Zen expected to become familiar with the classics of the Zen canon". A review of the early historical documents and literature of early Zen masters clearly reveals that they were well versed in numerous Mahāyāna Buddhist sūtras, including Madhyamaka. Especially the Lotus Sutra played a large role in the development of East Asian Buddhism, including Zen. Nevertheless, Zen is often pictured as anti-intellectual. This picture of Zen emerged during the Song Dynasty (960–1297), when Chán became the dominant form of Buddhism in China, and gained great popularity among the educated and literary classes of Chinese society. The use of koans, which
Abbot (Buddhism) Abbess also has spiritual responsibility for the monastics under their care, and is required to interact with the abbots or abbesses of other monasteries. Asian countries where Buddhism is still widely practiced have words in their own languages for the abbot of a Buddhist monastery or large temple: in Chinese Chan Buddhist monasteries, one word for abbot is "Fangzhang" meaning "ten feet square", a reference to the size of Vimalakirti's stone room. Another Chinese word for abbot is "Zhuchi"(住持), meaning dweller and upholder. In Zen Buddhism, the most commonly used Japanese words for the abbot of a large Zen temple