Book excerpt: Master Hsu Yun (虛雲, alternately romanized as Xuyun; “Empty Cloud”) was a renowned Chan master and one of the most influential Chinese Buddhist teachers of the 19th and 20th centuries. He founded Zhenru Monastery in Jiangxi Province and restored Nanhua Monastery in Guangdong Province, the monastery of the Sixth Chan Patriarch Huineng. At Nanhua Monastery, he transmitted the Dharma-seal of the Weiyang lineage of the Chan school to Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua (then Tu Lun). Over his 119-year lifespan (1840–1959), he witnessed the end of imperial rule in China, the short-lived rise of the democratic republic, two world wars, and the eventual rule of the Chinese Communist Party. Volume One covers Venerable Master Hsu Yun’s birth and enlightenment.