▁However , ▁he ▁was ▁a ▁cons cient ious ▁student . ▁ ▁Early ▁in ▁life , ▁he ▁took ▁the ▁style ▁name ▁" Sh eng tan ", ▁a ▁phrase ▁from ▁the ▁An ale ct s ▁meaning ▁" the ▁s age ▁[ Conf u cius ] ▁s ighed ". ▁ ▁He ▁passed ▁only ▁the ▁lowest ▁of ▁the ▁imperial ▁exam in ations , ▁and ▁never ▁held ▁public ▁office . ▁ ▁In ▁his ▁writ ings , ▁Jin ▁showed ▁a ▁great ▁interest ▁in ▁the ▁ideas ▁of ▁Chan ▁Buddh ism . ▁ ▁He ▁claimed ▁that ▁this ▁interest ▁began ▁early , ▁when ▁he ▁first ▁read ▁the ▁Lot us ▁S ut ra ▁at ▁the ▁age ▁of ▁ 1 1 . ▁ ▁This ▁incl ination ▁toward ▁Buddh ist ▁ideas ▁became ▁even ▁more ▁pron ounced ▁after ▁the ▁fall ▁of ▁the ▁M ing ▁D ynast y ▁in ▁ 1 6 4 4 . ▁ ▁In ▁that ▁year ▁and ▁the ▁one ▁that ▁followed , ▁Jin ▁became ▁consp ic u ously ▁more ▁de pressed ▁and ▁with dra wn , ▁as ▁well ▁as ▁more ▁re cept ive ▁to ▁Buddh ism . ▁ ▁The ▁ 2 0 th ▁century ▁scholar ▁Z hang ▁Gu og u ang ▁attributed ▁this ▁change ▁to ▁the ▁fall ▁of ▁the ▁short - l ived ▁Li ▁Z ich eng ▁regime . ▁ ▁Through out ▁his ▁life , ▁Jin ' s ▁interest ▁in ▁Buddh ism ▁affected ▁his ▁views , ▁and ▁he ▁considered ▁himself ▁a ▁mere ▁agent ▁of ▁the ▁forces ▁of ▁et ern ity . ▁ ▁Jin ▁is ▁sometimes ▁said ▁to ▁have ▁been ▁known ▁by ▁the ▁name ▁Z