公案(こうあん)

こうあん
noun
koan; Zen riddle
1. koan; Zen riddle; meditation question
A paradoxical statement or question used in Zen Buddhism (especially the 臨済(りんざい) school) as an object of meditation, aimed at provoking insight beyond ordinary logical thought.
禅(ぜん)の公案(こうあん)に取(と)り組(く)む。
I work on a Zen koan.
「隻手(せきしゅ)の音(おと)」は有名(ゆうめい)な公案(こうあん)だ。
"The sound of one hand" is a famous koan.
臨済宗(りんざいしゅう)の修行(しゅぎょう)では、師(し)から与(あた)えられた公案(こうあん)と長年(ながねん)向(む)き合(あ)い続(つづ)けることが求(もと)められる。
In Rinzai-school training, you are required to wrestle for years with a koan given to you by your master.

Originally a Tang-dynasty Chinese legal term meaning "public case," later adapted by Chan/Zen masters to refer to recorded teaching dialogues used for meditation.

COMMON COLLOCATIONS:

  • 公案(こうあん)に取(と)り組(く)む: to work on a koan
  • 公案(こうあん)を解(と)く: to resolve a koan (informal; koans aren't really "solved" in a logical sense)
  • 公案(こうあん)修行(しゅぎょう): koan training
  • 禅(ぜん)公案(こうあん): Zen koan

CULTURAL CONTEXT:
Famous examples include 隻手(せきしゅ)の音(おと) ("the sound of one hand") by Hakuin and 趙州(じょうしゅう)の無(む) ("Joshu's Mu"). Koan study is central to Rinzai Zen but plays a smaller role in the Soto school.

SIMILAR WORDS:

  • なぞなぞ: riddle — playful and entertaining; lacks the religious dimension
  • 禅問答(ぜんもんどう): Zen dialogue — sometimes used loosely to mean a baffling exchange
general
Added 2026.5.28 12:07
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