Xuansha Shibei was born in Fuzhou in 835 and became a monk on Mount Furong in 860.

He first studied with a monk named Yitong (義通) and later with the Hongzhou master Furong Lingxun.

Shibei travelled to Kaiyuan Temple in Zhongling (鍾陵, modern-day Jiangxi), where he received monastic precepts from the Vinaya master Daoxuan in 864.

Two years later, he visited Chan master Xuefeng Yicun and became his disciple.

In 898, he was summoned to live in the cloister of Anguoyin in Fujian by the king of Min.