Gao Dongli高东篱

Style & Daoist names

given name Qingyu, sobriquet Dongli, Tenth Generation of the Longmen Lineage

Period

Qing

Dates

1616 — 1768

School

Quanzhen (Complete Perfection) Daoism, Longmen (Dragon Gate) Lineage of Quanzhen

Role

Patriarch of the Longmen Lineage

Birthplace

Unknown

Life

Gao Dongli, personal name Qingyu, was the tenth-generation Vinaya Master (lüshi) of the Longmen Lineage in the Qing, and an important figure of the Jingai Mountain branch of Longmen. According to the Jingai xindeng (Lamp of the Mind of Jingai), he was a disciple of the ninth-generation master Huang Xutang (Huang Shouyuan), and lived for a long period on Jingai Mountain in Huzhou, Zhejiang, transmitting the teaching to Min Yide and others, forming a key link in the Longmen transmission at Jingai Mountain. The Jingai xindeng records that he lived to over one hundred and fifty years of age (1616–1768), an account that clearly bears the marks of legend, and scholars believe his actual birth year must have been considerably later. He placed great emphasis on quiet cultivation and monastic precepts, and was a figure of revival for the Longmen Lineage in Zhejiang. The Jingai xindeng identifies him as the direct teacher of Min Yide, and he is therefore also a core link in the genealogy of the "Yunchao" branch of Jingai Mountain; his true historical circumstances still await confirmation from further material.

Contributions & Influence

• A patriarch of the Longmen Lineage at Jingai Mountain, who transmitted the teaching to Min Yide
• A core link in the genealogy of the Yunchao branch of Jingai Mountain
• Renowned within the Longmen Lineage of Zhejiang for quiet cultivation and strict observance of precepts

Legends

The Jingai xindeng records that he lived to over one hundred and fifty years of age; this is a legendary account.