born 638, southwest Kwangtung, China
died 713, Kwangtung
Chinese religious leader, sixth patriarch of Chan (Sŏn, Zen ) Buddhism.
As a young and illiterate peddler of firewood, he heard the Diamond Sutra and traveled 500 m (800 km) to northern China to study with the fifth patriarch, Hongren. He returned home to Canton in 676 and was ordained a priest. He asserted that all people are basically pure and possess the Buddha-nature, and he held that, if one seeks one's own nature and cultivates tranquillity, enlightenment will come suddenly, without external help. He founded the southern school, which became the dominant school of Chan Buddhism.