Cáodòng is a Chinese

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 Zen

Zen

Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...

 Buddhist

Buddhism

Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...

 sect founded by Dongshan Liangjie

Tung-shan

Liang-chieh of Tung-shan , often referred to simply as Tung-Shan or Dongshan Liangjie , was a Ch'an master of 9th century China. Along with his pupil Ts'ao-shan Pen-chi, he is best known for founding the Ts'ao-tung, or later Sōtō, school of Ch'an...

 and his Dharma-heirs in the 9th century. Some attribute the name "Cáodòng" as a union of "Dongshan" and "Caoshan" from one of his Dharma-heirs, Caoshan Benji; however, the "Cao" much more likely came from Cáoxī (曹溪), the "mountain-name" of Huineng

Huineng

Dajian Huineng was a Chinese Chán monastic who is one of the most important figures in the entire tradition, according to standard Zen hagiographies...

, the Sixth Ancestor of Chan, as Caoshan was of little importance unlike his contemporary and fellow Dharma-heir, Yunju Daoying. The sect emphasised sitting meditation, and later "silent illumination

Shikantaza

is a Japanese term for zazen introduced by Rujing and associated most with the Soto school of Zen Buddhism. Ford cites on p. 224 an opinion that it is "the base of all Zen disciplines." Some people claim that according to Dōgen Zenji, shikantaza i.e...

" techniques.

In 1227 Dōgen Zenji, a former Tendai

Tendai

is a Japanese school of Mahayana Buddhism, a descendant of the Chinese Tiantai or Lotus Sutra school.Chappell frames the relevance of Tendai for a universal Buddhism:- History :...

 student, studied Caodong Buddhism, and returned to Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 to establish the Sōtō

Soto

Sōtō Zen , or is, with Rinzai and Ōbaku, one of the three most populous sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism.The Sōtō sect was first established as the Caodong sect during the Tang Dynasty in China by Dongshan Liangjie in the 9th century, which Dōgen Zenji then brought to Japan in the 13th century...

 sect.

Caodong masters:

• Dongshan Liangjie
  Tung-shan
  Liang-chieh of Tung-shan , often referred to simply as Tung-Shan or Dongshan Liangjie , was a Ch'an master of 9th century China. Along with his pupil Ts'ao-shan Pen-chi, he is best known for founding the Ts'ao-tung, or later Sōtō, school of Ch'an...
  
   (9th century)
• Caoshan Benji (9th century)
• Hongzhi Zhengjue
  Hongzhi Zhengjue
  Hongzhi Zhengjue was a Chinese Chán Buddhist monk who authored or compiled several influential Buddhist texts. Hongzhi's conception of "silent illumination" is of particular importance to the Chinese Caodong and Japanese Sōtō Zen schools; however, Hongzhi was also the author of an important...
  
   (12th century)
• Tiāntóng Rújìng (13th century)

See also

• Sōtō
  Soto
  Sōtō Zen , or is, with Rinzai and Ōbaku, one of the three most populous sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism.The Sōtō sect was first established as the Caodong sect during the Tang Dynasty in China by Dongshan Liangjie in the 9th century, which Dōgen Zenji then brought to Japan in the 13th century...
  
  
• Koan
• Dharma Drum Retreat Center
  Dharma Drum Retreat Center
  Dharma Drum Retreat Center was founded by renowned Chinese Ch'an Master, Master Sheng-yen. Its location is at the rural area of Pine Bush, New York, just about two hours drive or northwest of New York City...
  
   Chán Buddhism retreat center founded by Caodong heir Sheng-yen
  Sheng-yen
  Sheng-yen was a Buddhist monk, a religious scholar, and one of the mainstream teachers of Chinese Chan Buddhism. He was the 57th generational descendant of Linji in the Linji School and a 3rd generational descendant of Master Hsu Yun...