China (New York: MacMillan, 1988), 85-94.