Tomb of Monk Jiance

Tomb of Monk Jiance

The Tomb of Monk Jiance is a cultural relic protection unit of Jiangsu Province.

Monk Jiance (1601–1679), also known as Master Jiance, was the second patriarch of the Baohua Vinaya School. His secular surname was Xu, and he was from Chuxiong County. He lost both parents at the age of 14. In his youth, he loved to travel and visited places such as the Jinsha River and Dianwei. Inspired by the legendary Daoist figure Chisongzi, he became a Taoist priest but later abandoned Taoism for Buddhism. At the age of 32, he was ordained by Master Liangru of Baohong Mountain and took the Dharma name Dutǐ. In the ninth year of the Chongzhen era of the Ming Dynasty (1636), he arrived at Haichao Hermitage in Zhenjiang. The following year, he received full monastic precepts from Sanmei and subsequently traveled with Sanmei to preach and transmit precepts across various regions. He began studying the Vinaya scriptures and gained widespread recognition.

At the age of 38, he entered Baohua Mountain in Jinling (modern-day Nanjing), where he was promoted to oversee the monastery’s administration and lectured on monastic precepts. “His explanations of meaning and text were eloquent and boundless; the thousand people under his teaching all sighed in admiration” (from *A History of Chinese Buddhism*). In the second year of the Shunzhi era of the Qing Dynasty (1645), when Sanmei was about to pass away, he entrusted Dutǐ with his robes, alms bowl, and precept texts, making him his successor. Master Dutǐ presided over Baohua Mountain for over 30 years. In the 11th year of the Kangxi era (1672), during a great famine in southern Jiangsu, Monk Jiance organized relief efforts, distributing porridge for over 50 days and saving tens of thousands of lives. On the 22nd day of the first lunar month in the 18th year of the Kangxi era (1679), he passed away at the age of 79. His written works include *The Profound Meaning of Mahayana*, *Compilation on Vinaya Restraint and Maintenance*, *Compilation on Vinaya Practice and Continuation*, and ten other titles that have been passed down. Over decades, Monk Jiance transmitted precepts to tens of thousands of disciples and had dozens of dharma successors. The revival of the Vinaya School in modern times reached its culmination through Dutǐ, whose teachings flourished as never seen in recent history. His status in the history of Chinese Buddhism is also quite prominent.

Monk Jiance’s tomb is located northwest of Longchang Temple and can be reached by climbing stone steps. The outermost layer is made of piled rubble, and the ground of the tomb area is paved with strip-shaped bluestone. The stone mound has a circular structure, and the stupa is built from three large stones, standing about 2 meters tall. The upper and lower stones are 1–1.3 meters wide and are engraved with lotus petal patterns. The middle stone is 0.56 meters wide and inscribed with “Stupa of Master Jiance, the Second Patriarch of Baohua, Who Revived the Zhongnan Tradition and Unified Precept Practice.” The top of the stupa features a round stone resembling a large basin.

On December 19, 2011, the People’s Government of Jiangsu Province designated it as part of the seventh batch of provincial-level cultural relic protection units.

Further Reading:

· Seventh Batch of Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Relic Protection Units