From Dongguan in Kuaiji, lay surname Xia, born 1561. His family was destitute after his parents died and he served as a postal runner; having misdelivered a dispatch and facing arrest, he fled to Yinfeng, who gave him 'who is it that recites the Buddha's name?' — and he had his first opening in three days and nights, aged twenty. Tonsured at Tianhuang, ordained at Yunqi, he sealed himself in retreat at Baolin and broke through on Qianfeng's 'raise one, not two'. Cizhou Fangnian, come south from Beijing, confirmed him. He opened the dharma at Yunmen Guangxiao in 1614, then held Jingshan, Dongta and Yunmen Xiansheng. He died in 1627, aged sixty-six. He revived the Caodong house in Zhejiang; six heirs, including Ruibai Mingxue (also in this batch). He wrote the Kaigu lu and the Zongmen huowen.
References: DILA Authority A005648 | DILA Authority
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