Miyun Yuanwu
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Miyun Yuanwu | |
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 An Image of Miyun Yuanwu | |
| Title | Chan Master (禅師) |
| Personal life | |
| Born | 1566 Changzhou, Jiangsu |
| Died | 1642 (aged 75–76) |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Buddhist |
| Denomination | Linji Chan |
| Creed | Chan |
| Ordination | 1594 |
| Senior posting | |
| Disciple of | Huanyou Zhengchuan |
Disciples
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Miyun Yuanwu (Chinese: 密雲圓悟, pinyin: Mìyún Yuánwù; Japanese: 密雲円悟, Hepburn: Mitsuun Engo; 1566–1642) was a prominent Chinese Chan master of the Linji tradition. Born in Changzhou, in modern Jiangsu Province, to a prominent family, and was educated as a Confucian.[1] In 1594, after reading the Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch, he left his wife and children and immediately ordained under master Huanyou Zhengchua of Yuwang Monastery in Changzhou.[2] In 1603, his master left for Beijing and left him in charge of the monastery. At that time, he is said to have attained sudden awakening, and in the next decade became famous for his distinctive development of Chan teaching methods, reviving the "beating and shouting" of Linji.[3]
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In 1611, Miyun received Dharma transmission from his master, Huanyou, and became the abbot of Longchiyuan Temple in 1614. Additionally, he became the abbot of Tongxuan Temple on Mount Tiantai (1623), Guanghui Temple in Zhejiang (1624), and was additionally the abbot of Guangli Temple on Mount Yuwang, Daobaoen Temple in Jinleng (modern Nanjing), and Jinge Temple on Mount Tiantong (popularly known as Tiantong Temple), for which he received the secondary name Master Tiantong.[4]
In addition to rebuilding Tiantong Temple in 1641, which had been damaged in a flood in 1587, his work publishing popular Chan gazetteers attracted a wide following. For instance, 1638, it was observed that the once decrepit Tiantong Temple was then home to 1500 monks and laity. For the feeding of this population, the immense "Wok for a Thousand Monks" was cast in 1641.[5]
Minyun had an immense intergenerational influence.[6] This was ensured by Miyun's intentional appointment of his own Dharma heirs as abbots within his lineage, who carried on the same practice.[7] Miyun, having simultaneously been abbot of six temples, is regarded as having largely revived Chan, which had been on decline since the Yuan (1271–1368), and in particular, the power and popularity of the Linji Chan tradition.[8]