Xiatang Huiyuan (1103–1176), also 佛海慧遠 and 靈隱慧遠, a leading Southern Song master of the Linji Yangqi line and dharma heir of 圜悟克勤. Of the Peng family of Meishan in Sichuan, he was ordained at thirteen and studied the canon at Daci monastery in Chengdu before going to Yuanwu. In 1170 Emperor Xiaozong summoned him by decree to the abbacy of 靈隱寺 and granted him the title 佛海禪師. The lamps describe his teaching as deliberately unmoored — 「說法格外作用，不守規轍，脫略窠臼」 — and his room-encounters as sheer and impossible to get a footing on. His recorded sayings survive as the 瞎堂慧遠禪師廣錄. His most famous disciple was 道濟, remembered in legend as the mad monk Jigong.
References: DILA Authority A008408 | Link | DILA Authority
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