Zen master is a somewhat vague English term that arose in the first half of the 20th c., sometimes used to refer to an individual who teaches Zen Buddhist meditation and practices, usually implying longtime study and subsequent authorization to teach and transmit the tradition themselves.

Until the Tang Dynasty, the term "Chánshī" (禅师; Dhyana Master) was regularly used only for a monk who was a master of chan, or meditation, versus those who specialized in Dharma (scriptural teachings) and Vinaya (discipline and moral precepts). For example, this included several important figures who were later not considered to be part of the "Chán school" per se, such as Tiantai Master Zhiyi.

In modern China, most temples belong to the Chán school in name, but also embrace other teachings including those of Tiantai, Pure Land, Huayan, and Yogacara schools, often under the umbrella term "Chinese Buddhism" (中国佛教). While some see this as a move towards inclusion of various schools, it was quite likely that this was already the norm for the past 1000 years, since the Song Dynasty. In Chinese Buddhism, neither the majority of monastics nor lay people are formally tied to a given "school" of Buddhist practice (which is somewhat different to the situation in Japan.) It is only those senior and experienced practitioners who receive such transmission into the Chán school. In China, the term "Chán" (禪), being simply one of many terms for forms of meditation, is not limited to the Chán school alone.