釋氏稽古略 4.267

4.267

Yuanwu: Chan Master Keqin of Zhaojue Monastery in Chengdu Prefecture, Xichuan. He was a son of the Luo clan of Pengzhou. His family had practiced Confucianism for generations. As a child, he memorized a thousand words daily. Visiting Miaoji Monastery, he was moved upon seeing Buddhist scriptures, and thereupon left home. He took tonsure under Master Zisheng. He mastered lecture and exposition under Dharma Master Wenzhao, and received the Śūraṅgama Sūtra from Minxing. Leaving Shu, he first visited Yuquan Hao, and next relied on Jinluan Xin, Dawei Zhe, Huanglong Huitang Xin, and Donglin Zong; all of them praised him. Huitang said, "In the future, the Linji lineage will belong to you!" Finally arriving in Qizhou, he visited Chan Master Yan at Mount Wuzu and completely grasped his profound teachings. By this time, during the Chongning era, he returned to his home region. Guo Zhizhang, Hanlin Academician and Military Commissioner of Chengdu, invited him to inaugurate the Dharma at Liuzu Monastery, which was then renamed Zhaojue. At the beginning of the Zhenghe era, he resigned his duties and again left the gorges to travel south. At that time, Layman Wujin Zhang Shangying resided in Jingnan; the Master visited him and talked on Huayan. Gentleman Wujin faithfully revered and bowed to him, inviting him to reside at Biyan, and he later moved to Daolin. Deng Zichang, Signet of the Bureau of Military Affairs, memorialized to bestow a purple robe and a master's title upon him. An imperial edict ordered him to reside at Mount Jiang in Jiankang, and an imperial decree appointed him to Tianning Wanshou Monastery in the capital Bianjing. The Emperor summoned him for an audience and granted him exceedingly generous favors. At the beginning of the Jianyan era, he moved again to Jinshan in Zhenjiang. Just when Emperor Gaozong visited Yangzhou, an edict summoned him for an audience and bestowed the title Chan Master Yuanwu. He was transferred to Yunju in Jiangxi, and after a long time returned to lead Zhaojue. On the jiyou day of the eighth month in the fifth year of Shaoxing (a reign era of Emperor Gaozong), he manifested a slight illness, sat in full lotus posture, wrote a verse to bid farewell to the assembly, threw down his brush, and passed away. Upon cremation, his tongue and teeth were not destroyed, and five-colored relics were countless. A stupa was built beside Zhaojue Monastery. He was posthumously titled Chan Master Zhenjue. He was the dharma heir of Chan Master Yan of Mount Wuzu; Yan was the heir of Baiyun Duan; Duan was the heir of Yangqi Hui; Hui was the heir of Chan Master Ciming Yuan—belonging to the Linji lineage (Pudeng lu).