Late-Míng lay Buddhist compiler. Native of Níngdé 寧德 (a coastal prefecture in northeastern Fújiàn). Birth and death dates not preserved; active during the Wànlì 萬曆 era (1573–1620). A lay disciple (yōupósāi 優婆塞 / upāsaka).
He compiled the Dàzàng yīlǎn 大藏一覽 (KR6s0006, J21 B109), a ten-juan condensed digest of the Buddhist canon arranged in 8 mén, 60 pǐn, and 1,181 yīnyuán-narrative entries — a work designed to bring the essential content of the over-five-thousand-juan canon within reach of lay readers. The work was already in print by the early 17th century when its blocks had become worn; it was recut and re-edited at Jiāxīng’s Three-Pagoda Bodhisattva Hall 三塔大士殿 in Wànlì 42 (1614) by Yáo Shùnyú 姚舜漁, with a preface by Chén Yìdiǎn 陳懿典. The recut text entered the Jiāxīng canon.
There is no significant biographical material on Chén Shí beyond what the Dàzàng yīlǎn and its 1614 prefatory matter preserve.
Source: DILA Buddhist Person Authority A001165; Dàzàng yīlǎn J21 j. 1 colophon material.