<Tr> <Td> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> A kōan (公案) (/ ˈkoʊ. ɑː n /; Chinese: 公案; pinyin: gōng'àn, (kʊ́ŋ ân); Korean: 공안 kong'an; Vietnamese: công án) is a story, dialogue, question, or statement, which is used in Zen practice to provoke the "great doubt" and test a student's progress in Zen practice . </P> <P> The Japanese term kōan is the Sino - Japanese reading of the Chinese word gong'an (Chinese: 公案; pinyin: gōng'àn; Wade--Giles: kung - an; literally: "public case"). The term is a compound word, consisting of the characters 公 "public; official; governmental; common; collective; fair; equitable" and 案 "table; desk; (law) case; record; file; plan; proposal ." </P>

What is the purpose of koans in zen buddhism