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{{Infobox religious biography
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|name = Dongchu<br>東初
|image= 
|caption = 
|birth_name = {surname) Fan<br>范
|alias = 
|dharma name = 
|birth_date = {{Birth date|1908|9|22}}
|birth_place = [[Jiangsu]], [[People's Republic of China|China]]
|death_date = {{Death date and age|1977|12|15|1908|9|22}}
|death_place = [[Republic of China]]
|nationality = Chinese
|religion = 
|school = 
|lineage = 
|title = Venerable 
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[[File:dongchu.jpg|260px|thumb|right|''Ven. Dongchu at the door of CHIBC'']]
'''Dongchu''' ({{zh|c=東初|p=Dōngchū}}, 1907–1977) was a [[Chinese people|Chinese]] [[Ch'an]] Master in Mainland [[China]] and later in [[Taiwan]], and also the teacher of respected modern-day Ch'an Master [[Sheng-yen]]. He is the 51st generation of [[Zen]] patriarch from the [[Caodong]] School ([http://www.westernchanfellowship.org/lineage-chart-en.html See Lineage Chart]). He also established several monasteries and organizations in Taiwan that continue to exist and expand to this very day, including [[Chung-hwa Institute of Buddhist Culture]](CHIBC) and [[Nung Chan]] Monastery.

He was born in [[Jiangsu]] province, [[China]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dharmadrum.org/about/about.aspx?cid=C_00000016&ccid=C_00000017 |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2009-10-15 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://archive.is/20070813194123/http://www.dharmadrum.org/about/about.aspx?cid=C_00000016&ccid=C_00000017 |archivedate=2007-08-13 |df= }}</ref> At his early education period, he studied with various prominent monks such as Master Aiting and Master Nanting from the Zhulin Buddhist Institute in [[Zhenjiang]]. He then pursues his study further at Minnan Buddhist Institute in [[Xiamen]], and studied under renowned scholar-monk and modernist Master [[Taixu]]. His peers in the institute include Master [[Yinshun]], Zhumo, and Cihang (Tzuhang) – all of whom also became influential monks.

After graduated from Minnan Buddhist Institute, Ven. Dongchu then became [[dean (education)|dean]] of the prestigious school Jiaoshan Buddhist Institute. At the same time, he was abbot of the [[Dinghui Monastery]] in [[Zhenjiang]], [[Jiangsu]] province. Dinghui Monastery (''Monastery of Samadhi and Wisdom'') was a very famous [[Ch'an]] monastery in China, it stands on an island in the [[Yangtze River]], on a hill called ''Floating Jade Mountain''. It was first built around 194-195 [[Common Era|CE]] and changed names several times before finally became Dinghui Monastery during [[Qing Dynasty]]. He also taught classes at several other Buddhist institutes, including Jingan Si(''Quiet Calm'') Academy in [[Shanghai]] – at which young [[Sheng-yen]], who was studying there, first encountered him. Ven. Dongchu had a reputation as a progressive thinker who, unlike most [[Buddhist monk|monks]] at his time, wouldn't 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]].<ref>Sheng Yen, Footprints in the Snow: The Autobiography of a Chinese Buddhist Monk. Doubleday Religion, 2008. {{ISBN|978-0-385-51330-2}}. 
</ref>

He also became the first permanent council member in the [[Buddhist Association of the Republic of China]] in 1947. But it didn't last long as within the next couple of years, the [[Communist Party of China|Communist Party]] drove [[Kuomintang|Nationalists]] out of the [[Mainland 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 at [[Beitou District|Beitou]], near [[Taipei]], at the Fazang Monastery. Three months later, his passion for Buddhist education and culture led him to start the ''Humanity'' Magazine – the first Buddhist [[periodical]] 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 in [[Taiwan]] at 1955. It was located in [[Beitou District|Beitou]], near [[Taipei]], and was completed a year later. Instead of naming it a 'monastery', he named it [[Chung-Hwa Institute of Buddhist Culture]] (CHIBC) 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 District|Tamsui]], [[Sanchong District|Sanchong]], [[Yilan County, Taiwan|Yilan]], [[Taoyuan City|Taoyuan]], and [[Xinzhuang District|Xinzhuang]]. Therefore, they could celebrate [[Chinese New Year]] with warmth and meal.

Ven. [[Sheng-yen]], who had been an active writer in the ''Humanity'' Magazine under his pen-name ''Xing Shi Jiang Jun'' ("World Awakening General"), became Ven. Dongchu's disciple in 1959. Ven. Sheng-yen was a soldier in the [[intelligence]] unit at that time, he joined the [[ROC Army|Army]] unwillingly in order to escape from [[Mainland 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 2.5 [[acres]] of land in the Guandu Plain, near [[Taipei]].<ref>[http://www.dharmadrum.org/about/about.aspx?cid=C_00000016&ccid=C_00000018 ]{{dead link|date=June 2014}}</ref> [[File:dongchu2.jpg|240px|thumb|left|Ven. Dongchu with his disciple Ven. [[Sheng-yen]] in the United States]]
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, meaning ''Farming Ch'an'', the residents practice [[Ch'an]] while grow their own food. They live by the famous aphorism by Zen Master [[Baizhang Huaihai]], "A day without work is a day without food". The monastery was dedicated to Bodhisattva [[Manjusri]], which symbolizes great wisdom.<ref>[http://www.dharmadrum.org/about/about.aspx?cid=C_00000042 ]{{dead link|date=June 2014}}</ref>

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 the [[Bronx]] 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 CHIBC and [[Nung Chan]] to Ven. Sheng-yen.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://info.taiwan.net.tw/tourbusE/december_page1.html |title=Come to Taiwan,Return with good memories |publisher=Info.taiwan.net.tw |date= |accessdate=2014-06-29 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120227183910/http://info.taiwan.net.tw/tourbusE/december_page1.html |archivedate=2012-02-27 |df= }}</ref> His ashes, which were kept in CHIBC before, were buried in the Life Memorial Garden of [[Dharma Drum Mountain]] in 2007.<ref>[http://www.dharmadrum.org/news/news-detail.aspx?cid=C_00000009&pid=P_00000069 ]{{dead link|date=June 2014}}</ref>

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. Master [[Sheng-yen]]. 

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.dharmadrum.org/about/about.aspx?cid=C_00000016 Ven. Dongchu Biography in Dharma Drum Mountain website]


[[Category:Chan Buddhists]]
[[Category:Zen Buddhism writers]]
[[Category:Zen Buddhist monks and priests]]
[[Category:Taiwanese Zen Buddhists]]
[[Category:Soto Zen Buddhists]]


==Historical people list==

{{Historical people list}}

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===Page is sourced from===

[https://encyclopediaofbuddhism.org/wiki/Dongchu www.encyclopediaofbuddhism.org Dongchu]