Sengcan

Jianzhi Sengcan
TitleThird Chinese Patriarch
Personal
Born496?
Died606
ReligionBuddhism
NationalityChinese
SchoolChan
Senior posting
PredecessorDazu Huike
SuccessorDayi Daoxin

Jianzhi Sengcan (Chinese: 鑑智僧璨; Pīnyīn: Jiànzhì Sēngcàn; Wade–Giles: Chien-chih Seng-ts'an; Rōmaji: Kanchi Sōsan) is known as the Third Chinese Patriarch of Chán after Bodhidharma and thirtieth Patriarch after Siddhārtha Gautama Buddha.

He is considered to be the Dharma successor of the second Chinese Patriarch, Dazu Huike (Chinese: 大祖慧可; Pīnyīn: Dàzǔ Huìkě; Wade–Giles: Ta-tsu Hui-k’o; Rōmaji: Taiso Eka). Sengcan is best known as the putative author of the famous Chan poem, Xinxin Ming (Chinese: 信心銘; Pīnyīn: Xìnxīn Míng; Wade–Giles: Hsin-hsin Ming), the title of which means "Inscription on Faith in Mind".