Begin with Mahākāśyapa and the twenty-eight Indian patriarchs, then follow Bodhidharma into China and the branches that became the Five Houses and Seven Schools.
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.
Read each column downward. Numbers count generations along that branch, beginning with Bodhidharma as 01. The lines below select the principal named transmissions leading to each house; they are not a complete list of every Chan teacher. The neat genealogy was assembled and debated over centuries, so it should be read as a traditional map of affiliation, not a verified chain of dated encounters.
Explore the six-patriarch journey ↗Huineng’s remembered successors include Heze Shenhui (荷泽神会). The two lines followed below, Nanyue and Qingyuan, became central to the later Five Houses.
First of the five houses in the traditional account.
From Shishuang Chuyuan, two later lines became known as Huanglong and Yangqi.
The Daowu–Longtan link and some early affiliations have been contested in Chan scholarship. This diagram follows a familiar traditional presentation to help visitors navigate the literature, not to settle those debates.
The six-patriarch sequence and Five Houses are described by the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. The named traditional branches toward the Seven Schools follow the International Buddhist Society’s account. Scholarship also examines how genealogies were constructed and revised.