Ji Gong

Introduction

The Chan Buddhist monk known as Ji Gong was born as Li Xiuyuan in 1130. He lived in the Southern Song and claimed to have supernatural powers. He used his position to help the poor and fight against injustice. He was known for his eccentric and wild behavior, which included not following the Buddhist monastic order’s rules when it came to consuming meat and alcohol. By the time he passed away, Ji Gong was a deity in Chinese culture and regarded as a legend in Buddhist traditions. He is also mentioned in various folk tales and kans.

Physical Traits

Wearing tattered monastic clothes, Ji Gong can be seen smiling and carrying a bottle of wine in one hand and a fan in the other. He often wears a hat with the character Fo, which means Buddha, in the other. Because of his carefree attitude, he is rarely seen with a serious expression.

Family

Chinese historians believe that the birth of Ji Gong occurred in 1130. He was born with a name known as Li Xiuyuan, and his father was a military advisor. Li Xiuyuan grew up in Zhejiang Province, and his parents died when he was 18 years old. He lived a quiet life in a monastery instead of taking his parents wealth and position. After being renamed Daoji, he had a hard time adapting to the life in the Lingyin Temple. He also had a hard time following the strict rules set by the monks.

Daoji started out as a poor student, even though he had studied under a highly esteemed teacher. He openly broke the monastery’s rules by drinking wine, eating meat, and talking out of turn. Despite his actions, however, he still held many of Buddha’s teachings. Some legends claim that Daoji left the monastery because he could not follow the monks’ strict rules. Others say that he was removed from the monastery due to his behaviour.

Other names

Ji Gong was born as Li Xiuyuan and was later given the name Daoji. He has also been referred to as the Mad Monk and the Drunken Monk.

Powers and Abilities

A legend states that during the construction of a temple in Hangzhou, the monks needed wood, and the best timber was only found in Sichuan province. Despite the monks’ desperate situation, Ji Gong was still able to pull logs over with his supernatural powers. The other monks had already piled them up when the counting started. When the monk shouted that he was counting them, Ji Gong stopped one of the logs. The last one remained intact in the well, which later became known as the Divine Teleportation Well.

According to another legend, Ji Gong was able to predict the future by seeing that a mountain peak was going to crash into a nearby village. He then told the villagers to run away, but they didn’t believe him. He then understood that he had to do something to save the people in the community. Upon seeing a wedding procession moving in the village, Ji Gong grabbed the bride and threw her over his shoulder. The wedding guests and their families were then alerted and called their friends and relatives to chase after the abductor. An enormous mountain peak crashed to the village as people passed the gate.

Modern Day Influence

Ji Gong has been portrayed by numerous actors in films and television series from as early as 1939 but received international acclaim after Stephen Chow’s 1993 film, The Mad Monk.