Hánshì 函昰 (also written 函是 or 圅昰), hào Tiānrán 天然 (“Spontaneously So”), with sobriquets Lìzhōng 麗中 and Léifēng Lǎorén 雷峯老人 (“Old Man of Léifēng”). Cáodòng 34th-generation dharma-heir of Chángqìng Kōngyǐn Dàodú 長慶空隱道獨, dharma-grandson of Bóshān Wúyì Yuánlái 博山無異元來. Born 明萬曆戊申 10/14 亥時 = 1608-11-21 Gregorian; died 清康熙乙丑 8/27 酉時 = 1685-09-25 Gregorian, age 78. Native of Pānyú 番禺 (Guǎngzhōu); lay surname Zēng 曾.
Formation. Lay scholar background. At 7 sat in seclusion and was overcome by an existential awakening of the question “Whence have I come?” — the experience recurred at 9. At 13, while reading the Yìjīng on tàijí generating the two principles, he could not locate where tàijí itself rested, and his earlier doubts revived. Successful in the provincial examination (xiāngjiàn); fell ill on the boat at Jízhōu and vowed to renounce the world if he recovered. From then on no meat or wine, no inner-quarters, intensive cānjiū. Heard the Diamond Sūtra line “yīng wú suǒ zhù ér shēng qí xīn” 應無所住而生其心 and broke through. Tonsured under Kōngyǐn Dàodú 空隱道獨 at Lúshān Guīzōng 廬山歸宗 in 崇禎己卯 = 1639. Two years later accompanied his teacher to Huáshǒu 華首 and was raised to lìsēng. 崇禎壬午 = 1642 opened the dharma at Guǎngzhōu Hēlín 廣州訶林.
Abbacies. Léifēng Hǎizhuàng 雷峰海幢 (Guǎngzhōu), Huáshǒu Jièān 華首芥菴, Lúshān Qīxián 廬山棲賢, Lúshān Guīzōng 廬山歸宗, Sháozhōu Dānxiá 韶州丹霞, Hēlín 訶林.
Disciples. Major dharma-heirs include Jīnshì Dànguī 今釋澹歸 (the poet-monk and historian), Jīnbiàn Lèshuō 今辯樂說 今辯 (compiler of his yǔlù), Jīnzhuǎn 今轉, Jīngèn Lù Shìkǎi 今亙陸世楷 (lay), and many others — the cohort with the generation-character “Jīn” 今 forms the second generation of Tiānrán’s Hǎiyún 海雲 lineage that dominated Lǐngnán late-Míng / early-Qīng Buddhism.
Works. KR6q0526 《廬山天然禪師語錄》 12 juan, J38 B406, zhòngbiān by Jīnbiàn 今辯, printed 1670. Several earlier sub-corpus yǔlù from individual abbacies are mentioned in the prefaces (Léifēng, Qīxián, Huáshǒu, Hēlín).
Secondary literature. 時志明 (2006) 〈論詩僧函昰的山水詩〉, Sháoguān Xuéyuàn xuébào 27.2; 馮煥珍 (2003) 〈天然函昰禪師的悟道因緣及其禪教並重的宗趣觀〉, Xiàndài zhéxué 2; Araki Kengo / Liào Zhàohēng tr. (2006) 《明末清初的思想與佛教》, Táiběi: Liánjīng, p. 124.