Of the Qu clan of northern Chu (Chenxi); his mother of the Wang clan. Born on the twenty-third day of the ninth month of 1618. From infancy he loved to look at Buddhist images. Coming of age, he heard a monk recite the Lotus line 'if one with wisdom hears it, he can believe and understand', and the wish to leave the world arose. In the collapse of the dynasty he abandoned his home and fled into Guizhou, where he was tonsured at the Guanyin grotto in Anshun by the elder Taixu and took the ten novice precepts; two years later he left for Hanguang and was fully ordained. Set to work on 'the face before your parents were born' he made no progress, and went to Yuechuang Chelu, who hit him twice and told him he was a dullard and to go back to the hall. He vowed to seal himself in until he understood; one night at the fourth watch, heavy with torpor, he fell to the ground and lost all consciousness — and when he came round, his limbs would not move, sweat streamed off him, and the doubt melted like a hundred-catty load set down. He came out and Yuechuang tested him on dozens of cases and confirmed him. He was abbot of Wanshou at Taiping in Annan, Puguang at Songkui, and Puxiang at Ciyun. He died in 1684, aged 67, in his forty-fifth year as a monk.
References: DILA Authority A016435
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