蕭衍
Xiāo Yǎn, posthumously Liáng Wǔdì 梁武帝 (r. 502–549), founder and longest-reigning emperor of the Liáng dynasty of the Southern Dynasties.
A devout Buddhist patron whose long reign at Jiànkāng (modern Nánjīng) established Buddhism as the de facto state religion of the southern court. He sponsored sūtra translations, monastery construction, vegetarian dietary reforms, and a series of high-profile public Buddhist events (the famous wúzhē dàhuì 無遮大會 universal-equal assemblies). The hagiographic tradition records his interactions with the master Bǎozhì 寶誌 and the lay-bodhisattva Fù Dàshì 傅大士; the latter’s celebrated forty-nine gāthā on the Vajracchedikā (T2732) is set at his Liáng court. He famously corresponded with Bodhidharma 達摩 in the Chán transmission narratives.
Source: DILA Buddhist Person Authority A001316.