1
Stage 1 of 3
gōng'àn
Chinese · medieval
"a public legal case, used as a teaching riddle"
originally meant a legal case record used in Chan Buddhist teaching debates
2
Stage 2 of 3
kōan
Japanese · medieval
"a paradoxical question used to provoke insight"
adopted into Zen Buddhism as a paradoxical riddle used in meditation
3
Stage 3 of 3
koan
English · early 1900s
"an unanswerable riddle used in Zen meditation practice"
entered English through D. T. Suzuki's writings introducing Zen to the West
Drag to pan · scroll to zoom