THE MISSING MAN. Absent from our roster entirely — and his absence is the whole reason the forgery worked. A SECOND master styled Haizhou: born Hongwu 27 (1394) at Chengdu in Shu, surname YU 余 (not Qian); tonsured at Jingde si on Dasui shan in Peng county under Duzhao Yue 獨照月; after Yue died in 1413 he lived eight years alone in a hermitage on Xishan. Heir of Dongming Huichan: he received Huichan's robe and verse in Jingtai 2 (1451), delivered by the head seat Faguang to Dongshan on the day the bequest matured. Founding abbot (開山) of Yishan chan si 翼善禪寺 on Dongshan, Jinling, from Zhengtong 2 (1437), installed at the request of the eunuch defence-commissioner Yuan Cheng. Died Chenghua 2 (1466), aged 73; stupa behind Tuiju si; ONE HUNDRED AND FOUR dharma-heirs, of whom Yunxi Zhiying 雲溪智瑛 is one. His 行實碑 stood in front of Yishan si; it was rediscovered in 1657 and circulated from 1662, and it is what finally proved there were two Haizhous.
References: DILA A015692
View interactive profile →