Decoding multimodal resources in the master–disciple interactions of Chinese Zen Buddhism

Abstract

Abstract Over its long period of development, Zen Buddhism in ancient China has adopted a unique method of enlightenment for the direct individual understanding of the Buddha-nature in the interaction between Zen masters and their disciples, instead of merely depending on written classics or oral teaching, which constitutes so-called “independence-from-words.” Communication between monks in Zen is a process of multimodal interaction, in which many different semiotic modes are included, for example strikes, roars, gestures, foot-poses, body poses, and image drawings. Meditation and understanding in Zen demand an interpretation of these multimodal cues in the interaction. Therefore, multimodal discourse analysis may serve as a novel perspective for analysing Zen modes of enlightenment, since MDA attaches great importance to various semiotic channels besides language. This paper aims to present how Zen masters flexibly utilized multimodal resources in enlightenment, starting from an introduction to the traditional understanding of multimodality in ancient China and how the interpretation of Zen can benefit from its analysis through the lens of MDA.