Xuědòu Chóngxiǎn 雪竇重顯 (980–1052), zì Yǐnzhī 隱之, shì Míngjué chánshī 明覺禪師, the leading Northern-Sòng Yúnmén-school 雲門宗 master and the single most influential Chán verse-author of the eleventh century. Native of Suìzhōu 遂州 (modern Sìchuān), lay surname Lǐ 李; born on Tàipíngxīngguó 5.4.8 (29 May 980). Tonsured in the Xiánpíng period (998–1003) after completing mourning for his parents, under Rénshēn 仁詵 at the Yìzhōu Pǔ’ān yuàn 益州普安院. Later traveled north and received transmission from Zhìmén Guāngzuò 智門光祚 (DILA A015592) at Suízhōu 隨州, in the Yúnménzōng lineage; classified as tenth generation below Huìnéng (dà jiàn xià dìshí shì 大鑑下第十世).
Held two principal abbacies. First at the Cuìfēng chánsì 翠峯禪寺 on Dòngtíng 洞庭 in Sūzhōu 蘇州 (Wú). Then from around Tiānshèng 1 (1023) at the Zīshèng sì 資聖寺 on Xuědòu shān 雪竇山 in Míngzhōu 明州 (modern Níngbō) — a seat previously held by Yǒngmíng Yánshòu 永明延壽 / Zhìjué 智覺 — where Chóngxiǎn held the abbacy for thirty-one years and from which the “Yúnménzōng of the JiāngZhè” was consolidated. Jointly styled with Lángyé Huìjué 瑯琊慧覺 as the “Two Gates of Sweet Dew” (二甘露門) of the mid-eleventh century. Died on Huángyòu 4.6.10 (14 July 1052), aged 73, sēnglà 僧臘 fifty. The posthumous title “Míngjué chánshī” was granted on the initiative of the shìzhōng Jiǎ Chānglíng 賈昌齡.
Authored seven distinct collections — Dòngtíng yǔlù 洞庭語錄, Xuědòu kāitáng lù 雪竇開堂錄, Pùquán jí 瀑泉集, Zǔyīng jí 祖英集, Sòng gǔ jí 頌古集, Niāngǔ jí 拈古集, Xuědòu hòulù 雪竇後錄 — all preserved together in the Míngjué chánshī yǔlù (KR6q0074, T47 n1996). Recorded dharma-heirs include Tiānyī Yìhuái 天衣義懷 (the lineage-ancestor of the later YúnménHuánglóng fusion), Bàoběn Yǒulán 報本有蘭, Fǎzōng 法宗, Shěngzōng 省倧, and three others.
Chóngxiǎn’s historical importance rests above all on the Sòng gǔ bǎi zé 頌古百則 — one hundred verse-commentaries on ancient precedent cases, preserved in the niāngǔ sections of the yǔlù. This verse-precedent set was taken up a generation later by Yuánwù Kèqín 圜悟克勤 (1063–1135) at Jiāshān Bìyán 夾山碧巖 and made the framework for his chàng 唱 commentary, producing the Bìyán lù 碧巖錄 — the canonical gōng’àn 公案 collection of Línjì-side Chán. The parallel Cáodòng-side reception of the same genre is represented by the Sòng gǔ bǎi zé of Hóngzhì Zhèngjué (preserved in KR6q0070) and its Wànsōng Xíngxiù commentary Cóngróng lù 從容錄 (KR6q0079).
Works in the Kanripo corpus: KR6q0074 Míngjué chánshī yǔlù 明覺禪師語錄 (6 juan, T47 n1996) — compiled by his disciples 惟蓋竺 Wéigàizhú, Yuányīng 圓應, and Wénzhèng 文政, with tomb-inscription biography by Lǚ Xiàqīng 呂夏卿 dated 1065.
Per DILA A000885: birth 980.4.8; death 1052.6.10; both dates from the Lǚ Xiàqīng stele appended to juan 6 of the yǔlù.