Nan Huai-Chin

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Nan Huai-Chin (1945)

Nan Huai-Chin ( Chinese  南懷瑾  /  南怀瑾 , Pinyin Nán Huáijǐn ) (born March 18, 1918 , † September 29, 2012 ) was a spiritual teacher in today's China. He was the most prominent student of lay Chan Buddhist teacher Yuan Huanxian and received confirmation of his enlightenment from various masters of the Buddhist traditions. He was considered by many to be the great force in the revival of Chinese Buddhism. While Nan was considered by many in China to be one of the most influential Chan Buddhist teachers, he was little known outside of the Chinese culture. Nan died at the age of 95 on September 29, 2012 in Suzhou , China.

Early life and military career

Nan Huai-Chin was born on March 18, 1918 to a family of learned officials ( mandarin ) in Yueqing County , Wenzhou City , Zhejiang Province . In his youth, Nan received a classical education that included various Confucian and Daoist works, as well as traditional Chinese medicine , literature, calligraphy , poetry and other subjects. In his youth, at the age of 18, he became a provincial martial arts master after studying several Chinese martial arts including sword art with the jian .

Nan studied social sciences at Jinling University (now affiliated with Nanjing University ) and later moved on to teach at the Republic of China Military Academy in Nanjing . In the late 1930s, at the age of 21, Nan became a military commander in the border regions of Sichuan , Xikang, and Yunnan during the Second Sino-Japanese War . There he led a local group of 30,000 men against the Japanese invasion.

Buddhist practice

A little later, Nan ended his military career so that he could devote himself fully to the study of Buddhism and meditation. In 1942, at the age of 24, he went on a three-year meditation retreat at Emei Shan . It is said that it was there that he checked his enlightenment against the Chinese Buddhist canon. During this time, Yuan Huanxian ( 袁 煥 仙 , 1887–1966) was Nan's primary teacher.