The Zongjing Lu (Records from the Ancestral Mirror) by Chan master Yongming Yanshou (904-976 CE) is an unusual Chan work, for it embraces the entire field of Chinese Buddhism, including Chan. It cites a dizzying array of sources, introducing readers to a comprehensive understanding of the Buddha-dharma. The work is in one hundred fascicles; the present translation is of fascicles 5, 6, 7 and 8.

Yongming Yanshou was a prominent Chinese Chan and Pure Land master who lived from 904 to 976 in the Wuyue kingdom. He served as abbot of major temples such as Lingyin and Yongming in Hangzhou and became known for integrating Chan meditation with Pure Land recitation and other Mahayana traditions. His most famous work, the Record of the Source Mirror, systematizes a wide range of Buddhist teachings around the idea of the One Mind.