Daolong died in Kenchō-ji and was given the Posthumous Name of Dajue Zen Master (大覚禅師, Daikaku Zenji in Japanese) by Emperor Go-Uda (後宇多天皇).

Later, he went to Zhejiang Province to learn Zen from Wuzhun Shifan in Wanshou Temple (万寿寺),[4] and finally became a disciple of Chijue Daochong, Beijian Jujian and so on.

Before long he began to travel through Hunan, Hubei and Jiangxi, finally settling down in Yangshan (in Wuxi, Jiangsu) where he learned Zen from Renjue (formerly known as Wuming Huixing, 1160–1237) in Cuiwei Temple.

In the autumn of the 6th year of Chunhu (AD 1246), at the age of 33, Lanxi Daolong left for Japan with his disciples and two statues of the Buddha to preach Zen, boarding a Japanese merchant ship from Tiantong Temple in Ningbo, Zhejiang.

In 1248, he went to Kikokuzan Kongō Jufuku Zenji (亀谷山金剛寿福禅寺), a temple of the Kenchō-ji branch of the Rinzai sect, usually known as Jufuku-ji (寿福寺).

In 1249, Hōjō Tokiyori (北條時賴), the fifth shikken (regent) of the Kamakura shogunate, decided to build a Zen training monastery, and at that time, he had converted to Lanxi Daolong.

Built according to the architectural style of the Chinese Song dynasty, Kenchō-ji (建長寺), a Rinzai Zen temple, was constructed on the orders of Emperor Go-Fukakusa (後深草天皇) in Kamakura　and completed in 1253, fifth year of the Kenchō era, from which it takes its name, and Lanxi Daolong became its first abbot.

Later Emperor Kameyama (亀山天皇) recalled Lanxi Daolong to Kyoto and appointed him the eleventh abbot of Kennin-ji (建仁寺).

In addition, Lanxi Daolong also brought the Song dynasty characterized culture into Japan, for instance, the Edo Neo-Confucianism and philosophy, the literature and art, the architectural aesthetics and the daily customs.

Therefore, Lanxi Daolong required his disciples to strictly follow the discipline of drinking tea, the way many people in Southern Song dynasty did.

These poems were full of grace and charm, and had a great influence on Literature of the Five Mountains (ja:五山文学).Third, Quotations from Lanxi Daolong, which was edited by the disciples of Lanxi Daolong, has enriched and improved the literary genre of Japanese Zen Quotations with Rich content, complete form, and wide propagation.