Clerics › Religious Figure

Shi Jing'an (Bazhi Toutuo)

Late Qing patriotic Buddhist master and poet (1851–1912 CE), famed as the Eight-Fingered Ascetic, first President of the Chinese Buddhist Association.

Also known as Bazhi Toutuo · Monk Jichan · Huang Dushan

Shi Jing'an (1851–1912 CE), lay name Huang Dushan, styled Jichan and known as the Eight-Fingered Ascetic (Bazhi Toutuo), was the premier Buddhist poet and reform leader of the late Qing period. Heartily concerned with national crises, his tragic and noble poetry in the 'Bazhi Toutuo Collection' remains a spiritual highlight of late imperial China.

Life and times

  1. 1851BornQingRepublican Era
  2. 1912 CEDied

Records

Ordained in 1868, abbot of Tiantong Temple in 1902

Ordained in 1868; abbot of Tiantong in 1902

Jing'an was ordained in 1868 at Fahua Temple in Xiangyin and became abbot of temples including Shangfeng Temple on Mount Heng; in 1877 he burned two fingers of his left hand at Ayuwang Temple as an offering, which gave him the name Eight-Finger Ascetic. He became abbot of Tiantong Temple in Ningbo in 1902, founded a monks' education association in 1908, and was first president of the Chinese General Buddhist Association in 1912, dying that year at Fayuan Temple in Beijing.

References (2)

Collected poems

1868 to 1877

Jing'an took monastic vows in 1868 at Fahua Temple in Xiangyin under the elder Donglin. In 1877 he burned two fingers of his left hand before the relic pagoda at Ayuwang Temple in Yin County and was called the Eight-Finger Ascetic from then on. His Poems of the Eight-Finger Ascetic in ten juan, a supplement in eight juan and the White Plum Poems in one juan circulated in print.

References (1)