[Original Text of the Koan]

While the monk Wù of Yunju was at Longmen, a monk was bitten by a snake. Foyan asked, “Since this is the Dragon Gate, why was he bitten by a snake?”

Wù immediately replied, “It indeed reveals the marks of a great person!”

Later, when these words were conveyed to Zhaojue, Yuanwu said, “Does Longmen have such a monk? The Dharma way of Dongshan is not yet desolate.”

[Sawing Open a Steelyard Weight]

When those of the highest capacity hear the Way, they diligently put it into practice; when those of middling capacity hear the Way, it seems at times to exist and at times to vanish; when those of the lowest capacity hear the Way, they laugh aloud at it. If they did not laugh, it would not be enough to be called the Way.

Chan Master Yunju Shanwu was a Dharma heir of Chan Master Longmen Qingyuan, known as Foyan. When Master Wù was studying Chan at Longmen, someone was bitten by a snake. Of course, the person was immediately treated; that goes without saying. Yet Chan Master Longmen Qingyuan suddenly used this incident to ask, “Since this is the Dragon Gate, why was he bitten by a snake?”—Everyone was studying the Dharma way of the Chan school at the Longmen practice center. Since it is called the “Way,” why should it instead be ridiculed by those of the lowest capacity? Here, “Dragon Gate” symbolizes the Way; the dragon symbolizes those of the highest capacity, and the snake symbolizes those of the lowest capacity.

Chan Master Yunju Shanwu answered at once, “It indeed reveals the marks of a great person!”—Indeed, it reveals the nobility of the Dharma way of the Chan school. If they did not ridicule it, the nobility of the Chan Dharma way would not be revealed. That is, “If they did not laugh, it would not be enough to be called the Way.”

This exchange was later conveyed to Foguo Yuanwu Keqin, who praised it, saying, “Does Longmen have such a monk? The Dharma way of Dongshan is not yet desolate.”—Such a quick-witted patch-robed monk has unexpectedly emerged under my Dharma brother’s seat. The Dharma way transmitted by my teacher will not decline. Why worry that there will be no successors?

According to the lamp records, Chan Master Wuzu Fayan—the teacher of the Three Buddhas, Foguo, Foyan, and Fojian—“first resided at Simian, then moved to Baiyun, and in his later years lived at Dongshan”; and “at his cremation, relics fell like rain, and a stūpa was erected south of Dongshan.” Thus, the “Dharma way of Dongshan” refers to the Dharma way transmitted by Chan Master Fayan.

This is the narrow sense. In a broader sense, the Fifth Patriarch, Master Hongren of the Chan school, established a stūpa at Dongshan in Huangmei. The Platform Sūtra of the Sixth Patriarch says, “Huineng then opened the Dharma gate of Dongshan beneath the bodhi tree.” Thus, the “Dharma way of Dongshan” broadly refers to the Chan school.