Deshan Yuanmi

Deshan Yuanmi was a Caodong school master who taught in the tradition established by Dongshan Liangjie. He is recorded in the transmission literature as a dharma heir who maintained the school's distinctive methods—the Five Ranks, silent illumination, and the integration of the absolute and relative in daily life.

Yuanmi's presence in the Caodong lineage reflects the school's continuous transmission across the generations, even during periods when it was overshadowed by the more prominent Linji school. Each master in the chain preserved the essential quality of the teaching, ensuring that when the school's fortunes revived, the authentic spirit of Dongshan's original insight was still intact.