Of Baixiang county, Zhaozhou, in the north — surname Li. Tall, with silkworm brows and a beard curled like a snail-shell; he had been a glazier's craftsman. Tonsured in middle age by Wujin of Tiantai, he could not read a word and spent sixteen years wandering the mountains at practice. In 1633 he went to Emei to feed the monks, met bandits who killed his companions, and escaped alone. Sent on to Chuiwan Guangzhen at Zhongzhou, he was recognised at sight — 'one of ours has come' — and set to sweeping the hall. When Tiebi asked why he did not take the proper road, he answered: 'I'm a northerner, I don't know one character; you're a man of letters, my work isn't yours.' Chuiwan gave him 'the ten thousand dharmas return to one', and after twenty-five sessions he broke through, laughing, and named himself 'the Three-Slaps monk'. He opened the hall four times, passed his robe to Er'an, and died in 1650 aged 65.
References: DILA Authority A010142
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