Hyakujo’s Fox
E940298
Hyakujo’s Fox is a famous Zen koan about a monk who is reborn as a fox for denying karmic causality, illustrating the subtle understanding of enlightenment and cause-and-effect.
Statements (46)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
Buddhist parable
ⓘ
Zen koan ⓘ Zen teaching story ⓘ |
| appearsIn | The Gateless Gate NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| associatedWith |
Chan Buddhism
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Zen Buddhism NERFINISHED ⓘ cause and effect ⓘ enlightenment ⓘ karmic causality ⓘ |
| featuresEvent |
Hyakujo gives a corrective answer about not being blind to cause and effect
ⓘ
a monk answers a question about enlightened beings and karma ⓘ the fox asks Hyakujo to resolve his error ⓘ the fox’s body is found and given a monk’s funeral ⓘ the monk is reborn as a fox for 500 lives ⓘ |
| genre |
didactic story
ⓘ
religious narrative ⓘ |
| hasAnswer | An enlightened person is not blind to cause and effect ⓘ |
| hasMainCharacter |
Hyakujo
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
an old monk reborn as a fox ⓘ |
| hasMoral |
avoid clinging to one-sided views of emptiness
ⓘ
enlightenment does not exempt one from karma ⓘ |
| hasQuestion | Does an enlightened person fall into cause and effect? ⓘ |
| hasTheme |
integration of wisdom and causality
ⓘ
misunderstanding of absolute freedom ⓘ relationship between doctrine and realization ⓘ responsibility for actions ⓘ |
| language | Classical Chinese (original form) ⓘ |
| period | Tang dynasty (traditional setting) NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| relatedTo |
Hyakujo Ekai
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Mumonkan NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| setIn | a Zen monastery ⓘ |
| studiedBy |
Buddhist scholars
ⓘ
Zen practitioners ⓘ students of comparative religion ⓘ |
| symbolizes |
consequences of doctrinal error
ⓘ
entanglement in samsara ⓘ liberation through right understanding ⓘ |
| teaches |
danger of holding absolute views
ⓘ
non-dual view of cause and effect ⓘ relationship between enlightenment and karma ⓘ subtle understanding of karmic causality ⓘ |
| transmittedThrough |
Zen monastic oral tradition
ⓘ
koan collections ⓘ |
| usedIn |
Rinzai Zen training
ⓘ
Zen meditation practice ⓘ koan study ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.