談到禪宗的機緣語句（公案），一般印象是十分費解，需要有相當的慧根才能體得妙悟，參透禪的境界。禪宗是一種文化現象，表面是高深難測或看似荒謬的機鋒問答，都與各宗禪師主張的修行與證悟有密不可分的關係。
參悟是修行的實踐層面，教化用的言語是語言學問題。看似奇怪詭異的機鋒問答，有些語句的形式接近詩句，或相當於詩句，這類例子在禪宗語錄為數甚夥，它們在一問一答之間不斷被仿製與使用，流傳甚廣，因之，這種詩句的體裁可視為模因現象。
本文觀察禪師與學人對答時所出現的詩句形式及變化，依據的語料是北宋道原的《景德傳燈錄》；接著再從模因論的角度，解釋詩句式模因如何發展、傳播，並提出詩句式模因之所以能成功傳播的原因。

A kongan (kōan), which is a fundamental part of the history and lore of Zen Buddhism, generally appears to be incomprehensible and is understood only through the medium of wisdom. The quick-witted dialogs of the cultural phenomenon of Zen may seem profound and unfathomable, even absurd; for every Zen master, however, they are inseparable from the practice of Buddhism and enlightenment.
Some of the sentence structures in the seemingly odd or eccentric quick-witted dialogs are remarkably similar to or equivalent to verse, which is markedly abundant in kongan. These versestyle memes have been perpetually cloned and used, which can be regarded as a type of memetic dissemination.
This study examined the form of verse in the dialogs between Zen masters and disciples and its transformation. Specifi cally, Jingde Chuandeng Lu (1004) was used as the object of this research to examine the dissemination and development of verse-style memes.