Shanyin 善因

Shànyīn 善因

Style name 號: Lìjū zhòngshēng 笠居眾生 Born 18?? in Hú'nán 湖南 Died 19?? (after 1947)

Notable Associates: Kōngyě 空也 Shǐ Yīrú 史一如 Tàixū 太虛 Táng Dàyuán 唐大圓

Article editor: Erik Hammerstrom

Shànyīn 善因 (dates unknown), along with Kōngyě 空也, was one of Tàixū’s 太虛 early right-hand monks. Shànyīn was particularly interested in Consciousness-Only 唯識 and Madhyamaka thought.

Biography

Shànyīn was impressed by a lecture that Tàixū gave on the Śūraṃgama Sūtra in Lìlín 蒞臨, Húběi 湖北 in 1920 (This talk was later published as 楞嚴經研究講義).

In 1924, Tàixū asked Shànyīn to come help out at the Wǔchāng Buddhist Seminary 武昌佛學院, partly to replace Kōngyě, who had left after teaching for only one year. When Tàixū himself left in September of 1924, Shànyīn became acting principal of the Seminary.

At some point during these years, Shànyīn also served as editor for Hǎicháo yīn 海潮音.

In 1926, Tàixū returned to Wǔchāng and Shànyīn gave up his post. Shànyīn disappeared from textual records after 1947.

References

• Shì Dōngchū 釋東初. Zhōngguó Fójiào jìndài shǐ 中國佛教近代史 (A History of Early Contemporary Chinese Buddhism), in Dōngchū lǎorén quánjí 東初老人全集 (Complete Collection of Old Man Dongchu), vols. 1-2. Taipei: Dongchu, 1974 Pp. 2.830-834.
• 互動-善因法師