Yuánliáo 圓䂐 (Zìshuǐ Yuánliáo 字水圓䂐)
Late-Míng Sichuan Línjì Chán master, dharma-heir of Pòshān Hǎimíng 破山海明 (1597–1666, cf. KR6q0402). Fǎhuì 法諱 Yuánliáo 圓䂐 (using the 圓 generation-character — irregularly, as 圓 is normally Mìyún Yuánwù’s own generation; may reflect a pre-Pò-shān tonsure-line retention or a Sichuan sub-branch variant), zì Zìshuǐ 字水, biéhào Tiělóng 鐵龍 (“Iron-Dragon”). Claimed Shu-Hàn tàishī Qiáo Zhōu 譙周 as ancestor. Lay family of Ānhàn Yuèchí Yángshān 安漢岳池羊山 (modern Yuèchíxiàn, Sichuan). Father Shènggōng 聖功, mother Yángshì 楊氏. Born 萬曆 33 乙巳 10.7 (~17 November 1605); death-date not preserved in accessible sources, likely c. 1640s.
Pre-Chán career. Precocious classical-studies upbringing. Age 13 ran away from betrothal; tonsured at Qiānfóān 千佛菴 by maternal uncle Déchóng Dàwù 德崇大悟. Age 15–25: Jiāngzhè scripture-lecture study; age 25 gave first Léngyán jīng lecture. 1632 (崇禎壬申): first formal scripture-lecture abbacy at Kāixiàn Qīlíngsì 開縣棲靈寺.
Conversion to Chán and sealing by Pòshān Hǎimíng. Chance meeting with a Tiān-tóng-robe-bearing Zhèjiāng monk prompted search for Pòshān Hǎimíng who had returned to Sichuan in 1632 (cf. KR6q0402). Trained under Pòshān at Liángshān Tàipíngsì 梁山太平寺 across extended rùshì exchanges. Decisive awakening on a 21-day intense practice (sānqī 三七) with tǒngdǐ tuō 桶底脫. Sealed with Pòshān’s public verse “Zìshuǐ Liáogōng dédé 字水䂐公得得 …“.
Six-abbacy career (1637–c.1647). Petitioned at age 33 (1637) by lay-patron Zhāng Màodé 張懋德 (preface-writer at KR6q0436) to take Xīnníng Zhǐyuè Chánsì 新寧指月禪寺. Within ten years held six Sichuan-Hú-běi-Hú-nán abbacies: Xīnníng Zhǐyuè → Kāixiàn Qīlíng → Jīngzhōu Tiānhuáng Hùguó → Yuèzhōu Cílì Huáyán → Lǐzhōu Yàoshān → Xīnníng Guǎngfú. Central seat: Kuízhōu Wòlóngsì 夔州臥龍寺 (from which his hào).
Work: KR6q0436 《夔州臥龍字水禪師語錄》 (3 juan, Jiāxīng Canon J29 B222, compiled by dharma-heir 觀誰 Guānshuí; two 1639 prefaces by lay-disciples Zhāng Màodé 張懋德 and Xióng Zhīqí 熊之奇).
Context. Yuánliáo’s 1637–47 Sichuan-centred abbatial career preceded the 1644–46 Zhāng Xiànzhōng massacres that devastated the same Kuízhōu / Xīnníng corridor. The 1639-dated yǔlù is therefore one of the last pre-devastation documentary snapshots of the late-Míng east-Sichuan Chán institutional network, parallel to the broader Pò-shān-line corpus.
Sources: KR6q0436 juan 3 xíngzhuàng + juan 1 front-prefaces; Yǒng Hé (ed.), 《破山海明禪師研究》 (2013).