His name was Deqing, his courtesy name was Chengyin, and his nickname was Hanshan. He was a native of Quanjiao, Anhui Province. At the age of twelve, he recited and studied scriptures and teachings from monk Yongning of Baoen Temple in Jinling. He became a monk at the age of nine

In the history of Chinese Buddhism , eminent monks have emerged in large numbers throughout the ages. Their teaching style was not only famous at that time, but also set an example for future generations. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, there were four eminent monks who were both moral and academic and well behaved. They are known as the Four Masters of the Late Ming Dynasty.

1. Master Hanshan

His name is Deqing, his courtesy name is Chengyin, and his name is Hanshan. He was born in Quanjiao, Anhui Province. He studied scriptures and taught from monk Yongning of Baoen Temple in Jinling at the age of 12. He became a monk at the age of 19 and received full ordination. He went to Qixia Mountain to receive Zen teachings from the Buddhist monk. In the same year, I listened to the "Huayan Xuantan" lecture by monk Wuji Mingxin, and went to the "Haiyin Senluo Permanent Residence" in Shixuanmen , and suddenly understood the purpose of the harmonious and unimpeded Dharma Realm. The following year, he gave a lecture on "Reciting the Buddha's Name during the Trial" in Zen No. 7, and from then on he gained a lot from his research.

In the eleventh year of Wanli , he lectured on "Hua Yan Xuan Tan", which was listened to by nearly ten thousand people, and respected by both the government and the public. He also wrote the "Huayan Sutra" with blood to repay his parents' kindness. Shenzong praised his deeds and gave him gold paper.

In the twenty-eighth year of Wanli, Monk Hounan Shao Daozhu invited monks to Caoxi, reopened the ancestral court, selected monks to receive ordination, established a monk school, and established clear regulations, which greatly promoted the ancestral style. In the 31st year, due to the unjust imprisonment of Master Zibai , he was sent to garrison in Leizhou. In the 34th year, he was pardoned and returned to Caoxi. However, due to the restoration of the main hall of Nanhua Temple, he was falsely accused of using his wealth for personal gain. He stayed in a boat in Furong River for two years to wait for the trial. He was seriously ill and almost died. In the forty-two years, the Queen Mother died, and she was ordered to return the monk's robes. After that, she stayed in the nunnery under the Five Breasted Peaks and devoted herself to the Pure Land to recite the Buddha's name.

The teacher’s thoughts integrate Zen and Huayan, advocating the dual cultivation of Zen and purity, and the integration of the three teachings into one.. He has written many works, including "A Comprehensive Discussion of the Surangama Sutra", "An Outline of the Avatamsaka Sutra", "A Direct Interpretation of the Perfect Sutra", "A Direct Interpretation of the Prajna Sutra", etc. Xizong died three years after Tianqi. He lived seventy-eight years and was known as Master Hanshan in the world. This honorific title originated from the fact that when the teacher visited Wutai Mountain, he saw the beauty of Hanshan Mountain in Beitai, so he took it as his own title. Because he admired Master Qingliang Chengguan as a person, he adopted the name Chengyin.

2. Master Zibai

His name is Zhenke, his courtesy name is Daguan, his name is Zibai, and he is known in the world as Master Zibai. A native of Wuxian County, Jiangsu Province, when he was young, he traveled around the world and eliminated violence and peace. At the age of seventeen, he became a monk with the monk Mingjue at Yunyan Temple in Huqiu. At the age of twenty, he received full ordination and entered Jingde Temple in Wutang for three years.

He came to the capital in the first year of Wanli (1573) and stayed close to the Huayan sect for nine years. He also studied under the Zen master Xiaoyan. Feeling that it was inconvenient to read the old Sanskrit version of the Tripitaka, he created the Fangchu Tripitaka in Mount Wutai based on the Ming Dynasty's Northern Tibet and with reference to the Ming Dynasty's Southern Tibet. Four years later, it was moved to Jingzhao'an in Jingshan to continue publishing, so it was called the Jingshan Tibetan.

After becoming a monk, the master has been very strict with himself and has always been consistent. When he was the abbot of Tanzhe Ancient Temple, one day, a close friend whom he had not seen for many years came to visit. He had a great conversation with the master. He was still very interested in the conversation until the meal, so he inadvertently picked up his chopsticks and ate. After eating a few mouthfuls, he remembered that he had just forgotten to make an offering before the meal. The master then personally gave the staff and ordered the deacon to beat him thirty times. He also used this to warn the public: "The habits of living beings have no beginning, like oil entering the face, which is unbreakable and difficult to tame unless beaten and punished!"

The master and Hanshan had a close friendship, and the two of them had discussed continuing to revise the "Da Ming Chuan Leng Lu" to invigorate the Zen style. Unfortunately, Master Hanshan was falsely accused of building a monastery privately and was demoted to Leizhou, Guangdong, so this wish could not be fulfilled. In the 31st year of Wanli period, due to internal strife in the imperial court, the master took advantage of the opportunity to frame him, so he was unjustly imprisoned and sentenced to death. When the teacher heard this, he looked calm and said: "The world is like this, what is the point of living for a long time?" Then he recited a verse: "There is a reason for a smile, but a big piece cannot be dusted. From now on, I will clean up my mother's feet, and the iron prong flowers will not wait for spring." After reciting, he sat upright and closed his eyes and passed away. His life span is sixty-one, and his life span is forty-one.

3. Master Lotus Pond

The eighth ancestor of the Pure Land Sect, a native of Renhe, Hangzhou, named Zuhong, courtesy name Fohui, and nickname Lotus Pond . He studied Confucianism at a young age. At the age of seventeen, he became a scholar and became famous for his studies and conduct. Influenced by his neighbors, he placed his mind on the Pure Land, so he wrote the four words "life and death are important matters" on his desk every time to warn himself.

At the age of thirty-two, monk Yixishan Wumenxingtian became a monk and received full ordination from Wuchenyu Lawyer of Zhaoqing Temple. Soon, he visited all directions and made traveling his main business. Longqing fifth year (1571), he entered Yunqi Mountain in Hangzhou, lived in an abandoned temple in the mountain, practiced the Samadhi of chanting the Buddha's name intensively, taught people far and near, and the disciples gathered together, forming a jungle.

In the 12th year of Wanli (1584), he wrote three volumes of "Collection of Past Lives"; in the 30th year, he wrote one volume of "The Surangama Sutra: Touching the Elephant". At that time, the ordination altar was closed for a long time, so the master ordered those seeking ordination to wear three robes and receive ordination in front of the Buddha as a proof. He also formulated the "Water and Land Rituals" and the "Yoga Flame Speech Method" to relieve the suffering of the underworld. He opened living ponds inside and outside the city and wrote the "Abandoning Killing and Release of Life" to warn against harmful animals. Throughout his life, he advocated chanting the name of the Buddha, denounced crazy Zen, tried hard to explain the dual cultivation of Zen and purity, and also paid attention to the teachings of the scriptures. In his later years, he became ill and worked hard to purify his karma. He wrote "Three Regrets" and "Ten Lamentations" to supervise his disciples. He died in the 40th year of Wanli and lived for 81 years. He was known as Monk Yunqi and Master Lianchi.

4. Ou Yi master

The ninth ancestor of the Pure Land Sect, his name is Ji Ming, his courtesy name is Ou Yi, his name is , he is a native of Mudu, Wuxian County. He rarely studied Confucianism and wrote dozens of treatises on Buddhism. When he was seventeen years old, after reading Master Lianchi's "Record of Self-Knowledge" and "Essays on Bamboo Window", he realized that he was wrong and burned all his works. When he was twenty years old, he was inspired by the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva's Original Vow Sutra and became a monk. At the age of twenty-four, he was ordained by Xueling, a disciple of Master Hanshan, and changed his name to Zhixu.

I received the Bodhisattva precepts at the age of twenty-six. The next year, I read through the Vinaya Pitaka. Occasionally, I fell ill and was about to be critically ill, so I devoted myself to seeking rebirth in the Pure Land. At the age of thirty, he deeply realized the sect's shortcomings and decided to promote the law. At the age of thirty-two, he wanted to annotate the "Brahma Net Sutra" and cast four lots in front of the Buddha. He got the Tiantai sect lot and studied the Tiantai teachings in detail.

The teacher is a serious and sophisticated person, who despises fame and wealth, adheres to the precepts, and promotes the dharma treasury. He devoted his life to reading Tibetan writings and comprehensively studied the teachings of Dharma, Zen, Law, Huayan, Tiantai, and Pure Land religions, especially the Tiantai Sect, and advocated the unity of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. Especially in view of the differences among sects in Buddhism at that time, we strived to reconcile the various sects. His thoughts were summarized as the three learnings are combined into one thought, and the Buddha's teachings from one generation to the next are summarized by chanting the Buddha's name. After the Qing Dynasty, Taijia's teachings were mostly based on the teacher's scriptures and commentaries, forming the Lingfeng School that "integrates Zen, teachings, and law to return to the pure land", which continues to this day.

He passed away in January of the 11th year of Shunzhi in the Qing Dynasty (1654). His life span was fifty-seven, and he was known as Master Lingfeng Ouyi in the world.

The teacher is well-versed in scriptures and teachings, studies the Tiantai of the sect, and is familiar with Huayan and Dharma. Internally, it integrates nature, phase, Zen, and purity; externally, it harmonizes Confucianism and Buddhism, and harmonizes the two truths of truth and secularity. However, because he felt that the decline of the righteous Dharma was actually due to the long-term decline of the legal system , he vowed to take the promotion of the legal system as his own responsibility throughout his life. At the age of twenty-six, he received the Bodhisattva ordination and diligently studied the great and small Vinaya Tibet, laying the foundation for Vinaya studies. And he himself was a strict monk who kept the precepts and was a highly virtuous bhikkhu. He made indelible contributions to the revitalization of the pure sect of Buddhism throughout his life.

Reading the demeanor of eminent monks can inspire the Buddhist mind. Therefore, in addition to reading Tibetan scriptures, when studying Buddhism, you should actually read more biographies of eminent monks.