Confucius’students included political advisors, military strategists, educators, businessmen, philosophers, warlords, and kings. How could he possibly teach his way so calmly and gracefully through states and kingdoms of hegemons vying for regional power? Who was this man!? 

 

This is a book by two masters, one ancient and one contemporary, both enigmatic. The lives of Confucius and Master Nan Huai-Chin (Nan Huaijin), in many ways, parallel each other. Both lived through tumultuous times, both had to leave their home state and wander only to return in old age to their birthplace. They were teachers, learned in many fields and arts and in life itself, but not scholars in the traditional sense; rather, they were masters of all they engaged in. They had students from all walks of life, were advisors of statesmen of all ranks and were flanked by loyal followers. They both seamlessly wove together the worldly and the spiritual. And both were most concerned about the decline of people’s virtue, the deterioration of the culture, and of the general order of society. I believe this is why Master Nan could go beyond the words of the ancient texts to see the man who spoke them, to understand the events of those ancient times, and to grasp the significance of his life’s work.

 

 

Author Introduction

Master Nan is considered one of the greatest contemporary spiritual Masters. Born in China in 1918, Master Nan's profound understanding of the Dharma was verified by several Chan and esoteric Buddhist Masters. He is considered a foremost expert in Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Chinese philosophy, history and other aspects of Chinese culture. He is the author of over 80 books that have sold over a billion copies in Chinese-speaking countries. Everything changed when Pia Giammasi met Master Nan in Hong Kong in 1988. Her world turned upside-down, inside out, and expanded exponentially by being enveloped into the enlightened reality of Master Nan. Pia had the privilege of doing oral translation for Master Nan for nearly 30 years and is currently working on written translations of his books.

 

 

Translator’s Forward

This is a book by two masters, one ancient and one contemporary, both enigmatic. The lives of Confucius and Master Nan Huai-Chin (Nan Huaijin), in many ways, parallel each other. Both lived through tumultuous times, both had to leave their home state and wander only to return in old age to their birthplace. They were teachers, learned in many fields and arts and in life itself, but not scholars in the traditional sense; rather, they were masters of all they engaged in. They had students from all walks of life, were advisors of statesmen of all ranks and were flanked by loyal followers. They both seamlessly wove together the worldly and the spiritual. And both were most concerned about the decline of people’s virtue, the deterioration of the culture, and of the general order of society.

 

I believe this is why Master Nan could go beyond the words of the ancient texts to see the man who spoke them, to understand the events of those ancient times, and to grasp the significance of his life’s work. Master Nan stretched his reach across 2500 years to grasp the hand of Confucius who in turn was reaching further back into antiquity to hold the hand of King Wen and so forth. A chain of sages, each one stretching their arms as wide as possible, sleeves aflutter in the winds of change, holding tight to the treasures of the culture during chaotic times in order to pass them forward so they would be available to later generations and not disappear.

What is this precious treasure these sages guard on behalf of humanity? First and foremost, the spirit of benevolence (Ren 仁) within people’s hearts and within the society at large. Ren 仁, if I may venture to loosely define it, means intending the greatest good in everything one does throughout one’s sphere of influence. This is the heart of civil society, be that one led by a king, or a council, this is the overriding principle. On top of that—like the cloak of the invisible man—is culture, which is the identifying force or the glue of society. Culture gives people a sense of belonging and thus a clear place in the world. The innumerable arts which give form to culture embody our cultural identity, remind us of our cultural heritage, and will become our legacy. Arts remind us of things beyond our everyday life, remind us of beauty, beauty within simplicity and within complexity. They may stimulate or calm us and bring us to peace and harmony within ourselves. They call us to explore and to question what is beyond human society, beyond nature, beyond this world and bring us closer to the spiritual.

 

Chinese culture is uniquely integral. It can be described as holographic or fractal in that there is repetition of core cultural elements at all ratios from micro to macro—so that even a traditional Chinese hand-held wooden scale with hanging counterweights found at any street market stall or chinese medicine shop contains elements of cosmology, numerology, philosophy, etc. and reminds the user to reflect on whether or not they are acting with benevolence and integrity so as to promote harmony in the world. And it is synergistic in that what comes before yin and yang is indivisible and defies description, and what comes after is simply everything. There are few cultures in the world which are so cohesive and which are based on the central spirit of benevolence. Thus sages such as Confucius and Master Nan dedicated their lives to ensuring that this great spirit lives on in people’s minds and hearts.

 

In general, commentaries on Confucian classics are like reference books, simply defining terminology and not straying too far from the status quo. Master Nan’s commentary was not only a fresh perspective but was also a whole new genre, full of stories, background information, humor, insights, history and so forth. The two volume set was compiled from class lectures held in the 1960-70’s in Taiwan and took the Chinese speaking world by storm, selling millions of copies. One thing must be taken into consideration, some of the information or references spoken of were from Master Nan’s memory or from sources which could not be checked or, in some cases, may have even been unreliable. In this regard, certain insignificant details in Master Nan’s works do not stand up to acerbic academic scrutiny, but the students who prepared the lecture recordings for publication did the best they could to check quotes or facts in the pre-computer age.

 

As these great sages are no longer with us, it falls upon us to carry forth the torch. What would it take to create the educated egalitarian society, the meritocracy envisioned by Confucius? Perhaps you, who are reading this book, will find a way to take us a step closer. 

 

Pia  Giammasi

 

Volume 1 

INTRODUCTION TO MASTER NAN 

Introduction 

Acknowledgements 

Chapter 1 學而 - Xue Er Chapter 

2 為政 - Wei Zheng Chapter 

3 八佾 - Ba Yi Chapter 

4 里仁 - Li Ren Chapter

 5 公冶長 - Gong Ye Chang 

 

Volume 2 

Chapter 6 雍也 - Yong Ye Chapter 

7 述而 - Shu Er Chapter 

8 泰伯 - Tai Bo Chapter 

9 子罕 - Zi Han 

 

Volume 3 

Chapter 11 先進 - Xian Jin

 Chapter 12 顏淵 - Yan 

Chapter 13 子路 - Zi Lu 

Chapter 14 憲問 - Xian Wen 

 

Volume 4 

Chapter 15 衛靈公 - Wei Ling Gong 

Chapter 16 季氏 - Ji Shi 

Chapter 17 陽貨 - Yang Huo 

Chapter 18 微子 - Wei Zi 

Chapter 19 子張 - Zi Zhang 

Chapter 20 堯曰 - Yao Yue 

Chapter 10 鄉黨 - Xiang Dang