Ji Gong 濟公
The Mad Monk. Drank wine, ate meat, broke every monastic rule, and helped the poor with a consistency the respectable never matched.
濟公活佛 · 道濟禪師 · the Mad Monk
The Altar of Ji Gong
Ragged hat, broken fan, a gourd of wine — Ji Gong (濟公活佛) broke every rule yet was a true enlightened monk who healed the sick, helped the poor, and humbled the cruel. Offer incense, then ask the Mad Monk for his unconventional wisdom. 濟困扶危。
History & feast day · 簡介
Ji Gong was a real monk, Li Xiuyuan (李修緣, dharma name 道濟, 1148–1209), born in Tiantai, Zhejiang and ordained at Lingyin Temple under the master Xiatang Huiyuan. He wore tattered robes, loved wine and meat, and seemed half-mad — yet he was deeply learned, healed the sick with uncanny success, defended the poor and humbled cruel, greedy men. The people loved him and called him 濟公 (“Ji the Helper”); he was revered as a Living Buddha (活佛), an incarnation of the Taming-Dragon Arhat (降龍羅漢).
二月初二 · 濟公活佛聖誕 — offer incense (and, by tradition, a little wine); pray for relief from trouble and for a lighter heart.
An interactive devotional altar for guidance & reflection.
三皈依 · The Three Refuges (Pali)
Buddhaṃ saraṇaṃ gacchāmi
Dhammaṃ saraṇaṃ gacchāmi
Saṅghaṃ saraṇaṃ gacchāmi
Dhammaṃ saraṇaṃ gacchāmi
Saṅghaṃ saraṇaṃ gacchāmi
“I go to the Buddha for refuge · to the Dhamma (the teaching) for refuge · to the Saṅgha (the community) for refuge.” Recite three times to settle the heart before you ask the Living Buddha (活佛) for his wisdom.
The holy fool
Daoji, a twelfth-century Chan monk of Hangzhou, was expelled from his monastery for drinking and eating meat and spent the rest of his life wandering in rags, healing the sick and defending the poor. He is venerated precisely for the contradiction: outwardly disreputable, inwardly enlightened.
He is a reminder, in a tradition otherwise concerned with propriety, that form is not virtue. His feast is the second day of the second lunar month.
Offerings
Wine and meat — the offerings no other altar would accept, and the only ones he wants.
Common questions
Why offer him alcohol?
Because it is what he took. Offering him a vegetarian dish would be missing the point.
Was he real?
Yes — Li Xiuyuan, monastic name Daoji, of Hangzhou.
What is he petitioned for?
Justice for the powerless, healing, and help when respectable channels have failed.