Zhenhua 震華

Zhènhuá 震華 (1908-1947)

Lay surname 姓: Táng 唐 Name 名: Quánxīn 全心 Courtesy name 字: Zhènhuá 震華 Dharma name 法名: Chéngshí 乘實 Born 1908 (Guāngxù 光緒 34) in Tánggǎng Village 唐港村 Xīnghuà County 興化縣, Jiāngsū 江蘇 Died 1947 (Mínguó 26) at Yùfó 玉佛寺, Shànghǎi 上海

Notable Associates: Ǎitíng 靄亭

Zhènhuá 震華 (1908-1947) and a short bio.

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

Biography

Zhènhuá was from a poor peasant family, and his parents died while he was young, so he was raised by an aunt. At age 11 eleven (1919), he was tonsured Huáilián 懷蓮 at Yuántōng Hermitage 圓通庵 in Xīnghuà 興化. His tonsure master first sent him to a traditional academy for education. In 1916, he was sent by his master's master, Shuāngtíng 霜亭 (then abbot of Jiāngtiān Temple 江天寺) to study at the Buddhist study society at Chāoàn Temple 超岸寺 on Mt. Yùfó 玉佛山 in Zhènjiāng 鎮江. There he studied under Shǒupéi 守培, who was impressed by his studiousness.

Zhènhuá received full ordination at Mt. Bǎohuá 寶華山 in the spring of 1929. After his ordination, he was asked by Ǎitíng 靄亭 to serve as the main teacher for the nascent Zhúlín Buddhist Seminary 竹林佛學院. Zhènhuá agreed and began teaching at the school. In 1932, he received dharma transmission from Ǎitíng. In 1937, Zhènhuá became abbot of Zhúlín Temple 竹林寺. The temple was burned to the ground by Japanese soldiers less than six months later. The Second Sino-Japanese War finally forced the Seminary to close in the fall of 1939. In 1940 he went on a fact-finding mission to see Buddhist sites in Japan.

In 1942, Zhènhuá became the 6th abbot of Yùfó 玉佛寺 in Shànghǎi 上海. He immediately orgaznied and opened the Shànghǎi Buddhist Seminary 上海佛學院 there.

During his ten years at Zhúlín Temple 竹林寺,

Important Works

Notable Students

• Fúshàn 福善
• Yǎngbō 養波

Notes

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. 2.911-912.
• 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. 2.1599a-1601c.