Tanxia Tianran

The Monk from Tanxia as depicted in a painting by Unkoku Tôgan

• Born: 738
• Died: 824

Tanxia Tianran, also known as the Monk from Tanxia, was a Chinese Zen master about whom numerous anecdotes are told.

In one such story, the monk burns a wooden Buddhist statue as firewood, in order to stay warm. When upbraided by the local abbot, he says he was burning it in order to obtain the sarira, the ashes of the Buddha, a form of relic. The abbot of course says, how can you get the ashes of the Buddha out of an ordinary piece of wood, to which the monk responds, if it's just an ordinary piece of wood, why should it matter if I use it as firewood?

References

• Gallery labels, "The Monk from Tanxia Burning a Wooden Image of the Buddha" by Unkoku Togan, LACMA, M90.21.
• Richard McDaniel, "Zen Masters of China: The First Step East," Tuttle Publishing, 2013.