Venerable Ching-An (1851-1912), whose name was Tu-Shan Huang, was nicknamed Chü-chian. He burned two of his fingers while worshipping the Buddha in the front of the Tower of Buddha’s Relics. As he only had eight fingers, he called himself the “Buddhist monk of eight fingers”.
DREAMING OF LAKE DONGTING
Jichan
Last night’s dream decants Dongting Lake,
Pours the green of Mount Jun into a bottle,
Tips it to stew the full moon,
Swirls around to bathe a cluster of stars.
A crane comes to take the precepts,
A group of dragons arrives to hear a sutra.
Is there someone who can play a flute
To wake me from beneath the pines?
FLOWING WATER
Jichan
Flowing water
cannot carry off flower shadows,
Wilted flowers
by themselves fall and flow eastward.
Falling flowers, flowing waters
by their nature have no will,
Yet their passage causes men much sorrow.