page_title: Four Heavenly Kings (Taiwan)
section_title: Wei Chueh
hierarchical_section_title: Four Heavenly Kings (Taiwan) / Wei Chueh
caption_attribution_description: English: Grand Master Wei Chueh
context_page_description: The Four Heavenly Kings of Taiwan refers to four masters in Taiwanese Buddhism who each founded an influential Buddhist institution in the country. The term draws its name from the Four Heavenly Kings who rule over one of the heavenly realms in Buddhist cosmology. Like the Four Heavenly Kings in Buddhist mythology, each Buddhist teacher corresponds to one cardinal direction, based on where their organization is located in Taiwan. The corresponding institutions of the masters are referred to as the "Four Great Mountains". The four masters and their corresponding institutions are:
  North: Master Sheng-yen of Dharma Drum Mountain
  South: Master Hsing Yun of Fo Guang Shan
  East: Master Cheng Yen of the Tzu Chi Foundation
  West: Master Wei Chueh of Chung Tai Shan
context_section_description: Master Wei Chueh (1928 – 8 April 2016) was a Chinese Buddhist monk. He founded the Chung Tai Shan Buddhist order in 1987, with its headquarters, the Chung Tai Chan Monastery in Nantou, Taiwan being completed in 2001. Chung Tai Shan emphasizes meditation practice to purify the mind and encourages people to join the monastic life.
  Wei Chueh was born in 1928 in Xikang (modern Sichuan), in mainland China. In 1963, he was ordained under Master Lin Yuan at the Shi Fan Da Jue Chan Monastery in Keelung, Taiwan. He received the higher ordination in 1967 at Daijue Temple in Keelung, Taiwan. He offered many retreats in Yilan, Hsinchu, and Hong Kong before settling into solitary seclusion at Yangmingshan near Wanli District, New Taipei. Master Wei Chueh became popular among people in the area in the 1980s for his meditation classes and retreats.
  In 1987, he founded Lin Quan Temple in Taipei County. Wei Chueh became known for organizing seven-day Zen retreats and dharma assemblies, as well as his "lively and flexible" preaching style.
  Due to the continuing growth of both lay disciples and monastic disciples, he founded the Chung Tai Chan Monastery in Nantou, Taiwan in September 2001. Chung Tai Shan is the least socially engaged of the major Buddhist organizations, emphasizing purifying one's own mind and religious study over charity or disaster relief.
  Master Wei Chueh died at the age of 88 on 8 April 2016.
caption: Master Wei Chueh, the founder of Chung Tai Chan
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