Huijiao

Also known as Shi Huijiao · Huijiao of Jiaxiang Monastery

Huijiao, a native of Shangyu in Kuaiji, was a Liang-dynasty monk of Jiaxiang Monastery, learned in both Buddhist and secular letters, who taught in spring and summer and wrote in autumn and winter. Dissatisfied with Baochang's Biographies of Famous Monks, he searched histories and miscellaneous records to compile the Biographies of Eminent Monks in fourteen chapters, covering 67 to 519 CE with 257 main biographies in ten categories such as translators and exegetes. He replaced "famous" with "eminent" to stress conduct over reputation. Fleeing the Hou Jing rebellion, he reached Pencheng in 553 and died there the following year.