According to the Wudeng Huiyuan ("Compendium of Five Lamps")[1] Xuefeng Yicun was born in 822 in Nanan in ancient the district Quanzhou (now the province of Fujian).
[2] When Emperor Xuanzong allowed for the restoration of Buddhism Xuefeng started hiking in the different regions of northern China.
In 892 he had joined the attendants of Yang Xingmi, the ruler of the newly established Wu (Jiangshi) regime, "cleansing soldiers with dharma-rain and performing ceremonies at Chan monasteries".
Xuefeng had become a state prelate, who had a central role in promoting Buddhism,[4] and who had to spread his influence throughout the entire region.
[4] It is "highly reminiscent of earlied Chan precedents, particularly Bodhidharma's renunciation of the Liang emperor Wu recorded in the Platform sutra.
[7][6] The phrase "Mind is Buddha", used by Xuefeng, was "allegedly introduced into Chan circles in the teaching attributed to Mazu Daoyi".
[1] The Zutang ji (祖堂集 "Anthology of the Patriarchal Hall), compiled in 952, the first document which mentions Linji Yixuan, was written to support the Xuefeng Yicun lineage.