Nanyang Huizhong (; ; 675-775 CE) was a

Zen Zen (; from Chinese: ''Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka phil ...

monk during the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

. He is often known by his nickname, National Teacher Zhong (; ) because he was the personal teacher of the Tang emperors Suzong and Daizong.

Biography

Huizhong was born in

Zhuji Zhuji () is a county-level city under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Shaoxing, in north-central Zhejiang province, China, located about south of Hangzhou. It has with a population of 1,218,072 inhabitants at the 2020 census e ...

, but left home at a young age to become a monk under a

Vinaya The Vinaya (Pali and Sanskrit: विनय) refers to numerous monastic rules and ethical precepts for fully ordained monks and nuns of Buddhist Sanghas (community of like-minded ''sramanas''). These sets of ethical rules and guidelines devel ...

teacher. Huzhong lived through the so-called "Zen Golden Age", during which many important developments took place, especially the fracturing of the East Mountain School into the Northern, Southern, and Sichuan schools. However, the National Teacher avoided associating with any of the various factions. Instead, he is purported to have spent forty uninterrupted years practicing Zen on Baiya Mountain's () Dangzi Valley () in

Nanyang Nanyang is the romanization of two common Chinese place names. It may refer to: Written as * Nanyang (region), a Chinese term denoting the Southeast Asian lands surrounding the South China Sea ;China * Nanyang Fleet, Qing dynasty naval fleet bas ...

before being summoned by Emperor Suzong in 761. At this point his reputation as a master preceded him and he developed a personal connection to the two Chinese emperors, Suzong and Daizong, becoming a major figure at the imperial court. He was also granted the rare title of National Preceptor (guoshi 國師). Huizhong was known for his critical opinion of some of the southern Hongzhou masters' denial of the importance of

sutra ''Sutra'' ()Monier Williams, ''Sanskrit English Dictionary'', Oxford University Press, Entry fo''sutra'' page 1241 in Indian literary traditions refers to an aphorism or a collection of aphorisms in the form of a manual or, more broadly, a ...

-study. Instead, Huizhong emphasized the study of scripture alongside the practice of Chan meditation as the proper way to practice the Zen path. He also criticized the teaching of

Mazu Daoyi Mazu Daoyi (709–788) (, Japanese: Baso Dōitsu) was an influential abbot of Chan Buddhism during the Tang dynasty. He is known as the founder of the Hongzhou school of Zen. The earliest recorded use of the term "Chan school" is from his ''Ex ...

which said "Buddha is mind" as a kind of naturalistic fallacy. Huizhong remained an influential figure in later eras, and he is featured in numerous

koan A ( ; ; zh, c=公案, p=gōng'àn ; ; ) is a story, dialogue, question, or statement from Chinese Chan Buddhist lore, supplemented with commentaries, that is used in Zen Buddhist practice in different ways. The main goal of practice in Z ...

collections, including the ''

Blue Cliff Records The ''Blue Cliff Record'' () is a collection of Chan Buddhist kōans originally compiled in Song China in 1125, during the reign of Emperor Huizong, and then expanded into its present form by Chan master Yuanwu Keqin (1063–1135; ).K. Sekida, ' ...

'', ''The Book of Equanimity'', and the '' Gateless Gate''. Some of his teachings have also survived in

Tangut Tangut may refer to: *Tangut people, an ancient ethnic group in Northwest China *Tangut language, the extinct language spoken by the Tangut people *Tangut script, the writing system used to write the Tangut language *Tangut (Unicode block) *Wester ...

versions found at Khara Khoto.Kirill Solonin
''The Chán Teaching of Nányáng Huìzhōng (-775)'' ''in Tangut Translation''
In: Medieval Tibeto-Burman Languages IV. Pages: 267–345

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Huizhong, Nanyang 675 births 775 deaths Tang dynasty Buddhists Chinese Zen Buddhists Chan Buddhists Buddhist temples in Nanyang, Henan