ABSTRACT
In his Studies in the History of the Early Chan School (Yanagida 1967, 18), the Zen historian, Yanagida Seizan, claims that the classic Chan “Lamp Histories” presuppose an orientation to history that differs significantly from that of the modern historians who now study them. Focusing on one such text, the classic Records of the Transmission of the Lamp, 1 compiled in 1004, this paper seeks to articulate an understanding of the character of historical awareness in Song dynasty Chan Buddhism and to define the difference, suggested by Yanagida, between it and modern historiography. 2 Having done this, the paper will conclude with some reflections on what each historiographic tradition can learn from the other, and how historiographic understanding can be advanced in light of this learning.
