The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (1303 page)

BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
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Knox, John
(1505–72).
Leader of the
Reformation
in Scotland. As preacher at St Andrews he was captured by the French, and whilst serving as a galley slave, used the time to produce an edn. of Henry Balnave's
Treatise on Justification by Faith
. He refused the bishopric of Rochester, and on Mary's accession fled to the Continent where he met the Swiss
Reform
leaders. His
First Blast of the Trumpet against the Monstrous Regiment of Women
(1558) argued that female sovereignty contravened natural and divine law. In 1559 Knox returned to Scotland, devoting his time to preaching and writing. He drew up the
Scottish Confession
, shared in the compilation of
The First Book of Discipline
, and wrote his
Treatise on Predestination
(1560). He also took a major part in the compilation of the
Book of Common Order
(1556–64), the service book in use in Scotland until 1645. Knox's memoirs are preserved in his
History of the Reformation of Religion with the realm of Scotland
, first published in 1587 and immediately suppressed.
K
.
Jap. for
kalpa
.
Ko
.
Korean for
dukkha
.
K
an
(Chin.,
Kung-an
; ‘public announcement’, or ‘precedent for public use’). A fundamental practice in Zen training, challenging the pupil through a question, or a phrase or answer to a question, which presents a paradox or puzzle. A k
an cannot be understood or answered in conventional terms: it requires a pupil to abandon reliance on ordinary ways of understanding in order to move into or towards enlightenment. The origins of k
an are uncertain, but predate Nan-yüan Hui-yung (d. 930 CE) to whom the first use is attributed. The earliest surviving collection is in the writings of Fen-yang Shan-chao (
Fen-yang lu
; Jap.,
Fun’y
roku
), including a series of 100 k
an questions (
chieh-wen
; Jap.,
kitsumon
). Fen-yang was of the
Rinzai
school, and the use of k
ans is particularly associated with Rinzai (
kanna zen
), but is not exclusive to it. Under Fen-yang's successor, Shih-shuang, Li Tsu-hsü produced
Tensh
K
t
roku
, one of the five foundation chronicles of Zen in the Sung period, containing many k
ans. Among Shih-shuang's pupils, Wu-tsu Fa-yen extended the short, sharp k
an to its height. Fa-yen's main pupil,
Yüan-wu K'o-ch'in
(1036–1135) was a vital figure in developing k
an method in this period, completing the
Blue Cliff Record
(Chin.,
Pi-yen-lu
; Jap.,
Hekigan-roku
, for which see
HSÜEH-TOU CH'UNG-HSIEN TSIEN
).
The second largest collection of the Sung period is
Ts'ung-jung lu
(Jap.,
Sh
y
roku

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