Begin with a flower and a smile. Follow the remembered teachers from India to China, then explore the temples and mountains that carry their stories.
Begin at the beginning ↓
At Vulture Peak in India, the Buddha raises a flower before the assembly and says nothing. Everyone remains silent. Mahākāśyapa smiles.
According to Chan tradition, the Buddha recognises this wordless understanding and entrusts the teaching to him. Known as the Flower Sermon, or 拈花微笑, the story places Mahākāśyapa at the beginning of the Indian patriarchal lineage: an understanding passed from mind to mind.
That remembered succession runs through twenty-eight patriarchs to Bodhidharma, who is also the first patriarch of Chan in China. It is a sacred genealogy preserved in later Chan literature, rather than a continuous historical record of dated meetings.
On Jizu Shan, local Buddhist belief places Mahākāśyapa at Huashou Gate, safeguarding the Buddha’s robe while awaiting Maitreya. The mountain offers a living landscape through which to explore this wider story.
Explore Jizu Shan & Huashou Gate ↗Explore the traditional succession through twenty-eight colour portraits, from Mahākāśyapa to Bodhidharma. Choose a teacher to follow the stories and the teaching passed onward.
摩诃迦叶
The Buddha’s disciple is remembered as the first patriarch in the traditional Indian lineage. The Flower Sermon places his wordless recognition at its beginning; Jizu Shan in Yunnan carries the separate belief that he safeguards the Buddha’s robe while awaiting Maitreya.
阿难
The Buddha’s attendant is remembered for hearing and retaining his teachings. In the patriarchal account, Mahākāśyapa entrusts the transmission to him, and he passes it to Śāṇavāsa.
商那和修
His encounter with the young Upagupta turns on a question: does a person’s age describe their body or their true nature? The exchange becomes a story about recognising understanding beyond outward appearances.
优波鞠多
Stories remember a teacher who guides many disciples and overcomes Māra through Buddhist teaching. In the lineage, his successor is Dhṛtaka.
提多迦
Asked whether leaving home concerns the body or the mind, he answers beyond that distinction. The account later has him welcome Miccaka and his followers into Buddhist practice.
弥遮迦
A meeting with Vasumitra, carrying a drinking vessel, becomes the turning point in this chapter. The outwardly unconventional traveller is recognised as the next bearer of the teaching.
婆须密
His dialogue with Buddhanandi questions whether debate alone reaches the meaning of the teaching. The encounter ends in a request to practise and receive transmission.
佛陀难提
The traditional life tells of recognising Buddhamitra’s capacity for practice when those around him see only silence. He becomes the ninth patriarch.
伏驮蜜多
The narrative turns toward the ordination and dedicated practice of Pārśva. Buddhamitra entrusts him with the teaching, continuing the remembered succession.
胁尊者
His Chinese name recalls the tradition that he practised so diligently that his side never touched a sleeping mat. His exchange with Puṇyayaśas explores a mind beyond coming, going and fixed dwelling.
富那夜奢
His chapter centres on recognising Aśvaghoṣa and welcoming him as a disciple. The story links teaching with a change of understanding, rather than with worldly status.
马鸣
A dramatic tale has Kapimala display supernatural power before him. Aśvaghoṣa directs the encounter toward insight into the mind, and Kapimala asks to enter Buddhist practice.
迦毗摩罗
The narrative brings him to a great tree, where he encounters Nāgārjuna teaching a gathering associated with dragons. The meeting prepares the next chapter of the lineage.
龙树
In the patriarchal story, a moonlike manifestation conveys the teaching without a long explanation. Kāṇadeva recognises its meaning and becomes his successor.
迦那提婆
A bowl filled with water and a needle placed within it become the gestures of recognition between Nāgārjuna and Kāṇadeva. Later, Kāṇadeva receives Rāhulata as a disciple.
罗睺罗多
His conversation with Saṅghanandi asks whether meditation belongs to the body or the mind. It points toward steadiness without treating awareness as something confined or possessed.
僧伽难提
Remembered as a prince who turns toward monastic life, he later encounters the young Gayāśata carrying a mirror. Their dialogue makes the mirror an image of shared, unobstructed understanding.
伽耶舍多
A closed door gives this chapter its memorable exchange. Kumāralāta says the house is empty; Gayāśata asks who has answered, opening a meeting that leads to transmission.
鸠摩罗多
Jayata comes to him puzzled by the suffering of a devout family and the apparent good fortune of others. The narrative explores karma, confusion and the deeper nature of mind.
阇夜多
His encounter with Vasubandhu challenges reliance on severe ascetic practice alone. The remembered teaching turns attention toward understanding rather than attachment to a method.
婆修盘头
After receiving transmission from Jayata, he meets Manorhita, a king’s son who enters monastic life. This chapter joins an inherited teaching with the decision to leave royal privilege.
摩拏罗
A flock of cranes accompanies Haklena in this traditional account. Manorhita explains their connection through a story of former lives and teaches a verse through which they are said to find release.
鹤勒那
Siṃha asks how to apply the mind in seeking the way. Their exchange questions deliberate grasping, and Siṃha is recognised as the next bearer of the teaching.
师子尊者
A child’s tightly closed hand opens to reveal a jewel when Siṃha asks for its return. The story identifies that child, Vasiasita, as his future disciple and successor.
婆舍斯多
His traditional life includes a hot spring, a spirit and an act of reconciliation. The story portrays a teacher bringing relief through the Dharma; his successor is Puṇyamitra.
不如蜜多
Remembered as a royal son who becomes a monk, he receives transmission from Vasiasita. Their account distinguishes the teaching itself from the robe that sometimes serves as its outward sign.
般若多罗
A precious jewel becomes the subject of an exchange with the young Bodhidharma. His answer places the treasure of the Dharma and the light of wisdom above material brilliance.
菩提达摩
The twenty-eighth patriarch of the traditional Indian succession is also the first patriarch in China. His remembered sea journey, meeting with the Liang emperor and association with Shaolin connect the Indian origin story with the Chinese Chan tradition.
Follow Bodhidharma’s remembered journey ↗Choose a portrait, or scroll through the teachers.
Portraits: Terebess’ collection of the twenty-eight Indian patriarchs. These are traditional representations, not portraits made from life. Stories follow Persons, volume nine of Sancai Tuhui; names vary in transliteration. Bodhidharma is counted once in India and begins a new numbering in China.
The two lineages meet in one figure. Bodhidharma is remembered as the twenty-eighth Indian patriarch and the first patriarch of Chan in China. Early sources associate him with meditation and the teaching transmitted to Huike.
In the best-known account he travels from southern India by sea, reaches southern China, encounters Emperor Wu of Liang and continues north towards Shaolin. The single-reed crossing belongs to the story of the Yangtze, not the ocean voyage. His exact origin and arrival date remain uncertain.
Hualin Temple in Guangzhou, Dingshan Temple near Nanjing and Shaolin on Mount Song preserve different chapters of this remembered journey. Follow them on the map below.
Research background: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Chan Buddhism · Study of Bodhidharma’s disputed arrival date.
Follow the journey on the map ↓The traditional succession from Bodhidharma to Huike, Sengcan, Daoxin, Hongren and Huineng is a way Chan communities remember their origins. The evidence for each life is uneven, and later biographies shaped the continuous lineage familiar today. Treat the stories as part of the tradition while asking what their sources can establish.
From the fourth and fifth patriarchs’ larger communities in the Huangmei area to the traditions surrounding Huineng in Guangdong, Chan developed within Chinese Buddhist practice and language. Its later branches spread through teachers, monasteries and texts rather than a single traveller’s route. The map and family tree below show those distinct layers; the Chan Journey brings the route map and daily itinerary together in a practical travel order.
Later accounts describe Bodhidharma as coming from southern India, while the early biographical sources differ. No reliable departure harbor or sailing date is known.
Explore this place ↗The three-year sea crossing belongs to later Chan storytelling; it is not a verified voyage duration or a known number of days. The line on this map is schematic, not a reconstructed shipping course.
Explore this place ↗Hualin Temple preserves a local association with Bodhidharma’s arrival. His exact landing place and date remain uncertain.
Explore this place ↗Later Chan accounts place a conversation with Emperor Wu of Liang here. “Crossing the Yangtze on a reed” is a symbolic legend of his onward journey, not a record of the sea crossing.
Explore this place ↗Shaolin is linked to Bodhidharma’s meditation and the transmission to Huike, the second patriarch. “Nine years facing a wall” belongs to the tradition, not a verified duration.
Explore this place ↗Mount Sikong is associated with Huike’s later life and the meeting with Sengcan. From this point the map follows Chan transmission, not Bodhidharma’s own travels.
Explore this place ↗Near Tianzhu Mountain, Sanzu Temple remembers Sengcan. Early Chan lives were assembled from sources written across different periods.
Explore this place ↗Sizu and Wuzu temples connect the fourth and fifth patriarchs with larger, settled communities of practice.
Explore this place ↗Nanhua Temple is central to Huineng’s later legacy. The Platform Sutra and subsequent communities shaped how this transmission was remembered.
Explore this place ↗The cartoon and route are editorial illustrations of traditional accounts. Southern India is only an approximate origin; the port, sea path and duration are unverified. “One reed” refers to a Yangtze legend. Read the historical background ↗ · Read the research on disputed dates ↗
Read from Bodhidharma to Huineng across the top. The tradition then branches through Nanyue and Qingyuan towards the Five Houses; Huanglong and Yangqi are later branches of Linji, forming the familiar “Seven Schools” account.
This is a selected map of traditional affiliation, not every teacher or a verified chain of dated encounters. Some connections are debated by historians.
Explore the detailed, generation-by-generation chart ↗
JIANGXI / YONGXIUExplore a later Caodong Chan centre, its farming tradition and Xuyun’s final chapter. He began reviving the monastery in 1953 and died here in 1959.
Explore Zhenru Temple ↗
YUNNAN / BINCHUANMahākāśyapa’s sacred story, forest temples and Xuyun’s work at Zhusheng Temple add a distinct Yunnan exploration, with time for its own mountain setting.
Explore Jizu Shan ↗