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

Zen Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...

monk during the

Tang Dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...

. He is often known by his nickname, National Teacher Zhong (; ) because he was the personal teacher of the Tang Emperors Suzong and Daizong. 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 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. Indeed, 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 南洋 (Southern Ocean) * Nanyang (region), a Chinese term denoting the Southeast Asian lands surrounding the South China Sea ;China * Nanyang Fleet, Qing ...

before being summoned by Emperor Suzong in 761. However, he did hold a critical opinion of the Southern School's wholesale denial of sutra-study. He specifically criticized the teaching of

Mazu Daoyi Mazu Daoyi (709–788) (, Japanese: Baso Dōitsu) was an influential abbot of Chan Buddhism during the Tang dynasty. The earliest recorded use of the term "Chan school" is from his ''Extensive Records''. Master Ma's teaching style of "strange wo ...

, a patriarch of the modern-day Rinzai school, that "Buddha is mind". He is featured in numerous

koan A (; , ; ko, 화두, ; vi, công án) is a story, dialogue, question, or statement which is used in Zen practice to provoke the "great doubt" and to practice or test a student's progress in Zen. Etymology The Japanese term is the Sino-J ...

collections, including the '' Blue Cliff Records'', ''The Book of Equanimity'', and the '' Gateless Gate''. Some of his teachings have also survived in Tangut 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 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004233454_012

References

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