The Cantongqi (), or Sandōkai, is a poem by the eighth Chinese Zen ancestor Shitou Xiqian (Sekito Kisen, 700–790) and a fundamental text of the Caodong (Sōtō) school of Chan (Zen), chanted daily in temples throughout the world.
Title
The poem's title, "參同契", is pronounced Cāntóngqì in Mandarin Chinese or Sandōkai in Japanese. The characters, in particular the first, 參 (cān or san), can have several quite different meanings, and therefore the poem's title is susceptible to a variety of interpretations and translations.
English translations of the title, some more and some less literal, include "Merging of Difference and Unity", "Merging of Difference and Equality", "Agreement of Difference and Unity", "Harmony of Difference and Sameness", "Harmonious Song of Difference and Sameness", "Identity of Relative and Absolute", "Harmony of Relative and Absolute", "Harmony of Difference and Equality", and "Ode on Identity".
The title of the Cantongqi is the same as that of a 2nd-century Taoist text on alchemy, which is also known as the Cantong qi; in reference to the Taoist work, "參同契" is often translated as "the Kinship of the Three".
Text
Another translation by Rev. Master Jiyu-Kennett:
Text commentary Toward the end of his life Shunryu Suzuki Roshi gave a series of lectures on the Cantongqi. These have been published as the book Branching Streams Flow in the Darkness.
Sheng-yen published a commentary in English on both the Cantongqi ("Inquiry Into Matching Halves") and "The Precious Mirror of Samadhi" under the title The Infinite Mirror ((1990), Dharma Drum Publications ).
See also Five Ranks Song of the Precious Mirror Samadhi
References
External links Sandokai medieval Japanese and translated into English Suzuki's Lectures and commentaries Various English translations of the 參同契 – CAN TONG QI (TS’AN-T’UNG-CH’I) Various English and Hungarian translations of the Cantongqi and another work by Shitou Xiqian, the Sōan ka