The nun Xuanji of Wenzhou, ordained during the Tang Jingyun era (710–711 CE), meditated in stone caves on Great Sun Mountain. One day she reflected: “Dharma-nature is inherently pure — why cling to stillness over noise?” She journeyed to meet Master Xuefeng.
Xuefeng demanded: “Where from?”
Xuanji: “Great Sun Mountain.”
Xuefeng: “Has the sun risen?” (Metaphor: awoke or not?)
Xuanji retorted: “If risen, it would melt Xuefeng(Snow Peak in English)!”
Xuefeng: “Your name?”
Xuanji: “Xuanji (Mysterious Mechanism).”
Xuefeng tested: “How much cloth do you weave daily?”
Xuanji declared: “Not a single thread hangs!”
She bowed to leave.
After three steps, Xuefeng shouted: “Your robe’s corner drags on the ground!”
As Xuanji turned, Xuefeng laughed:
“Ah, ‘not a single thread’?!”
Philosophical Notes
The Trap of “No Attachment”
Xuanji’s “not a single thread hangs” claimed absolute detachment — yet her instant turn when called exposed lingering self-consciousness. True emptiness leaves no trace of “I am unattached.”
Xuefeng’s Skillful Sword
His robe-corner taunt was final cut: proving Xuanji still clutched:
Identity (“Mysterious Mechanism”)
Spiritual achievement (her bold sun-melting boast)
Sun and Snow: Dualism Dissolved
Great Sun Mountain = Her self-proclaimed enlightenment
Melting Snow Peak = Illusion of “defeating” the master
Xuefeng revealed: True sun (wisdom) doesn’t “melt” snow (phenomena) — it illuminates snow as sun.
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