Liao'an Qingyu 了菴清欲

School: Linji | 1292–1367 | Teacher: Gulin Qingmao | Students: Mu'an Wenkang

Of the Zhu 朱 family of Linhai in Taizhou; styled Liao'an, sobriquet Nantang, later 'the old man left over from Nantang'. Orphaned at nine, he went with an uncle to Mount Shuangjing as a novice; at sixteen he passed the sutra examination under Huyan Fu and was ordained. He studied under Gulin Qingmao and became his heir, and also visited Dongyu Hai and Dongzhou Yong. He went out to Kaifu at Lishui in 1329, moved to Benjue at Jiaxing in 1333 and sat there ten years, was granted the title Ciyun Puji Chanshi by the Imperial Preceptor, and in 1345 took Lingyan at Wuzhong. His calligraphy was famous, and his letters reached Japan, where they are treasured as bokuseki. He died on the twenty-fifth of the eighth month of 1367, aged 76; when the body was burned, red and white lights circled the coffin, and the skull, tongue and teeth did not burn.

View interactive profile →