Yangqi Fanghuei was the founder of Yangqi Faction and enjoyed remarkable reputation with prominent status in the Chinese Zen School history. In general, regardless of dissertations or journal papers,the academia has not placed enough emphasis on Yangqi Fanghuei. In several contemporary Zeng-related publications, although touching on the introduction to Fanghuei, an in-depth understanding still remains to be explored. Moreover, the lack of an intensive comprehension of relevant literature inevitably results in a limited, biased and mistaken research outcome. This study undertakes a thorough investigation into Fanghuei archives－a total of 27 pieces, inclusive of 2 pieces of primary manuscripts and 25 pieces of Zendeng documentations subsequently. In this study, the literature analysis was conducted based on the above materials, with an aim at revealing a more complete and objective understanding to Fanghuei’s lifetime as well as his influences. A dissection of Fanghuei’s life spans involving early ordinary living, religious entry, scholastic participation, philosophic realization, truth advocacy and decease, was presented. In addition, 8 principles extracted from his thoughts are generalized in this article.Meanwhile, this study carefully proofread the literature, and indicated some negligence in the Zendeng documentations, which might be modified afterward based on the primary literature sources. This also presents another important contribution of the study.
