Yōuxī Chuándēng 幽溪傳燈 (1554–1628), major Ming-dynasty Tiāntái 天台宗 master, the key figure in the late-16th-century revival of the Tiāntái tradition in its institutional home on Mount Tiāntái. Zì Wújìn 無盡 (“Inexhaustible”); hào Yǒumén 有門 (“Existence-Gate”); biéhào Yōuxī 幽溪 (from the Yōuxī dàochǎng 幽溪道場 / Gāomíng sì abbacy). Lay surname Yè 葉, native of Sānqú Gūmiè 三衢姑蔑 (modern Yǒukāng 永康 / Qǔzhōu 衢州 region in Zhèjiāng). Not to be confused with other 傳燈 monks in Chinese tradition.
Inspired to enter monastic life after reading the Lóngshū jìngtǔ wén 龍舒淨土文 as a young man; after his father died in Pānyú 番禺, Chuándēng carried the body a thousand lǐ back to his home; at age 26 his own serious illness prompted his mother to permit him to enter monastic life. Ordained under Jìnxián Yìngān chánshī 進賢映庵禪師; studied Tiāntái doctrine under Bǎisōng Zhēnjué 百松真覺 (DILA A000964). Received transmission, practising the Yǒngjiā jí 永嘉集 as his principal training text — a specifically TiāntáiChán syncretic choice that subsequently shaped his own doctrinal orientation.
Established residence at the Gāomíng sì 高明寺 on Mount Tiāntái from Wànlì 15 (1587) at the age of 33, and remained there for over 40 years, reviving the Tiāntái patriarchal seat (Tiāntái zǔ tíng 天台祖庭) institutionally. Major written works include:
- Commentaries on the Lèngyán jīng 楞嚴經 (Yuán tōng shū zhǐ 圓通疏旨);
- Commentary on the Wéimójié jīng 維摩詰經;
- Jìngtǔ shēng wúshēng lùn 淨土生無生論 — the foundational Tiāntái-Pure-Land-syncretic treatise of the late Ming, translating Tiāntái’s yī niàn sān qiān 一念三千 schema into Pure Land doctrinal apparatus;
- Tiāntái shān fāngwài zhì 天台山方外志 — the major Tiāntái-mountain gazetteer;
- Yǒngjiā chánzōng jí zhù 永嘉禪宗集註 (KR6q0134, X63 n1242) — his commentary on Yǒngjiā Xuánjué’s KR6q0089 Chánzōng Yǒngjiā jí.
Died on Chóngzhēn 1.5.21 (22 June 1628), aged 75, sēnglà 50, at the Xīnchāng Shíshān-sì 新昌石山寺 during lecturing — dying having just written the five characters Miào fǎ lián huá jīng 妙法蓮華經 (“Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra”) and finished chanting the sūtra-title, falling silent serenely. Principal dharma-heirs included Ōu-yì Zhìxù 藕益智旭 (1599–1655, subsequently a “Four Great Monks of the Late Ming” figure in his own right, DILA A001257), Zhèngyán 正喦, and several others.
Works in the Kanripo corpus: KR6q0134 Yǒngjiā chánzōng jí zhù only (his substantial Tiāntái-school corpus is otherwise outside the KR6q division).
Per DILA A007274: birth Jiājìng 33 (1554.10.4 Gregorian); death Chóngzhēn 1.5.21 (22 June 1628); lay surname Yè. Tiāntái-school (rather than Chán).