Master Nan Huai-Chin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Master Nan Huai-Chin is one of the most renowned and revered lay Buddhist Masters in Taiwan and China. He was born in 1918, in Hangzhou City, in China's Zhejang Province to a Scholar-class family. He is a reknowned teacher in all three traditions of spiritual cultivation in China, specifically the Confucian tradition, the Buddhist tradition and the Taoist tradition.[1]
Master Nan's experience is vast. In his youth at the age of 18, he had already become the provincial martial arts champion after studying several several Chinese martial arts which included swordsmanship. By the time he had also mastered various confucian and taoist works as well as cultivated his interests in Chinese medicine, chinese literature, calligraphy and poetry.
Master Nan studied social welfare at the Jin Ling(Nan Jing) University and later went on to steach at the Central Military Academy. In the late 1930s at age 21 years of age, Master Nan became a military commander atthe border regions of Szechuan, Sikang, and Yunnan being responsible for the command of 10 000 soldiers.[2]
Later in 1942 at age 24, Master Nan went on a 3 year cultivation retreat in the Er-Mei Mountains which was one of the 4 sacred Buddhist pilgrimage sites in China. It is said that it was there that he verified his experience against the Chinese Tripitaka. Thoughout Master Nan's young life he had always sought out various masters of Bhuddist, Taoist and among other teachings and is said to have studied under 32 major teachers as well as many lesser known ones
As time passed to 1945, Master Nan later traveled to Tibet to further master the teachings of the Esoteric school of Buddhism. It was there that Hutukto Kung Ka of the White Sect also verified Master Nan's Zen enlightenment. Hutukto Kung Ka later and gave Master Nan the additional title of Esoteric Dharma Master. This act was significant because it made Master Nan one of the few multidisciplinary experts in the world to be versed in the cultivation schools of Esoteric Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, and Zen buddhism.[3]
Following the take over of China by the Communists, Master Nan later moved to Taiwan in 1949 where he became a famous professor nationally and internationally. His first book, "The Sea of Zen" was published in 1956 and would be the first in a line of over 30 books and related materials he would publish.
Over the decades, his books have achieved great heights of popularity in China and Asia as a whole. Some of his more popular works have gone to a 20th printing in Taiwan and some are even used in schools. His teachings have made an impact on many intellectuals both young and old and has contributed in part to the resurging interest in Bhuddism in China. J.C. Cleary, who has translated two of his books into English wrote, "There is no question that Master Nan's work is a cut above anything else available from modern authors, either academic or sectarian..."[4]
In January 1992, Master Nan signed a contract with the government invested 920 million yuan to the Jinwen Railway which is the first joint-stock railway in China. In the 1990s Master Nan changed his place of residence from Taiwan to Hong Kong. Later Master Nan would relocate to China where he currently resides near Shanghai.
