Master Xu Yun (1840-1959) Memorial Photographic Library
ICBI LIBRARY NUMBER: 0061
In 1957/58, Master Xu Yun was in his 118th year of age. This photograph was taken at the Zhen Ru Monastery, Mount Yunju, Jiangxi province. At this time the master was busy continuing extensive repairs to the monastery and grounds. In his autobiography it states that Xu Yun repaired scores of temples all over China. When he arrived at a new place, all had as a possession was his staff – when the temple had been repaired and handed over to another monk – Xu Yun would leave with exactly the same staff that he arrived with. He accumulated no other possessions, and refused to amass any wealth, acting entirely in accordance with the Vinaya discipline. The monk to the left of Xu Yun is named as Dharma Master Ch’an Dao.
禅道法师与虚云禅师留影
ICBI LIBRARY NUMBER: 0062
禅道法师与虚云禅师留影
ICBI LIBRARY NUMBER: 0062
The monk Ch’an Dao stands to the left of Master Xu Yun in 1957/58 at the Zhen Ru Monastery on Mount Yunju, Jiangxi province. China follows the old Buddhist calender and the Chinese text describes the year as 2984 since the passing of the Buddha. Other disciples stand respectfully around both monks. Master Xu Yun is in his 118th year.
珍藏旧影;虚云禅师与弟子禅道.等 - 佛历二九八四年虚公百十八岁
ICBI LIBRARY NUMBER: 0063
珍藏旧影;虚云禅师与弟子禅道.等 - 佛历二九八四年虚公百十八岁
ICBI LIBRARY NUMBER: 0063
Master Xu Yun greets Master Yuan Ying. In 1952/53, Xu Yun and Yuan Ying are attending the Asia Pacific Regional Peace Conference at the Guang Ji Temple in Beijing. Although this picture is unclear, it appears to show Xu Yun (with long hair and beard) standing to the left, with the shaven headed Yuan Ying standing to the right. At this time Xu Yun was in his 113th year of life.
出席亚洲及太平洋区域和平会议的中国代表圆瑛法师与虚云老和尚在广济寺欢晤摄影。
ICBI LIBRARY NUMBER: 0064
出席亚洲及太平洋区域和平会议的中国代表圆瑛法师与虚云老和尚在广济寺欢晤摄影。
ICBI LIBRARY NUMBER: 0064
Master Xu Yun, wearing his black robe, and with long hair and beard, sits for a professional photograph, taken in a studio setting. The background is comprised of a number of connected, painted silk panels housed in wooden frames, displaying the theme of branches and leaves. Sat to the right of Xu Yun is an unnamed elderly scholar and lay-Buddhist. Although no Chinese text accompanies this photograph, and given that anything gained only from the picture itself is speculation, it is true to say that Xu Yun is wearing the same (or similar) black robe seen during his time at Wuchang in 1952/53 (his 113th year) – where other photographs were taken at the Temple of the Three Buddhas.
ICBI LIBRARY NUMBER: 0065
ICBI LIBRARY NUMBER: 0065
In 1938/39, Xu Yun was in his 99th year of life. In the spring of that year he transmitted the precepts at the Nan Hua Temple, Guangdong province. Here, he is photographed whilst stood outside the Nan Hua Templewith other participants of the ceremony (and ritual) that was well attended. The experience was said to be wonderful, and produced good karma by purifying the mind (and body).
1938年南华寺春戒期间虚云和尚与妙参、观本、心悟、纯果等人合影。
ICBI LIBRARY NUMBER: 0066
1938年南华寺春戒期间虚云和尚与妙参、观本、心悟、纯果等人合影。
ICBI LIBRARY NUMBER: 0066
In 1946/47, Master Xu Yun was in his 107th year of life. Xu Yun’s autobiography (Empty Cloud: Luk & Hunn 1988, Pages 132/33) states that in the autumn of this year, Xu Yun was invited to Guangzhou to hold a prayer meeting dedicated toward the welfare of those who died during WWII. This took place at the Temple of the Six Banyans, and not only did rare plants flower on the occasion, but over a 100,000 people attended. The Chinese text accompanying this picture ascribes this photograph to early 1946, and talks about a Bodhi-Vihara Monastery in Guangzhou, and says that a recently constructed training hall (for monks) was opened by Xu Yun. This picture of that event is probably from the autumn of 1946, as in early 1946 Xu Yun was still at the Yun men Monastery.
虛雲和尚在廣州菩提精舍啟建道場時與四眾合影。
ICBI LIBRARY NUMBER: 0067
虛雲和尚在廣州菩提精舍啟建道場時與四眾合影。
ICBI LIBRARY NUMBER: 0067
In 1936, Xu Yun was in his 96th year of life. At that time an important military man visited the Nan Hua Temple to talk with Xu Yun, and brought with him a white-furred fox. The full story of this incident does not appear in Empty Cloud (the English translation of Xu Yun’s autobiography made by his disciple Charles Luk), but can be read at this link:
Great Master Xu Yun and the Unrivalled Legend of the White Fox
The accompanying Chinese text states that this picture is of Xu Yun and other monks at the Nan Hua Temple in 1936, who are witnessing the fox take refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.
1936年虚云和尚在南华寺为白狐授皈依
ICBI LIBRARY NUMBER: 0068
Great Master Xu Yun and the Unrivalled Legend of the White Fox
The accompanying Chinese text states that this picture is of Xu Yun and other monks at the Nan Hua Temple in 1936, who are witnessing the fox take refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.
1936年虚云和尚在南华寺为白狐授皈依
ICBI LIBRARY NUMBER: 0068
Master Xu Yun –along with other representatives of different Buddhist schools and lineages in China – sits serenely under a portrait of Chairman Mao. The Chinese text accompanying this photograph states the date as being the 30th of May, 1953, however, this appears to be the adjusted date for the Western calendar. In Empty Cloud – Charles Luk’s English translation of Xu Yun’s Chinese language autobiography – the following is stated on Page 188 of the 1988 Element Books edition, which reads:
‘In the fourth month, the Master received a telegram asking him to the capital, where he stayed at the Guang-ji Monastery. After representatives of the Sangha from all parts of the country had arrived, the new Chinese Buddhist Association was formally inaugurated and proceeded to discuss and pass several important resolutions. When some degenerate monks proposed the abolition of the standing rules of discipline and morality, the Master reprimanded them and wrote a statement entitled the ‘Degeneration of the Sangha in the Dharma-ending age’.
Mao Zedong (and Zhao Enlai) of the Chinese government listened to Xu Yun, who demanded that the observance of the Vinaya Discipline (for an ordained Buddhist monastic in China) - be written into secular Chinese law – a motion that was duly passed. Chinese Ch’an is distinguishable from Japanese Zen as the former demands the observance of the Vinaya Discipline by its adherents, whilst the latter does not. The English translation of Xu Yun’s text entitled ‘Degeneration of the Sangha in the Dharma-ending’, can be read at the following link:
Degeneration of the Sangha in the Dharma-ending
1953年5月30日 中国佛教协会成立
ICBI LIBRARY NUMBER: 0069
‘In the fourth month, the Master received a telegram asking him to the capital, where he stayed at the Guang-ji Monastery. After representatives of the Sangha from all parts of the country had arrived, the new Chinese Buddhist Association was formally inaugurated and proceeded to discuss and pass several important resolutions. When some degenerate monks proposed the abolition of the standing rules of discipline and morality, the Master reprimanded them and wrote a statement entitled the ‘Degeneration of the Sangha in the Dharma-ending age’.
Mao Zedong (and Zhao Enlai) of the Chinese government listened to Xu Yun, who demanded that the observance of the Vinaya Discipline (for an ordained Buddhist monastic in China) - be written into secular Chinese law – a motion that was duly passed. Chinese Ch’an is distinguishable from Japanese Zen as the former demands the observance of the Vinaya Discipline by its adherents, whilst the latter does not. The English translation of Xu Yun’s text entitled ‘Degeneration of the Sangha in the Dharma-ending’, can be read at the following link:
Degeneration of the Sangha in the Dharma-ending
1953年5月30日 中国佛教协会成立
ICBI LIBRARY NUMBER: 0069
In 1974, Charles Luk (1898-1978) sent a copy of this photograph to his British disciple Richard Hunn (1949-2006). Charles Luk’s English translation of Xu Yun’s biography – Empty Cloud – states (in part) for the year 1948/49 (when Xu Yun was in his 109th year of age) the following information:
‘I then proceeded to Hong Kong where I expounded the sutras at the Temple of Ci-hang Jin-yuan at Shatin, held a week of Pure Land meditation and taught the refuge formula and five precepts at the Temple of Dong-lian Jue-yuan (Enlightenment Garden of the Eastern Lotus). After that I returned to the Yun-men Monastery.’
The Chinese text accompanying this photograph states that Master Xu Yun was kindly invited to the True Enlightenment Lotus Society, and that the Bhikshu on Xu Yun’s right is Dharma Master Jue Guang (觉光法师)[1919-2014], and that the Bhikshu to his left is Dharma Master Yue Tan (优昙法师)[1908-1993]. This photograph is from the personal collection of Dharma Master Jue Guang. It appears that Master Xu Yun visited the True Enlightenment Lotus Society (a charitable Buddhist organisation founded in 1945) when he visited Hong Kong in 1948.
1948年觉莲社正恭请虚云老和尚(中)开示。照片右边为觉光法师,左边为优昙法师(图:《觉光法师文集》)
ICBI LIBRARY NUMBER: 0070
‘I then proceeded to Hong Kong where I expounded the sutras at the Temple of Ci-hang Jin-yuan at Shatin, held a week of Pure Land meditation and taught the refuge formula and five precepts at the Temple of Dong-lian Jue-yuan (Enlightenment Garden of the Eastern Lotus). After that I returned to the Yun-men Monastery.’
The Chinese text accompanying this photograph states that Master Xu Yun was kindly invited to the True Enlightenment Lotus Society, and that the Bhikshu on Xu Yun’s right is Dharma Master Jue Guang (觉光法师)[1919-2014], and that the Bhikshu to his left is Dharma Master Yue Tan (优昙法师)[1908-1993]. This photograph is from the personal collection of Dharma Master Jue Guang. It appears that Master Xu Yun visited the True Enlightenment Lotus Society (a charitable Buddhist organisation founded in 1945) when he visited Hong Kong in 1948.
1948年觉莲社正恭请虚云老和尚(中)开示。照片右边为觉光法师,左边为优昙法师(图:《觉光法师文集》)
ICBI LIBRARY NUMBER: 0070
Charles Luk’s English translation of Master Xu Yun’s biography entitled ‘Empty Cloud’ (the 1988 Element Books edition revised by Richard Hunn) states for 1942/43 (when Master Xu Yun was in his 103rd year of age) the following information (Page 128):
‘I left Nan-hua on the sixth of the eleventh month and when I arrived at the sacred mountain of Heng-shan in Hunan Province, I offered incense at the monastery there and met Upasaka Xu Guo-zhu who had been sent by Marshall Li-ji-shen to invite me to Guilin. On arrival, I stayed at Mount Yue-ya when monks, nuns, male and female lay devotees came and asked to be disciplines of mine.’
The Chinese text accompanying this photograph states that in 1942 in Guilin, people from all walks of life gathered to welcome the venerable old monk Xu Yun.
1942年桂林各界歡迎虛雲老和尚
‘I left Nan-hua on the sixth of the eleventh month and when I arrived at the sacred mountain of Heng-shan in Hunan Province, I offered incense at the monastery there and met Upasaka Xu Guo-zhu who had been sent by Marshall Li-ji-shen to invite me to Guilin. On arrival, I stayed at Mount Yue-ya when monks, nuns, male and female lay devotees came and asked to be disciplines of mine.’
The Chinese text accompanying this photograph states that in 1942 in Guilin, people from all walks of life gathered to welcome the venerable old monk Xu Yun.
1942年桂林各界歡迎虛雲老和尚