Mumonkan / Wumenguan · CASE 4
The Foreigner Has No Beard
The Gateless Gate
Case
Wakuan said, “Why does the foreigner from the Western Regions have no beard?”1
Verse
Before a fool you must not talk of dreams. “The foreigner has no beard”— adding confusion to the wide awake.2
Footnotes 2
- 胡 was a broad and often othering Chinese designation for peoples to the north and west; in Zen literature “the Hu man from the west” points to Bodhidharma. “Foreigner” is less abusive than some historical English equivalents but retains the marked outsider status. Bodhidharma is usually depicted with heavy facial hair, which gives the question its visible contradiction. ↩
- 癡人 is secured by the pilot witnesses. The dream may be recounted, but the verse does not state what it symbolizes; the note therefore does not turn it into an allegory of awakening. ↩
About this version and its sources
- Full source citation
- CBETA T2005: T48n2005_p0293b23–p0293b29. Pilot controls: Waseda Bunko 31 E1103, PDF pp. 13–14; Keio 110X@509@1, PDF p. 8.
- Method
- Direct critical-edition translation from the cited received base text. Source claims, hagiography, uncertainty, and unresolved readings remain identified in the notes and project record.
- Editorial uncertainty
- Independent philological and reader review remain pending.
- Rights
- Project translation © Tulsa Zen Center Critical Edition contributors. Source text is cited by edition; redistribution policy requires final organizational approval.
- Revision identifier
- 6c89a88850af
Mumon's commentary
Mumon said: Inquiry must be real inquiry; awakening, real awakening. You must meet this foreigner face-to-face once—only then will it do. But say “face-to-face,” and already there are two.