Mystery of Master Tiechuan 鐵船, who was the Last Eminent Chinese Monk invited by the Edo Bakufu to Japan

China National Library, Beijing, Beihai

In  chapter 7 of my book Leaving for the Rising Sun, I have alluded to a Chinese monk called Tiechuan 鐵船 as the last eminent Chan master invited by the Bakufu after the failure of inviting the Huangbo master Zhongqi Daoren 仲琪道任. However, there is little information about this monk.

In Sept. 15, 2015, I was doing research in China National Library in Beijing for the Obaku canon preserved there and accidentally discovered the recorded sayings of Tiechuan, which was reprinted during the Republican period. It appears to be a rare book and was not included in any other publications, including the Jiaxing canon. I believe that this new discovery can supplement chapter 7 of my book.

Original index card for Tiechuan's recorded sayings

Because of the copyright restriction, I was not allowed to post any pictures of the collection. (This book contains Tiechuan's portrait as well. There are three different titles of this book: on the cover, 如皋西方一葦度禪師語錄, in the preface, 一葦鐵船度禪師語錄， in the main text, 一葦度禪師語錄. This rare book was a reprint of a woodblock edition in 1750 (Qianlong 15). It was compiled by monk Shiying 實英 and was reprinted in 1935 (Minguo 24). I am pretty sure that this monk was the one that the Edo Bakufu was looking for because this book contains an invitation letter from the tenth Manpukuji abbot Xuru Lianfang 旭如連昉 (1664-1719). I copy part of this invitation letter as follows:

.......扶桑日邊領承        王命        大唐國裡訪求        禪師，只希撥轉船舷，蚤此邀迎楖栗，肅投誠懇，曷勝瞻戀。右耑
     啟上
前龍潭現住寶巖鐵船度公和尚大禪師蓮座
                                                                          名勒正幅