Xuyun 虛雲

Xūyún 虛雲 (1840/1864-1959)

Lay surname 俗性: Xiāo 蕭 Dharma name 法名: Gǔyán 古巖 Name 名: Yǎnchè 演徹 Courtesy name 字: Déqīng 德清 Born July 29, 1840? (Dàoguāng 道光 20) in Quánzhōu 泉州, Fújiàn 福建 Died October 13, 1959 in Yúnmén Temple 雲門寺, Guǎngdōng 廣東

Notable Associates:

Article editor: Gregory Adam Scott

Xūyún 虛雲 (1840/1864^[1]-1959) was a renowned Chán master whose long life spanned the Qing, Republican, and People's Republic periods of modern Chinese history.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Students 3 Important Works 4 Notes 5 References

Biography

Xūyún's family was originally from Xiāngxiāng 湘鄉 in Húnán 湖南, but his father moved to Quánzhōu 泉州 to take up an official position. His mother is said to have died in childbirth, and his grandmother died when he was 13. In 1858 he became a novice at Yǒngquán Temple 湧泉寺 on Drum Mountain 鼓山 in Fúzhōu 福州, and the following year he took the full monastic precepts.

Over the next few decades, Xūyún traveled widely, visiting different temples in China, India, Thailand and Malaysia.

In 1949 Xūyún traveled to Běijīng 北京 to help organize the creation of the Chinese Buddhist Association 中國佛教協會. When the association was established in 1953, he was chosen as its honorary chairperson. He spent his final years at Yúnmén Temple 雲門寺, where he passed away in 1959.

Students

• Xuānhuà 宣化 (1918 - 1995)
• Língyuán 靈源 (1902 - 1988) [1]

Important Works

• 虛雲和尚法匯
• 虛雲和尚法匯續編
• 虛雲和尚事迹
• 虛雲和尚年譜
• 虛雲和尚畫法集

Notes

1. ↑ Daniela Campo has suggested that a more realistic date for Xuyun's birth is approximately 1864, estimating his age at the time of his death to be 92.

References

• Campo, Daniela. La construction de la sainteté dans la Chine moderne: La vie du maître bouddhiste Xuyun. Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 2013.
• 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. 2.787-795.
• Yú Língbō 于凌波. Zhōngguó jìnxiàndài fójiào rénwù zhì 中國近現代佛教人物志. Běijīng 北京: Zōngjiào wénhuà chūbǎnshè 宗教文化出版社, 1995. Pp. 2-9.
• Yú Língbō 于凌波, ed. Xiàndài Fójiào rénwù cídiǎn 現代佛教人物辭典 (A Dictionary of Modern Buddhist Persons), 2 vols. Taipei: Foguang, 2004. Pp. 2.1206a-1210b.