About Jakugo

Jakugo , or agyo (下語) of a kōan is a proof of solution of the case riddle, but not the solution itself. In Zen Buddhism, kōan is used both as a meditation device and as an expression of Enlightenment – a radical experiential insight into the nature of things and the self alike. A capping phrase is supposedly an articulation of such enlightening experience, most of the time in verse. According to Victor Sōgen Hori the use of jakugo dates to the Song dynasty and was developed from classical Chinese "literary games".