The recorded sayings Yantou left during his lifetime are relatively few and are scattered throughout various lamp records.

For the convenience of later students, this junior student has collected the accounts of Chan Master Yantou Quanhuo found in the Compendium of the Five Lamps, the Jingde Record of the Transmission of the Lamp, the Anthology of the Patriarchal Hall, and the Essentials of the United Lamp Assembly. The master’s recorded sayings and biographical accounts have been compiled and arranged chronologically according to his time under Deshan, Yantou’s sifting and guidance, and his propagation of the Dharma at Wolong. The section on his propagation of the Dharma at Wolong is further arranged in the order of teachings, records of testing and verification, and questions and answers.

This compilation takes the Compendium of the Five Lamps as its primary text and incorporates relevant material from the other three works. Prepared in haste, it doubtless contains many improprieties, errors, and omissions. May readers examine it discerningly.

Respectfully submitted by the junior student Lianming, July 17, 2011