National Treasures & Important Cultural Properties
of National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, Japan

Chijue Daochong (1169 – 1250) with the surname Xun-shi, nicknamed "Chijue (Chizetsu)," was from Wuxin in the Yangtze River region in Sichuan Province, China. His initial ambition was to become an official, but he later decided to become a Buddhist monk and joined the monastery of Caoyuan Daosheng, who was a disciple of Mian Xianjie. Having spent time at Tianning (Tennei) Temple in Jiaxing in Zhejiangsheng Province, Jiangshan Taiping Xingguo (Shôzan Taihei Kôkoku) Temple in Jiankang in Jiangsu Province and Xuefengshan Chongsheng (Seppô-zan Suishô) Temple in Fuzhou in Fujian Province, Daochong was ordered to station at Tiantong (Tendô) Temple at Siming in Zhejiang Province and Ayuwang (Aikuô) Temple. Later he stayed at Lingyin (Reiin) Temple at Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province and established Fahua (Hokke) Temple at Wuxing in Zhejiang Province and was ordered again to stay at Jingshan at Linan in Zhejiangsheng Province.
This piece was a commentary written after reading the authentic writing of Buddhist masters Dahui Zonggao (Daie Sôkô) and monk Caotang (Sôdô). One of the scripts of the two masters was about brotherhood and kinship between brothers and the other was about the paternal love between father and son, where Daochong discussed the incommunicable, peculiar quality within such relationships and wanted to warn against the loss of such quality. The end seal indicates the date of 1247 (the 7th year of the Chunyou or Junyû era), showing Daochong was 79 years old at the time it was written.