Zhìxù 智旭 (Ǒuyì Zhìxù 蕅益智旭)
Late-Míng to early-Qīng monk; one of the Four Great Masters of Late Míng Buddhism (WǎnMíng sì dà gāosēng 晚明四大高僧) alongside Yúnqī Zhūhóng 雲棲袾宏, Zǐbǎi Zhēnkě 紫柏真可, and Hānshān Déqīng 憨山德清. Lay name Zhōng Dàlǎng 鍾大朗, zì Jìmíng 際明 and Zhènzhī 振之, later self-named Zhōng Shǐshēng 鍾始聲; monastic name Zhìxù 智旭. Hào Ǒuyì 蕅益 / 藕益 (“Lotus-Root Benefit”), Língfēng 靈峯 (for his Língfēngsì 靈峯寺 base in northern Zhèjiāng), Bābù dàorén 八不道人 (“Daoist of Eight Negations”), Xīyǒu shāmén / dàorén 西有沙門 / 道人 (“Western-Abiding Monk/Daoist”). Native of Wúxiàn 吳縣 (Sūzhōu). Lifedates 1599/6/24 (Wànlì 27 / 5/3) – 1655/2/26 (Shùnzhì 12 / 1/21, age 57).
Integrative doctrinal master whose work synthesised Tiāntái 天台, Chán 禪, Pure Land 淨土, and Yogācāra 唯識 traditions. Initially an anti-Buddhist Confucian polemicist in his youth, he converted under the influence of Yúnqī Zhūhóng’s writings and became one of the most prolific late-Míng Buddhist authors, producing over 40 major works across doctrinal, meditative, and ritual domains. Among the most influential are:
- Ēmítuó jīng yào jiě 阿彌陀經要解 (Commentary on the Smaller Sukhāvatīvyūha) — one of the standard late-Míng Pure Land commentaries.
- Línglóng lùn 靈龍論, Zhōu yì Chán jiě 周易禪解 (a Chán-Buddhist reading of the Yìjīng) — distinctive Buddhist-Confucian interpretive works.
- Jiào guān gāng zōng 教觀綱宗 — his Tiāntái-doctrinal overview.
- Fǎhuá huì yì 法華會義 — his major Lotus Sūtra commentary.
- Ǒuyì sān sòng 蕅益三頌 KR6q0183 — his three-part verse-compilation including Huāyán and Fǎhuá sūtra-verses.
- Fàn wǎng jīng hé zhù 梵網經合註 — commentary on the Brahma-Net Sūtra.
- Substantial additional corpus preserved in the Língfēng Ǒuyì dàshī zōng lùn 靈峰蕅益大師宗論 (the posthumous collected writings).
His integrative doctrinal position — emphasising the mutual illumination of all Chinese Buddhist schools — made him the natural capstone figure of late-Míng Buddhist synthesis. Extensive later influence on Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Buddhist traditions; particularly central to Chinese Pure Land doctrine.
Sources: Língfēng Ǒuyì dàshī zōng lùn juan 1 (autobiography); Jiǔhuáshān zhì 九華山志 juan 4; multiple modern scholarly biographies, including Shèngyán’s A Study of Late-Míng Buddhism (1975).
A separate Qīng-dynasty Línjì monk named Zhìxù 智旭 (DILA A019611), zì Huìyuè 晦岳 (also 晦嶽; sobriquets Jīnmíngxù 金明旭, Gānlùxù 甘露旭). Lifedates unknown. Fǎsì of Shānduó Zhēnzài 山鐸真在 真在 (1621–1672). Native of Qíshuǐ 蘄水 (Húběi), lay surname Wáng 王. Vegetarian from childhood; tonsured at 7 under Wànfú Xīn 萬福心和尚. Tested under his teacher Shānduó on the Wàn fǎ guī yī 萬法歸一 gōngàn at Huáguì 華桂; one night, hearing a rat dragging a lantern that fell to the ground, his body became “as empty as space, transparently boundless.” Took full ordination at 19; ate only one meal a day before noon; never lay down; served eight years as Shānduó’s shìzhě before receiving fùfǎ. Held abbacies at Jiāxīng Jīnmíngsì 嘉興金明寺, Hǎihuì Jǐngdé 海會景德, Zhènjiāng Gānlù 鎮江甘露, Jīngkǒu Dàjué 京口大覺, Jiāxīng Zhēnrú 嘉興真如. Dharma-heirs: Yúlì Héng 餘力恒 of Jiànníng Zhēnrúsì, Hānruò Yìn 憨若印.
Co-recorder of KR6q0534 《山鐸真在禪師語錄》 (J38 B414) with 機雲; author of his own 《晦嶽旭禪師語錄》 8 juan (separate canonical text). The two Zhìxù are easily confused on filename and require disambiguation by context.
Sources for Huìyuè Zhìxù: 《五燈全書》 vol. 102, vol. 108; 《中國佛教人名大辭典》, p. 517.