13 Facts About Dongshan Liangjie

Dongshan Liangjie was a Chan Buddhist monk of the Tang dynasty.

Dongshan Liangjie founded the Caodong school, which was transmitted to Japan in the thirteenth century by Dogen and developed into the Soto school of Zen.

Dongshan Liangjie started his private studies in Chan Buddhism at a young age, as was popular among educated elite families of the time.

At the village cloister, Dongshan Liangjie showed promise by questioning the fundamental Doctrine of the Six Roots during his tutor's recitation of the Heart Sutra.

Dongshan Liangjie had his head shaved and took on yellow robes, which represented the first steps in his path to becoming a monk, ordaining as a sramanera.

Dongshan Liangjie spent a large portion of his early life wandering between Chan masters and hermits in the Hongzhou region.

At the age of fifty-two, Dongshan Liangjie established a mountain school at the mountain named Dongshan Liangjie.

Dongshan Liangjie died at the age of sixty-three, in the tenth year of the Xiantong era, having spent forty-two years as a monk.

Dongshan Liangjie's shrine, built in keeping with Buddhist tradition, was named the Stupa of Wisdom-awareness, and his posthumous name was Chan Master Wu-Pen.

Dongshan Liangjie was distinguished by his ability to instruct all three categories of students, which he defined as.

For each of these ranks, Dongshan Liangjie wrote a verse trying to bring such abstract ideals into the realm of real experience.

Dongshan Liangjie used metaphors of day-to-day occurrences that his students could understand.

Dongshan Liangjie's most renowned students were Caoshan Benji and Yunju Daoying.