The Four Eminent Monks of the Wanli Era (

traditional Chinese A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

: 萬曆四高僧;

pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese for ...

: ''Wànlì Sì Gāosēng'';

Wade–Giles Wade–Giles () is a romanization system for Mandarin Chinese. It developed from a system produced by Thomas Francis Wade, during the mid-19th century, and was given completed form with Herbert A. Giles's '' Chinese–English Dictionary'' of ...

: ''Wan-li Ssu Kao-seng'') refers to four prominent monks known of the Wanli Era (1573–1620). They were well-known for their ecumenism, arguing for the compatibility of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism, but emphasising the superiority of Buddhism over the latter two. They were: # Hanshan Deqing (憨山德清; 1546–1623) # Daguan Zhenke (達觀真可; 1543–1603) #

Yunqi Zhuhong Yunqi Zhuhong (; 1535–1615), also named Zhuhong, was a Chinese Buddhist leader during the Ming Dynasty. He was known as the “Master of Yunqi”, after a monastery restored in his honor. He was born in Hangzhou into a family with the surname ...

(雲棲株宏;1535–1615) # Ouyi Zhixu (蕅益智旭; 1599–1655) According to Jiang Wu, the Four Eminent Monks of the Wanli era "set their minds on scholasticism and meditation without interest in expanding their influence on monastic institutions," and thus, their influence did not largely extend into the

Qing Dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

(1644–1912). In contrast, the monastics of the transitional period between the

Ming The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

and Qing attempted to reintroduce the classical Chan techniques of "beating and shouting" and "unreasonable emphasis on the strictness of dharma transmission," which Wu suggests was a surface narrative underlying the facade of strong instutionalisation and lineage building by monks such as Miyun Yuanwu, Feiyin Tongrong, and Muchen Daomin.{{Cite book , last=Wu , first=Jiang , url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1352115800 , title=Enlightenment in Dispute The Reinvention of Chan Buddhism in Seventeenth-Century China , isbn=978-0-19-045047-2 , pages=xviii–xix , oclc=1352115800

References

Ming dynasty Buddhist monks