Master Jing'an

Jing'an Master(1851—1912)

Born in Xiangtan County, Hunan province, Master Jing’an(敬安大师) was a distinguished patriotic monk and the first president of the Chinese General Buddhist Association. The late Qing Dynasty that he lived in was a time when China suffered from domestic strife and foreign aggression, that’s why he devoted his whole life to screwing up disciplines and promoting Dharma, in a wish to save the country. Besides his profound knowledge of Dhama, Master Jing’an was also renowned for his poetry. He not only founded the poetry club－"Bihu Poetry Club" with Guo Songtao and Wang Kaiyun in Changsha Kaifu Temple, but also published a number of poem collections, including "Quotations (Yulu)" in four volumes, "Collected Works (Wenji)" in two volumes, "The Poem of Jiaomei" in one volume and "Collection of Poems (Shiji)" in ten volumes. He was writing poems to arouse people’s national pride and patriotism of the time.

Chinese Source: Changsha Online