Page 67 - Sothebys Sutra Auction Hong Kong
P. 67
Daoyan (Yao Guangxiao) from Suzhou, Jiangsu
1335-1418
1382 in the Hongwu period, the slightly crippled brilliant monk meets Prince Yan, the future
Yongle Emperor, at the funeral of his mother the Empress in Nanjing, travels home to Prince Yan’s
efdom Beijing, and soon becomes the chief military, political and religious advisor for the future
Yongle Emperor
1402 assists the Yongle Emperor to usurp the Jianwen Emperor
Daoyan and Huijin were friends according to the biography of the latter (see below)
1403 writes preface for Sutras printed by Zheng He, and together with Xie Jin, responsible for
the 11,095-volume compilation of Yongle dadian [Great canon of the Yongle reign], completed in
1408 (the original version all lost)
1407 instructs the future Xuande Emperor on the request of the future Hongxi Emperor
1411 rewrites early Ming history leaving out the usurped Jianwen Emperor’s short reign
1418 dies in Qingshousi, concluding an extraordinary life linked to ve emperors of China
1425 recognised by the Hongxi Emperor as a meritorious o¬cial of his father’s reign, due
o¯erings at the Great Ancestral Temple
His biography can be found, though not in depth, in various sources and research
articles, including Ming Shi [Dynastic history of the Ming].
