Of the Wang clan of Xichong, Shunqing (Sichuan). His father, childless in middle age, prayed for two sons — one for the ancestors, one for the Buddha — and got them; his mother dreamed of a monk in a patched robe asking a night's lodging, and on the day of the birth three old monks came to the house and said, 'Your noble son is born just as the sun rises in the east — call him Hongxian (Rising Splendour).' Sent at eight to Shoufan at Guifeng cloister, he would only sit cross-legged and would not study, and people called him 'the daft monk'. He set out at sixteen, buried his teacher and then his mother, and went the whole round: Cao'an Wutai at Tongchuan, Hanpu, full ordination at Minzhong monastery in Shenyang (1650), then Ruo'an at Jiashan, Qi at Xuedou, Lin at Bao'en. Under Jue at Lingyin, working on 'hidden deep in the valley, unashamed before the order of monks', on the third day at midnight he suddenly heard music from Feilai Peak — and the whole knot in his chest fell away. He then went to Jiahe, met Zixian Jue, and received the entrustment. He held Guangsheng at Mt. Huo, the Lion, Prince and Lingyan cloisters at Fenyang, Qianming at Linfen and Puji at Daxie.
References: DILA Authority A019267
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