"Buddhist heir of Nan-ch'uan. He is famous for the koan concerning the Buddha-nature known as 'Chao-chou's wu.' In this koan Chao-chou answers with a negative when asked by a monk whether a dog has the Buddha-nature. Later， however， he gives an affirmative reply to another monk who asks the same question. Through these seemingly contradictory answers， Chao-chou expresses the fact that the Buddha-nature is not to be grasped conceptually."