Chan patriarchs

Bodhidharma was a semi-legendary Buddhist monk who lived during the 5th or 6th century CE. He is traditionally credited as the transmitter of Chan Buddhism to China, and is regarded as its first Chinese patriarch. He is also popularly regarded as the founder of Shaolin kung fu, an idea popularized in the 20th century, but based on the 17th century Yijin Jing and the Daoist association of daoyin gymnastics with Bodhidharma.

Dajian Huineng or Hui-neng (; trad. 638-713), also commonly known as the Sixth Patriarch or Sixth Ancestor of Chan (traditional Chinese: 禪宗六祖), is a semi-legendary but central figure in the early history of Chinese Chan Buddhism.

Jianzhi Sengcan (; Pīnyīn: Jiànzhì Sēngcàn; Wade–Giles: ; Rōmaji: ) is known as the Third Chinese Patriarch of Chán after Bodhidharma and thirtieth Patriarch after Siddhārtha Gautama Buddha.

Chan practitioner

Chinese Buddhist patriarch

Chan patriarch

Chinese Buddhist text

Tang Dynasty buddhist monk

Tiāntóng Rújìng (天童如淨; Japanese: Tendō Nyojō) (1163–1228) was a Caodong Buddhist monk living in Jìngdé Temple (景徳寺; Japanese: Keitoku-ji) on Tiāntóng Mountain (天童山; Japanese: Tendōzan) in Yinzhou District, Ningbo. He taught and gave dharma transmission to Sōtō Zen founder Dōgen as well as early Sōtō monk Jakuen (寂円 Jìyuán).

thumb|Śāṇavāsa statue, Tây Phương Temple, Vietnam, 1794 AD Śāṇavāsa (Śānakavāsin, Sambhūta Śāṇavāsi or Sanakavasa) was a disciple of Ananda, and is considered the fourth Indian Patriarch in Chan/Zen Buddhism after Shakyamuni, Mahakashyapa and Ananda.

Song dynasty person (CBDB = 53050)

Prajñātārā, also known as Keyura, Prajnadhara, or Hannyatara, was the twenty-seventh patriarch of Indian Buddhism according to Chan Buddhism, and the teacher of Bodhidharma.

Buddhist monk of the Sarvastivada school who flourished in the 2nd century CE