10 Facts About Yongjia Xuanjue

Yongjia Xuanjue, known as Yongjia Zhenjue, was a Zen and Tiantai Buddhist monk who lived during the Tang dynasty.

The name Yongjia is derived from the city of his birth, which is called Wenzhou.

Yongjia Xuanjue is known by his nickname "The Overnight Guest" because of his first encounter with his teacher, Huineng.

Yongjia Xuanjue is best remembered today as the author of the Song of Enlightenment, often known by its Japanese name Shodoka.

Yongjia Xuanjue was born in 665 in present-day Wenzhou in Zhejiang Province, China.

Yongjia Xuanjue began studying Buddhism at an early age as a monk in the Tiantai school and was given the dharma name Mingdao, meaning "bright path".

Yongjia Xuanjue was friends with Xuanlang, who would go on to become the fifth patriarch of Tiantai.

Yongjia Xuanjue settled at Lung-hsing temple in Wenzhou, where he remained teaching until his death in 713.

Yongjia Xuanjue was prominent enough that after his death, the Emperor Xuanzong gave him the posthumous name Wuxiang, meaning 'without phenomena'.

Huineng then exclaims that his interlocutor now truly understands the concept of birthlessness, but Yongjia Xuanjue cleverly asks if a mere concept, another form of artificial distinction, can really have a meaning.