Lay surname Chen, of Shimen in Lizhou; styled Fazhu. His parents both died when he was twenty and he gave up his Confucian studies; at twenty-five, feeling he could never repay their kindness, he left the world and was tonsured by Changming Jiong at Mt Qixing in Cili. He worked on the huatou 'the three are-nots' and attended him three years, took full ordination under Yingxiu at Mt Long, then followed Jiong to Mingshan in Yuanzhou and served him seven years more, receiving his seal. He was abbot of Pufeng temple on Mt Tianyun in Chenzhou. He edited his master's recorded sayings and left two fascicles of his own; he had twelve heirs.
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