Five Houses 

The designation given to five early important lineages of Chinese Ch'an Buddhism, of which only two, the Ts'ao-tung and Lin-chi, survived more than a few generations. The term ‘Five Houses’ was first coined by Fa-yen Wen-i (885-958), founder of the latest of the ‘houses’ to appear. The five were as follows: (1) Kuei-yang was named after the two mountains (Kuei and Yang) where its headquarter temples were located. The founder was Kuei-shan Ling-yu (771-853). (2) Lin-chi, founded by Lin-chi I-hsüan (d. 866). (3) Ts'ao-tung, named after two mountains, Mt. Tung, home of the founder Tung-shan Liang-chieh (807-69), and Mt. Ts'ao, home of his disciple Ts'ao-shan Pen-chi (840-901). (4) Yün-men, founded by Yün-men Wen-yen (864-949). (5) Fa-yen, founded by Fa-yen Wen-i (885-958).

A Dictionary of Buddhism, Oxford University Press, 2003, 2004 (which is available in electronic version from answer.com)