The Dongxiang Zongchao 东乡宗超

Dongxiang Zongchao was a native of Qianzou in Gaomi Commandery during the Southern Dynasties (now southwest of Jiaoxian County, Shandong Province, China). He was also known as Dongxiang Chaozong, and his courtesy name was Yilun.

From an early age, he withdrew from secular life and stood out from the ordinary crowd, and he was fond of a vegetarian diet. He devoted himself to intensive meditation and Taoist practice: he donated his former residence to establish Xixuan Daoist Temple, while he himself cleared weeds to build a thatched hut, weaving reeds into mats and binding hibiscus branches for construction. During the reign of Emperor Jianwen of the Liang Dynasty, Prince Wei of Luling governed Gaomi; the prince had grand buildings constructed (for Taoist activities), and the ritual implements prepared were all exquisite and rare. However, the thatched hut where Dongxiang lived remained unchanged, and his clothes, beds, and curtains were all kept simple and unadorned.

In his Taoist practice, he specialized in "zuowang" (a state of meditative forgetfulness, a core Taoist cultivation method) and intensive spiritual reflection. He often sat on a round, dry well casing, and over time, the impression of his knees was left on the mat where he sat. Throughout his life, he wore a hat made of grass and sat on mats woven from sedge, refusing to change them under any circumstances.

He attained profound Taoist attainments. On one occasion, he held a Taoist ritual (jiao) on an open altar: there was no fire in the incense burner, yet smoke rose spontaneously; even after the incense burned out and the candles were extinguished, the (sacred) atmosphere continued to pervade the area naturally. He was always willing to help the poor and needy: when famine years came, he often provided large-scale free meals, and people from near and far flocked to him for relief.

Every winter, he made a large number of cotton-padded clothes, which he sent to people as opportunities arose, engaging in extensive charitable giving. A great many people of his time held him in deep respect and reverence.

(Source: San Dong Zhu Nang (Precious Bag of the Three Grottoes), Shangqing Dao Lei Shi Xiang (Classified Matters Concerning the Shangqing Dao), Dao Xue Zhuan (Biographies of Daoist Scholars))