Of Langzhou in northern Sichuan, Hou clan; his mother was Lady Su. Sickly as a child, bookish, orphaned before he came of age, he took tonsure at Wanyuan monastery, studied at Guixi, took precepts from the monk Baochi, and finally received the dharma from the old master Yi'an — 'and Yi'an was a dharma-son of Poshan, who transmits the true Linji lineage'. He taught at Guiqing in Nan'an, at Zuo'e in the Zhongnan range, at the Chongwen stupa-cloister at Jinggan, and at Haibao monastery in Ningxia — an unusually far northwestern career, from Shaanxi into the Ordos. When Yi'an died he settled at Daxingshan in Chang'an, built his teacher's stupa and presided there for eight years. Died 1679, aged 68; five-coloured flames and countless relics at the cremation, says his stele.
References: DILA Authority A016352
View interactive profile →