Nanyang Huizhong

Nanyang Huizhong was a student of the Sixth Patriarch Huineng who lived as a hermit on Baiya Mountain for over forty years before being summoned to the Tang court, where he served as National Teacher under Emperors Suzong and Daizong. His long period of solitary practice and subsequent role as imperial adviser gave him a unique position in Chan history—a recluse who became a public teacher at the highest level of Chinese society.

Nanyang is famous for his teaching on the "insentient preaching the Dharma," the idea that walls, tiles, and pebbles proclaim the truth no less than any sutra or sermon. His three encounters with a visiting monk about this topic became important koan material. He also sharply criticized what he saw as distortions of Chan teaching in his era, warning against teachers who confused intellectual cleverness with genuine realization.