Dharma transmission
According to Jiang Wu, for Chan masters such as Hanshan Deqing, training through self-cultivation was encouraged, while clichéd or formulaic instructions were despised. Eminent monks who practiced meditation and asceticism without proper Dharma transmission were acclaimed as acquiring "wisdom without teacher." Jiang Wu writes that Deqing questioned the value of Dharma transmission and believed that the enlightenment of the mind was more important than nominal claims of transmission.