Shīfàn 師範
Southern-Sòng Yángqí-branch Línjì Chán master, hào Wújùn 無準. Native of Zǐtóng 梓潼 in Shǔ (modern Sìchuān). Per DILA A004697 and the xíngzhuàng appended to the zòuduì yǔlù KR6q0316: 1178 – Chúnyòu 9.3.18 (9 May 1249), shì 72. Posthumously styled by imperial decree Fójiàn chánshī 佛鑑禪師 (“Buddha-Mirror Chán Master”), under which title his yǔlù also circulates.
Dharma-heir of 祖先 Pòān Zǔxiān (1136–1211), through whom he stands in the Pòān branch of the Mìān → Yángqí Línjì line (sibling branch to the 松源派 descending from 崇岳 Sōngyuán Chóngyuè). Previously trained under Yǎzhōu Lǎosù 雅州老宿, Wúyòng Jìngquán 無用淨全, Pòshān 破山, and Lǐngnán Chóng 嶺南崇 before joining Pòān at the Língyǐn Dúfēngdǐng hermitage.
Held five major abbacies in succession: Qìngyuánfǔ Qīngliáng 清涼, Zhènjiāngfǔ Jiāoshān Pǔjì 焦山普濟, Qìngyuánfǔ Xuědòushān Zīshèng 雪竇山資聖, Qìngyuánfǔ Āyùwángshān Guǎnglì 阿育王山廣利, and — from Shàodìng 5 (1232) until his death — Lín’ānfǔ Jìngshān Xīngshèng Wànshòu chánsì 徑山興聖萬壽禪寺. At Jìngshān he presided over the greatest monastic community of the age; after the catastrophic 1237 fire he rebuilt the complex on an imperial scale, an undertaking preserved in his correspondence with Japanese patrons and in the famous 1238 ink-portrait presented to his disciple Enni Ben’en 圓爾辨圓 (now preserved at Tōfuku-ji, Kyoto; National Treasure). Repeatedly summoned to court by Emperor Lǐzōng 理宗 for zòuduì audiences.
Recorded sayings survive as the Wújùn Shīfàn chánshī yǔlù / Fójiàn chánshī yǔlù (KR6q0315, 5 juan) and the Wújùn héshàng zòuduì yǔlù (KR6q0316, 1 juan).
Principal dharma-heirs include 妙倫 Duànqiáo Miàolún (1201–1261), 惟一 Huánxī Wéiyī (1202–1281), 紹曇 Xīsǒu Shàotán (d. 1279), Xuěyán Zǔqīn 雪巖祖欽, Xūzhōu Pǔdù 虗舟普度, and three Japanese disciples who founded the Gozan lineages: Enni Ben’en 圓爾辨圓 (Tōfuku-ji, Shōichi-ha 聖一派), Wúxiàng Jìngzhào 無象靜照, and Wúguān Pǔmén 無關普門. The continental line passing through Xuěyán Zǔqīn → Gāofēng Yuánmiào 高峰原妙 → Zhōngfēng Míngběn 中峰明本 is the backbone of later Yuán and Míng Línjì Chán.