Nan Huai-Chin (1918 - ) (南懷瑾, Pinyin: Nan Huaijin) is a prominent author of books in the Chinese language, and is one of the most renowned Buddhist masters in China.
Early life and military career
Born 1918 in Wenzhou City, in China’s Zhejiang Province to a scholar-class family. In his youth, Nan studied various Confucian and Daoist works, and his studies included basic coverage of traditional Chinese medicine, Chinese literature, calligraphy, and poetry as well. In his youth at the age of 18, he became the provincial martial arts champion after studying several Chinese martial arts, including swordsmanship.
Nan studied social welfare at Jinling University (now merged with Nanjing University) and later went on to teach at the Central Military Academy in Nanjing. In the late 1930s at age 21 years of age, Master Nan became a military commander at the border regions of Szechuan, Sikang, and Yunnan, being responsible for 10,000 soldiers during the Second Sino-Japanese War.[1]
Buddhist practice
While still young, Nan left his military career so that he could commit himself fully to his study of Buddhism and to meditation. In 1942 at age 24, he went on a three year meditation retreat in the Emei Mountains. It is said that it was there that he verified his realizations against the Chinese Buddhist Canon. During this time, Nan’s primary teacher was Yuan Huan-Xian (袁煥仙), a lay Buddhist master.
In 1945, Master Nan later traveled to Tibet to learn the teachings of Vajrayana Buddhism. It was there that Kunga Hutuktu, a high-ranking tulku of the Kagyu school, also verified Nan’s realizations. Kunga Hutuktu later gave Nan an additional title of “Vajra Master.” Nan is one of the few multidisciplinary experts in the world to be versed in the cultivation schools of Vajrayana Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, and Chán Buddhism.[2]
Academic and personal life
Following the revolution in China, Nan later moved to Taiwan in 1949 where he became a well-known university professor and author. His first book, The Sea of Chán was published in 1956 and was the first in a line of over 30 books and related materials published in his name.
Nan’s books have achieved a great deal of popularity in China and Taiwan. Some of his more popular works have gone to a 20th printing in Taiwan and his works on Confucianism are used as standard university references in China and Taiwan.[3] Thomas Cleary, who has translated several of his books into English, has written the following about Nan’s works and traditionally holistic teaching approach:[4]
“ There is no question that Master Nan’s work is a cut above anything else available from modern authors, either academic or sectarian, and I would like to see his work gain its rightful place in the English speaking world. … [His] studies contain broad learning in all three main traditions of Chinese thought, Confucian, Taoist, and Buddhist. Although this comprehensive purview was common to the greatest minds of China since the T’ang dynasty, it is rare among scholars today. ”
In January 1992, Nan signed a contract with the Chinese government and invested 920 million yuan in the Jinwen Railway, which is the first joint-stock railway in China. In the 1990s, he changed his place of residence from Taiwan to Hong Kong, and in 2004, Nan relocated to China where he currently resides near Suzhou City.
Books in English
This is a list of translations of Nan Huaijin’s books. The vast majority of books written by Nan have not been translated into the English language from the original Chinese.
* 1984 Tao & Longevity: Mind-Body Transformation, Paperback. 1984
* 1993 Working Toward Enlightenment: The Cultivation of Practice, Paperback. 1993
* 1994 To Realize Enlightenment: Practice of the Cultivation Path, Paperback. 1994
* 1995 The Story of Chinese Zen, Paperback. 1995
* 1997 Basic Buddhism: Exploring Buddhism and Zen, Paperback. 1997
* 2004 Diamond Sutra Explained, Paperback. 2004