Chāogé 超格
Early-Qīng Línjì Chán master. Hào Méng’ān 夢菴 (“Dream Hermitage”); commonly referenced as Dōngchángé 東禪格 (for his Dōngchánsì 東禪寺 abbacy) or Nánjiàn Méng’ān 南澗夢菴 (for his later Nánjiàn 南澗 abbacy at Wǔlín 武林 = Hángzhōu). Native of Wúhú 蕪湖 (modern Ānhuī). Lifedates 1639–1708 (born 崇德 4 / fifth month / seventh day, died 康熙戊子 六月二日 = 1708/06/02 of the lunar calendar, age 70, per the Wǔlín Lǐ’ānsì zhì 武林理安寺志 juan 5).
Abbot at Nánjiàn 南澗 during the early Kāngxī period. Compiler of the Mùniú tú sòng KR6q0164, the most ambitious Kāngxī-era synthesis of the Chán ox-herding tradition, uniting the Pǔmíng and Kuò’ān recensional streams into a single anthology. His own preface (1705) records that he had spent “forty years” searching for Kuò’ān Shīyuǎn’s 廓庵師遠 original verses before recovering them from the Chán master Huànzhōu 幻舟 héshàng at Nánjiàn. He died in the same year (1708) his disciple-editor Jiālíng Xìngyīn and the lay patron Nà Xìn sponsored the work’s publication in the Jiāxīng Canon; the compilation thus appeared as a posthumous magnum opus.