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Shiwu Qinggong, also known as Shiwu, dharma name Qinggong, was a native of Changshu, Jiangsu. He was the 19th-generation descendant of the Linji sect and belonged to the Huqiu Shaolong branch. Qinggong studied under Gaofeng Yuanmiaoyou for three years and Anzong Xinxin for six years. Later, he was invited by Pingshan Chulin to serve as the abbot of Fuyuan Chan Monastery, but returned to seclusion in the mountains after seven years. For most of his life, Qinggong lived in seclusion on Mount Xiawu for approximately forty years. His distinctive practice was seclusion in the mountains. He personally engaged in activities such as carrying mud and dragging stones, fetching water and firewood, pounding rice with a water-powered pestle, and using bamboo baskets to roast tea in spring. This way, he integrated agriculture and Chan meditation in his practice. His Chan teachings can be traced back to the thought in the "Lengyan Sutra", such as the four pure precepts - abstaining from sexual misconduct, killing, stealing, and false speech. Qinggong's mountain-dwelling poems reveal his unique insight, intuitively expressing his understanding of things in the mountain and forest. There is a close relationship between his mountain-dwelling poems and his enlightened state. For ordinary monks studying Chan poetry who have not yet attained enlightenment, they cannot aspire to the level of Qinggong's mountain-dwelling poems. Therefore, Qinggong is primarily renowned for his mountain-dwelling poems.
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