Career
Zicheng 自誠 was Hong"s zi 字 "courtesy name", his given name was Hong Yingming (Hung Ying-ming) 洪應明, and his hao 號 "pseudonym" was Huanchu Daoren (Huan-ch"u Tao-jen) 還初道人 "Daoist Adept who Returns to the Origin". Hong Zicheng wrote the Caigentan, the Xianfo qizong, and several no-longer extant books The Qing Dynasty catalog to the Siku Quanshu summarizes the Xianfo qizong:
Modern research (Lo 2002:136) suggests that Hong might have been a native of Xindu District of Chengdu (Sichuan Province).