Yao Guangxiao

Also known as Faming Daoyan · Haotao Xuzi

Yao Guangxiao, a physician's son from Changzhou county, became a monk at fourteen under the name Daoyan and also learned divination from the Daoist Xi Yingzhen. After Empress Ma died in 1382 and senior monks were assigned to the princes, he went with Zhu Di, Prince of Yan, to Beiping as abbot of the Qingshou Monastery. In 1399 he pressed Zhu Di to rebel, held Beiping during the civil war and advised a drive straight on Nanjing. In 1404 he was made junior preceptor of the heir apparent, restored to his surname and given the name Guangxiao, yet he never grew his hair, wearing court dress for audiences and his robe at other times. He supervised the revised Veritable Records of the Hongwu Emperor and, with Xie Jin, the Yongle Encyclopedia (Yongle dadian), and wrote a rebuttal of Cheng-Zhu attacks on Buddhism. He died in 1418 aged eighty-four, was named Duke of Rong and Gongjing, and from 1425 shared sacrifices in the Yongle Emperor's temple.