A pictorial biography of the 
Venerable Master

HSU YUN

Composed by the Venerable Tripitaka Master Hua
Translated by Disciple Bhiksu Heng Yo
Illustrated by a Student of Prajna

(Continued from issue 38 )

THE ANCESTRAL HALLS OF THE TWO FAMILIES 
UNITED BY MARRIAGE #7

In the 30th year of the Tao Kuang reign period, the Master's father returned to Ch'un Chou. His aging grandmother of the Chou clan was determined that her grandson would have a wife. In order to continue his uncle's lineage as well, the Master was to become heir to two lineages, and so it was that one woman from the T'ien family, and one from the T'an family were promised in marriage. Both families, originally from Hsiang county in Hunan province, were mandarins residing in Fukien province, and had remained friends for generations. All of the relatives and in-laws approved of the fathers' and mothers' request that the intermediary fix the day and arrange for the ceremony.

The Gatha says:

It is proper and fitting that families should according with the natural 

relations,

Quiet and graceful truly still, talented among women,

Pure in action, perfecting cultivation, they were comrades in the dharma,

Without any selves, without any home, without any form or space.
1the cyclical year Keng Wu   , 1850.
2who must have died without progeny
3see note 1 Issue #33