Background
He was born in Hezhou, but left home to practice Buddhism at the age of sixteen.
天童宗珏
He was born in Hezhou, but left home to practice Buddhism at the age of sixteen.
His ordination took place two years later. Zuzhao Daohe of the Yunmen School was his first teacher. In 1132, Zongjue became the abbot of Yuelin Temple where he served for 23 years.
After this period, his abbacy switched to Mountain.
Xuedou. He remained there for four years before becoming the abbot of Tiantong Monastery near the modern city of Ningbo in 1159. He was replacing the former abbot, the famous Hongzhi Zhengjue, who died there in 1157.
lieutenant was from this final temple, where Zongjue died in 1162, that he took his name. Tiantong temple was the same monastery where Eihei Dogen studied under Tiantong Rujing before bringing the teaching back to Japan and founding the Sōtō School.