The way The "goal" Background Chinese texts Classical Post-classical Contemporary Zen in Japan Seon in Korea Thiền in Vietnam Western Zen Dongshan Liangjie (807–869) (Chinese: 洞山良价; pinyin: Dòngshān Liángjiè; Wade–Giles: Tung-shan Liang-chieh; Japanese: Tōzan Ryōkai; Korean: Tongsan Lianggye; Vietnamese: Động Sơn Lương Giới) was a Chan Buddhist monk of the Tang dynasty.

At the village cloister, Dongshan showed promise by questioning the fundamental Doctrine of the Six Roots during his tutor's recitation of the Heart Sutra.

Dongshan Liangjie spent a large portion of his early life wandering between Chan masters and hermits in the Hongzhou (Chinese: 洪州; Wade–Giles: Hung-chou) region.

During the later years of his pilgrimage Emperor Wuzong's Great Anti-Buddhist Persecution (843–845) reached its height, but it had little effect on Dongshan or his newfound followers.

A little over a decade later, in 859, Dongshan felt he had completed his role as an assistant instructor at Hsin-feng Mountain, so with the blessing of his last masters, he took some students and left to establish his own school.

According to one of the kōans of his sect, Dongshan announced the end of his life several days before the event, and used the opportunity to teach his students one final time.

[9]and Students as numerous as sands in the Ganges but none are awakened.They err by searching for the path in another person's mouth.If you wish to forget form and not leave any traces,Wholeheartedly strive to walk in emptiness.

[9]Further features of the school included particular interpretations of kōan, an emphasis on "silent illumination" Chan, and organization of students into the "three root types."

Instead, such Dongshan lineage descendants as Hongzhi encouraged the use of Silent Illumination Chan (mo-chao chán) as a way to take a self-fulfilling, rather than a competitive, path to enlightenment.

(An alternate theory says the "Cao" refers to Caoxi Huineng [曹渓慧能 W-G: Ts'ao-hsi Hui-neng], the sixth ancestor of Chan; see Sōtō#Chinese origins.)

Thirteen generations later, the Japanese Buddhist monk Dōgen Kigen (1200–1253) was educated in the traditions of Dongshan's Caodong school of Chan.

The only primary sources available are two collections of doctrine and lineage, T'su-t'ang-chi (Records from the Halls of the Patriarchs) and Ching-tê chʻuan teng lu (Transmission of the Lamp).