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Yěkāi 冶開 (1852-1923)
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Yěkāi 冶開 (1852-1923) was an influential teacher of Chán 禪 and restorer of temples during the late Qīng 清 period.
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Biography
Yěkāi was born into a Buddhist family in Yángzhōu 揚州. At age 13 he became a disciple of Lián'ān 蓮菴 at Tiānníng Temple 天寧寺 in his hometown. He received full ordination under Yǐnwén 隱聞 at Qíshù Temple 祇樹寺 at the age of 17 (1868 or 1869). After ordination he traveled to the famous Buddhist sites of southeastern China before arriving at Tiānníng Temple 天寧寺 in Chángzhōu 常州 in 1871. He became a disciple and attendant to the abbot Dìngniàn 定念. Yěkāi eventually received dharma transmission from him, making him a 41st generation lineage holder in the Línjì Lineage 臨濟宗. After the death of Dìngniàn, Yěkāi went to study at Jīnshān Temple 金山寺, and then lived in a hut on Zhōngnán Mountain 終南山 for three years.
In 1896 (Guāngxù 光緒 22), he returned to Tiānníng Temple in Chángzhōu, and became abbot the following year. Over the next ten years, Yěkāi traveled around gathering funds and support for the continued rebuilding of the temple, which had suffered much destruction at the hands of soldiers during the previous half century. He also worked toward the restoration of many other temples in the Jiāngnán 江南 Region.
In 1913, Yěkāi was named president of the short-lived Chinese General Buddhist Association 中華佛教總會. In 1920, he oversaw the ordinations of over 1,500 ordinands at his temple. After seeing the low level of education that these monks possessed, he organized the founding of the Tiānníng Vinaya Hall 天寧學戒堂.
Yěkāi died at his temple in 1923. His remains were placed in a stūpa on Yú Mountain 虞山 in Chángshú 常熟.
Notable Students
Notes
References
- 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. 1.386c-390b.
- Biographical entry from the official website for Tiānníng Temple 天寧寺, where he was abbot.
- Entry from Fojiao Net.