Shitou Xiqian
E277423
Shitou Xiqian was an influential 8th-century Chinese Chan (Zen) master, renowned for his poetic teachings and as a key figure in the development of the Caodong/Sōtō Zen lineage.
All labels observed (2)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Shitou Xiqian canonical | 14 |
| Shitou Xiqian (traditional identification; historically uncertain) | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T2563033 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Shitou Xiqian Context triple: [Chan Buddhism, associatedMonk, Shitou Xiqian]
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A.
Xuan
Xuan is a Vietnamese surname commonly used as a family name in Vietnam.
-
B.
Yìxiān
Yìxiān is the courtesy name of Sun Yat-sen, the revolutionary leader often regarded as the founding father of modern China.
-
C.
Shi
Shi is a Chinese surname historically associated with members of the Jewish community in Kaifeng, China.
-
D.
Xiaochang
Xiaochang is a county in Hubei Province, China, known historically as a rural mission and teaching post where figures like Eric Liddell worked.
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E.
Xinan Guanhua
Xinan Guanhua is a major regional variety of Mandarin Chinese spoken across much of southwestern China, including provinces such as Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Shitou Xiqian Target entity description: Shitou Xiqian was an influential 8th-century Chinese Chan (Zen) master, renowned for his poetic teachings and as a key figure in the development of the Caodong/Sōtō Zen lineage.
-
A.
Xuan
Xuan is a Vietnamese surname commonly used as a family name in Vietnam.
-
B.
Yìxiān
Yìxiān is the courtesy name of Sun Yat-sen, the revolutionary leader often regarded as the founding father of modern China.
-
C.
Shi
Shi is a Chinese surname historically associated with members of the Jewish community in Kaifeng, China.
-
D.
Xiaochang
Xiaochang is a county in Hubei Province, China, known historically as a rural mission and teaching post where figures like Eric Liddell worked.
-
E.
Xinan Guanhua
Xinan Guanhua is a major regional variety of Mandarin Chinese spoken across much of southwestern China, including provinces such as Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (49)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
Buddhist monk
ⓘ
Chan master ⓘ Chinese religious leader ⓘ Zen patriarch ⓘ |
| associatedWith |
Nanyue Huairang lineage
ⓘ
linked to:
Hongzhou school
Southern School of Chan ⓘ |
| birthName | Xiqian ⓘ |
| centuryOfActivity | 8th century ⓘ |
| countryOfCitizenship | China ⓘ |
| era | Tang dynasty ⓘ |
| ethnicGroup | Han Chinese ⓘ |
| fieldOfWork |
Buddhist philosophy
ⓘ
meditation ⓘ religious poetry ⓘ |
| influenced |
Caodong school of Chan
ⓘ
linked to:
Caodong school
Dongshan Liangjie ⓘ Sōtō Zen tradition ⓘ |
| knownFor |
articulation of non-duality in Chan
ⓘ
being an early ancestor of the Caodong lineage ⓘ poetic teachings ⓘ |
| languageOfWorkOrName | Classical Chinese ⓘ |
| movement | Tang dynasty Chan ⓘ |
| name |
Sekitō Kisen
ⓘ
Shih-t'ou Hsi-ch'ien ⓘ Shitou Xiqian ⓘ |
| notableWork |
Harmony of Difference and Sameness
ⓘ
Sandokai ⓘ Song of the Grass Hut ⓘ |
| occupation | meditation teacher ⓘ |
| philosophicalConcept |
harmony of difference and sameness
ⓘ
interpenetration of phenomena and principle ⓘ non-duality ⓘ |
| placeOfActivity |
Hunan
ⓘ
linked to:
Hunan Province
southern China ⓘ |
| religion | Buddhism ⓘ |
| roleInLineage |
ancestor of Caodong school
ⓘ
ancestor of Sōtō Zen ⓘ |
| school |
Caodong school
ⓘ
Sōtō Zen lineage ⓘ |
| student |
Tianhuang Daowu
ⓘ
Yaoshan Weiyan ⓘ Yuezhou Qianfeng ⓘ |
| teacher | Qingyuan Xingsi ⓘ |
| teachingStyle |
emphasis on everyday mind as the Way
ⓘ
use of poetic expression ⓘ |
| tradition |
Chan Buddhism
ⓘ
Zen Buddhism ⓘ
linked to:
Zen
|
| veneratedIn |
Chan Buddhism
ⓘ
Sōtō Zen ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: Shitou Xiqian Description of subject: Shitou Xiqian was an influential 8th-century Chinese Chan (Zen) master, renowned for his poetic teachings and as a key figure in the development of the Caodong/Sōtō Zen lineage.
Referenced by (15)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
linked to: Shitou Xiqian