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Congrong Hermitage Record (Shōyōroku 從容録)

A koan collection, at the core of which are one hundred "verse comments on old cases" (juko 頌古) composed by Wanshi Shōkaku (C. Hongzhi Zhengjue 宏智正覺, 1091–1157), an eminent monk in the Soto 曹洞 lineage who was also known as Reverend Kaku of Tendō (Tendō Kaku Oshō, C. Tiantong Jue Heshang 天童覺和尚). The full title of the text is Congrong Hermitage Record: Old Man Banshō's Evaluations of Tendō Kaku's Verse Comments on Old Cases (Banshō rōjin hyōshō tendō kaku juko shōyōroku 萬松老人評唱天童覺和尚頌古從容録). The Congrong Hermitage Record as we have it today took shape in 1223 at the hand of Zen master Banshō Gyōshū (C. Wansong Xingxiu 萬松行秀, 1166–1246), who was living in the Congrong Hermitage (Shōyō an, C. Congrong an 從容菴) at the Blessings Repaying Monastery (Hōonji 報恩寺) in Yanjing. To each root case (honsoku 本則) and attached verse comment (song 頌) found in the core text by Tendō Kaku, Banshō added (1) a prose "instruction to the assembly" (shishu 示衆) which precedes the citation of the case and serves as a sort of introductory remark; (2) a prose commentary on the case; and (3) a prose commentary on the verse. Moreover, Banshō added interlinear capping phrases to each case and verse.