When Zhu was 16 years old, there was no rain for a long time. Because only a little food could grow, everyone left in his family died except for Zhu and one of his brothers. Not knowing what else to do, he joined the Huangjue Buddhist temple as a monk. It did not have much money either and could not give him food for very long, so he soon left. He walked around, asking people for money or food, for about 3 years. Then he went back to Huangjue Temple and stayed there until he was 24. The other monks at the temple taught him to read and write.