Yunmen Wenyan

Yúnmén Wényǎn
TitleCh'an-shih
Personal life
Born862 or 864
Died949
NationalityChinese
Religious life
ReligionBuddhism
SchoolCh'an
Yunmen Wenyan
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese雲門文偃
Simplified Chinese云门文偃
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinYúnmén Wényǎn
Wade–GilesYün2-men2 Wen2-yen3
IPA[y̌n.mə̌n wə̌n.jɛ̀n]
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationWàhn-mùhn Màhn-yín
JyutpingWan4-mun4 Man4-jin2
Japanese name
Kanji雲門文偃
Transcriptions
RomanizationUmmon Bun'en

Yunmen Wenyan (Chinese: 雲門文偃; Japanese: Ummon Bun'en; 862 or 864 – 949 CE), was a major Chinese Chan master of the Tang dynasty. He was a dharma-heir of Xuefeng Yicun.

Yunmen founded the Yunmen school, one of the five major schools of Chán (Chinese Zen). The name is derived from Yunmen monastery of Shaozhou where Yunmen was abbot. The Yunmen school flourished into the early Song Dynasty, with particular influence on the upper classes, and eventually culminating in the compilation and writing of the Blue Cliff Record.

The school would eventually be absorbed by the Linji school later in the Song. The lineage still lives on to this day through Chan Master Xuyun (1840–1959).