 Dushun holds the posthumous honor of being known as the first patriarch of the Huayan School. He was active as a monk during the Sui (581–618) and early Tang (618–907) dynasties. We know very little about his life. He had no sectarian affiliation, and he seems to have been relatively unconcerned with scholarly controversies. We know that he was keenly interested in the Avatamsaka Sutra, and that he was renowned as a meditation master. For a time, he served as leader of the Zhixiang Temple on Zhongnan Mountain, which was a center for studying the Avatamsaka Sutra. His main interest seems to have been ministering to rural laity for the sake of making Buddhist practice relevant to their lives—by hosting common meals, distributing food to the poor, chanting scriptural passages, and offering edifying homilies. 