Career
There is scant information about his life. He is said to have lived in the Quiet Abode Temple on Mount Qingyuan. The Transmission of the Lamp claims he was Huineng"s foremost student, although this was written during the Song Dynasty over 200 years after Qingyuan"s death.
The earliest source of information about Qingyuan comes from the Zutang ji (Patriarch"s Hall Record), which was completed in 952 by Wendeng.
The scholar Albert Welter suggests that Wendeng may have invented Qingyuan in order to legitimize Shitou Xiqian, Qingyuan"s supposed student, and in turn himself since he was descended from Shitou. Shitou"s original teacher, Huineng, died when Shitou was only 13, so Qingyuan was necessary for him to receive legitimate dharma transmission.
They are almost certainly not historical events, however. The Transmission of the Lamp, for example, recounts the following:
When Shenhui of Ho Chen came to study with Qingyuan, the master asked where he was coming from, and Shenhui said from Cao Xi.
"What"s new in Cao Xi?" asked Qingyuan.
When Shenhui remained silent, Qingyuan said, "Tiles and pebbles are still in your way". Shenhui asked, "Do you have true gold to give to others?" Qingyuan said, "Even if I had some, how would you hold on to it?"
Another from the same source takes place as follows:.
