Bodhidharma

Bodhidharma (c. 5th–6th century CE) is a semi-legendary Buddhist monk credited in Chinese and Japanese sources with transmitting Chan (Zen) Buddhism to China. He is traditionally regarded as the 28th patriarch in the Indian–Chinese Zen lineage and, in some traditions, as the first Chinese Chan patriarch. The historicity of these accounts is uncertain.

According to traditional biographies, Bodhidharma traveled from the Indian subcontinent to northern China during the Liang Dynasty, where he taught meditation and emphasized direct mind-to-mind awareness rather than reliance on sutras. He is associated in folk tradition with the Shaolin Monastery, where he allegedly initiated training and possibly inspired later martial arts legends; he is said to have taught a method of seated meditation (zuòchán) and to have presented the principle of "no thought" or "no attachment to words."

In scholarly terms, there is little reliable evidence about a historical Bodhidharma, and some scholars view the figure as a composite of several legends developed in China and Japan to explain the origins of Chan/Zen. The dates, location, and acts vary across sources. The Bodhidharma tradition nonetheless became central to Chan/Zen identity and spread to Korea and Japan, where he is called Daruma and is a popular symbol of perseverance and meditation.

Legacy: The Bodhidharma figure influenced Zen practice and monastic culture, as well as popular culture—art, literature, and iconography. The legend of his wall-gazing meditation and his association with the Shaolin school remain enduring motifs, though modern historians treat them with skepticism.