Taixu was born in Hǎiníng (海寧) in Zhejiang province. His lay name was Lǚ Pèilín (呂沛林). His parents died when he was still young, and he was raised by his grandparents. At 16, he was ordained into the Linji school of Chan Buddhism in Xiao Jiǔhuá Temple (小九華寺) in Suzhou. Not long after being ordained he was given the Dharma name of Taixu, meaning Great Emptiness. In 1909, he traveled to Nanking to join the Sutra Carving Society established there by the lay Buddhist Yang Renshan.