The ongoing awareness of the need to establish its own legitimacy or prove its authenticity in a competitive environment is a major driving force behind the fascination with the lineage and patriarchal succession of Chan Buddhism. This lineage and patriarchal succession must be traced back to Indian Buddhism to claim its legitimacy successfully. Tiantai Buddhism’s recognition of 24 Indian patriarchs to establish its lineal legitimacy could be an inspiring and challenging factor to Chan Buddhism. The earliest endeavor to connect Chinese Chan masters with Indian patriarchs is reflected in two early Chan texts in the late 7th and 8th centuries. One is Tang Zhongyue Shamen Shi Faru Chanshi Xingzhuang (The Account of the Activities of the Monk, Chan Master Faru from Zhongyue of the Tang Dynasty), an epitaph for Shenxiu’s disciple Faru. The other is Chuan Fabao Ji (Annals of the Transmission of the Dharma Treasure) by Du Fei (d.u.), a layman closely associated with Shenxiu’s disciples. Both texts list several Indian patriarchs’ names before Bodhidharma, drawn from the Damoduoluo Chan Jing (the Meditation Sutra of Dharmatrāta), a Chinese translation of Indian scripture of uncertain origin. These two texts show that the earliest effort to establish a patriarchal succession was made by the Dongshan Famen and the Northern school. Through his attack on the Northern school, Shenhui later also presented his version of eight Indian patriarchs and six Chinese patriarchs to legitimize Huineng and the Southern school.
The later Chan texts, however, were not satisfied with this version. The Lidai Fabao Ji used a version with 29 Indian patriarchs after the seven Buddhas of the past, which draws on information from a putative 5th-century work, Fu Fazang Yinyuan Zhuan (Traditions of the Causes and Conditions of Transmission of the Dharma Treasury), and the Platform Sūtra’s list of Indian patriarchs is largely based on the Lidai Fabao Ji. It was not until the advent of the Baolin Zhuan’s version of 28 Indian patriarchs that an orthodox “history” of Chan transmission from India to China was finally fabricated. Although this version was based on a large body of legend, and many sources were apocryphal or erroneous, all later Chan texts followed it. This is the list of 28 Indian patriarchs after the seven Buddhas of the past: Mahākāśyapa, Ānanda, Śaṇavāsa, Upagupta, Dhṛtaka, Miccaka, Vasumitra, Buddhanandi, Buddhamitra, Pārśva, Puṇyayśas, Aśvakhoṣa, Kapimala, Nāgārjuna, Kāṇadeva, Rāhulata, Saṅghānandi, Gayaśāta, Kumārata, Jayata, Vasubandhu, Manorhita, Haklenayaśas, Siṁha bhikṣu, Basiasita, Puṇyamitra, Prajñātāra, and Bodhidharma (who is also the first patriarch of Chinese Chan).