10 Facts About Dayi Daoxin

Dayi Daoxin, who lived from 580 to 651, was the fourth Chan Buddhist Patriarch, following Jianzhi Sengcan and preceding Daman Hongren.

Dayi Daoxin, whose surname was Si-ma, was born in Yongning County, Qizhou, which is the former Guangji County, renamed in 1987 as Wuxue City, Hubei Province.

Dayi Daoxin began studying Buddhism at the age of seven and although his teacher was a man of impure moral conduct, Daoxin maintained the Buddhist morality on his own without his teacher's knowledge for five or six years.

Dayi Daoxin attended to Sengcan for the next nine years.

Zhikai was an adept of the Tiantai and Sanlun schools and chanted the Buddha's name as part of his practice; Dayi Daoxin's practice was influenced by these other schools.

Dayi Daoxin taught the residents the Mahaprajnaparamita Sutra which caused the bandits to abandon their siege.

Dayi Daoxin eventually settled at East Mountain Temple on Shuangfeng where he taught Chan Buddhism for thirty years and attracted large numbers of practitioners, some records say five hundred laypeople and monks.

Three times the emperor sent emissaries and three times Dayi Daoxin refused the invitation.

The teachings of Dayi Daoxin are known as the East Mountain Teachings, a precursor to the flowering of Chan on a national scale some seventy-five years later at the beginning of the eighth century.

The Chronicle of the Lankavatara Masters, which appeared in the early eighth century, has Dayi Daoxin quoting from the Prajnaparamita and Pure Land sutras but whether study of these sutras formed part of Dayi Daoxin's teachings is unlikely.