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Born in 1213 in Sichuan, Song China. He trained rigorously in Rinzai Zen and became a leading teacher of Song-dynasty Zen. In 1246 he arrived in Japan and won the deep devotion of the fifth regent Hojo Tokiyori, who was the most enthusiastic patron of Zen among the Kamakura shogunate's leadership and had made Zen promotion a policy of the shogunate. In 1253, Rankei became the founding abbot (kaisan) of Kencho-ji, which Tokiyori had built north of Jufuku-ji in Kamakura. Kencho-ji was organized according to authentic Song Zen monastic regulations, making it Japan's first full-fledged Zen training monastery; its influence on the development of Japanese Zen was decisive. The vegetarian cuisine Rankei introduced at Kencho-ji is said to be the origin of the word "kenchinjiru" (Kencho-ji soup). After the Yuan dynasty destroyed Song China (1279), suspicions arose that Rankei was a spy for the Yuan, and during Hojo Tokimune's reign he was temporarily exiled to Kai Province. The suspicion was later cleared and he returned to Kamakura, dying at Kencho-ji in 1278 at age 66.

A strict, uncompromising Zen teacher. He maintained pure Song-dynasty Zen practice in a foreign land and rigorously trained disciples, elevating Kamakura Zen's standards.

As founding abbot of Kencho-ji, first of Kamakura's Five Mountains, he left an indelible mark on Japanese Zen history. Even "kenchinjiru" soup bears his temple's name—a monk who influenced Japanese food culture too.