Dongchu 東初 | |
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 Dongchu standing near the front door of the Chung-hwa Institute of Buddhist Culture | |
| Title | Venerable |
| Personal life | |
| Born | (surname) Fan 范 (1908-09-22)September 22, 1908 |
| Died | December 15, 1977(1977-12-15) (aged 69) |
| Nationality | Chinese |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Buddhism |
Dongchu (Chinese:東初;pinyin:Dōngchū, 1907–1977) was a ChineseCh'an Master in Mainland China and later inTaiwan, and also the teacher of respected modern-day Ch'an MasterSheng-yen. He is the 51st generation ofZen patriarch from theCaodong School (See Lineage Chart). He also established several monasteries and organizations in Taiwan that continue to exist and expand to this very day, includingChung-hwa Institute of Buddhist Culture andNung Chan Monastery.
He was born inJiangsu province, China.[1] At his early education period, he studied with various prominent monks such as Master Aiting and Master Nanting from the Zhulin Buddhist Institute inZhenjiang. He then pursues his study further at Minnan Buddhist Institute inXiamen, and studied under renowned scholar-monk and modernist MasterTaixu. His peers in the institute include MasterYinshun, Zhumo, and Cihang (Tzuhang) – all of whom also became influential monks.
After graduating from Minnan Buddhist Institute, Ven. Dongchu then becamedean of the prestigious school Jiaoshan Buddhist Institute. At the same time, he was abbot of theDinghui Monastery inZhenjiang,Jiangsu province. Dinghui Monastery (Monastery of Samadhi and Wisdom) was a very famousCh'an monastery in China, it stands on an island in theYangtze River, on a hill calledFloating Jade Mountain. It was first built around 194-195CE and changed names several times before finally became Dinghui Monastery duringQing Dynasty. He also taught classes at several other Buddhist institutes, including Jingan Si (Quiet Calm) Academy inShanghai – at which youngSheng-yen, who was studying there, first encountered him. Ven. Dongchu had a reputation as a progressive thinker who, unlike mostmonks at his time, would not hesitate to criticize others. He was also known as a fierce teacher and his students gave him the nickname the 'Big Gun'. His paradigm was much influence by his teacher,Taixu.[2]
He also became the first permanent council member in theBuddhist Association of the Republic of China in 1947. But it did not last long as within the next couple of years, theCommunist Party droveNationalists out of theMainland China, and many religious leaders, in fear of the Communists' persecution, fled overseas – including Ven. Dongchu, who fled to Taiwan at 1949.
He took temporary shelter atBeitou, nearTaipei, at the Fazang Monastery. Three months later, his passion for Buddhist education and culture led him to start theHumanity Magazine – the first Buddhistperiodical in Taiwan. Its mission is to "purify the minds of the people and establish Life Buddhism." By the early 1950s, it had grown very popular and its circulation reached Southeast Asia and East Asia, and the United States.
Ven. Dongchu established his first monastery inTaiwan at 1955. It was located inBeitou, nearTaipei, and was completed a year later. Instead of naming it a 'monastery', he named it Chung-Hwa Institute of Buddhist Culture to establish a foundation for cultural work. In 1956, he started a charity program called 'Winter Relief Drive' to collect donations to buy rice, oil, and winter clothing for poor families and orphanages in Beitou,Tamsui,Sanchong,Yilan,Taoyuan, andXinzhuang. Therefore, they could celebrateChinese New Year with warmth and meal.
Ven.Sheng-yen, who had been an active writer in theHumanity Magazine under his pen-nameXing Shi Jiang Jun ("World Awakening General"), became Ven. Dongchu's disciple in 1959. Ven. Sheng-yen was a soldier in theintelligence unit at that time, he joined theArmy unwillingly in order to escape fromMainland China. Despite his position in the intelligence, Ven. Sheng-yen's request to be dismissed from his post was accepted by his superior with Ven. Dongchu's help.
Aside from his intellectual and charity activities, Ven. Dongchu didn't spend much time leading Buddhist ceremonies or rituals. In his later years, he rarely went out to focus on his writings. Thus, he didn't have many followers and disciples. However, he was persistent and in the 1960s he bought a 2.5acres of land in the Guandu Plain, nearTaipei.[3]
In the beginning it only serves as a farmland cultivated by Ven. Dongchu and his two disciples – Ven.Sheng-yen was in solitary retreat at southern Taiwan by the time. Step by step, he built a farmhouse, and after four years of works, he succeeded to establish another monastery,Nung Chan Monastery in 1975. In Nung Chan, meaningFarming Ch'an, the residents practiceCh'an while grow their own food. They live by the famous aphorism by Zen MasterBaizhang Huaihai, "A day without work is a day without food". The monastery was dedicated to BodhisattvaManjusri, which symbolizes great wisdom.[4]
In 1976, Ven. Dongchu had a chance to visit his disciple Ven. Sheng-yen in New York. Ven. Sheng-yen was an abbot of a small monastery at theBronx and he succeeded to gain a number of Western followers. They both had parted long before. Ven. Sheng-yen went to six-years solitary retreat in 1961. He then studied in Japan for some years and earned a doctorate degree before arriving in United States.
Ven. Dongchu died in 1977 in sitting position with no clear illness. In his last will he passed down the abbotship of Chung-hwa Institute of Buddhist Culture and Nung Chan to Ven. Sheng-yen.[5] His ashes, which were kept in Chung-hwa Institute of Buddhist Culture before, were buried in the Life Memorial Garden ofDharma Drum Mountain in 2007.[6]
The Chinese name of New York City's Ch'an Meditation Center (東初禪寺) is named after Ven. Master Dongchu by his disciple Ven. MasterSheng-yen.
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