Yuánchéng 圓澄 (Zhànrán Yuánchéng 湛然圓澄)
Late-Míng Cáodòng-lineage Chán master. Hào Zhànrán 湛然 (“Still-and-Pure”), Sànmù dàorén 散木道人 (“Daoist of Dispersed Wood”); also called Yúnmén Chéng 雲門澄 (for his Yúnménsì 雲門寺 abbacy) and Xiǎnshèng Chéng 顯聖澄 (for his Xiǎnshèngsì 顯聖寺 abbacy). Lay surname Xià 夏. Native of Kuàijī 會稽 (modern Shàoxīng, Zhèjiāng). Lifedates 1561/9/23 (Jiājìng 40 / 8/5) – 1627/1/20 (Tiānqǐ bǐngyín / 12/4, age 66, per the Zhànrán Yuánchéng chánshī yǔlù 湛然圓澄禪師語錄 juan 8 tomb-inscription).
A central figure in the late-Míng Cáodòng revival. Initially tonsured at Tiānhuāngshān 天荒山 under Miàofēng 妙峰; received full precepts from Yúnqī Zhūhóng 雲棲袾宏 (showing the cross-lineage connections typical of late Míng); after a period in closed retreat at Bǎolín 寶林, received dharma-transmission (dé fǎ 得法) from Dàjué Niàn 大覺念 (1552–1594) of the Cáodòng line. Abbacies at Yúnmén 雲門 (his main seat in Kuàijī), Jìngshān 徑山, Dōngtǎ 東塔 (in Hézhōu 禾州), and Xiǎnshèng 顯聖. Six recorded dharma-heirs: Mínghuái 明懷, Míngyú 明盂, Míngfāng 明方, and others.
Major works:
- Kǎi gǔ lù 慨古錄 KR6q0171 — 1607 reformist polemic against late-Míng monastic corruption.
- Zōng mén huò wèn 宗門或問 — dialogical Chán apologetic.
- Léng-yán yì shuō 楞嚴臆說, Fǎ-huá yì yǔ 法華意語, Huì Niè-pán shū 會涅槃疏 — commentaries on the Śūraṅgama, Lotus, and Mahāparinirvāṇa sūtras respectively.
- Zhànrán Yuánchéng chánshī yǔlù 湛然圓澄禪師語錄 (KR6q0374, X72 n1444; J28 B208 in the Jiāxīng canon; 8 juan) — his collected Chán sermons, compiled posthumously by his disciple 明凡 and edited by the lay literati 丁元公 and 祁駿佳.
name: 圓澄 pinyinName: Yuánchéng alternateNames: [] dynasty: 南宋 birthDate: deathDate: cbdbId: dilaAuthorityId: A021629
Yuánchéng 圓澄
Southern-Sòng Chán attendant-disciple (shìzhě 侍者) of 慧性 Wúmíng Huìxìng (1162–1237); co-editor of his master’s yǔlù (KR6q0312). Lifedates unrecorded (DILA A021629). Not to be confused with the Míng-era Zhànrán Yuánchéng (1561–1627) above.