Seng-t'san

Jianzhi Sengcan (Chinese: 僧璨) (Died 606) (Wade-Giles: Chien-chih Seng-ts'an; Japanese: Kanchi Sosan) is known as the Third Chinese Patriarch of Chán after Bodhidharma and thirtieth Patriarch after Siddhārtha Gautama Buddha. He is considered the Dharma successor of the second Chinese Patriarch, Dazu Huike (大祖慧可, Wade-Giles: Ta-tsu Hui-k’o, Japanese: Taiso Eka). Sengcan is best known as the putative author of the famous Chán poem, Xinxin Ming (W-G: Hsin-hsin Ming. Inscription on Faith in Mind, 信心銘). The historical record of Sengcan is extremely limited. Of all the Chan patriarchs, Sengcan is the most ambiguous and the least known.