Nányuè Huáiràng (677–744) was the foremost student of Dajian Huineng, the 6th Patriarch of Ch'an (Zen

Zen

Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...

) and teacher of one of his Dharma heirs, Mazu Daoyi

Mazu Daoyi

Mazu Daoyi was a Ch'an Buddhist master in China during the Tang dynasty. In dharma-succession through Nanyue to the Sixth Patriarch, Mazu Daoyi contributed far-reaching insights and changes in teaching methods regarding the transmission of awareness...

. The ancestor of two of the Five Houses

Five Houses

Five Houses is a hamlet on the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England. The settlement is in the civil parish of Calbourne.The hamlet lies to the south of the A3054 road, near to the larger village of Calbourne. Five Houses is approximately west of Newport....

 of Ch'an, Huairang studied with a Vinaya

Vinaya

The Vinaya is the regulatory framework for the Buddhist monastic community, or sangha, based in the canonical texts called Vinaya Pitaka. The teachings of the Buddha, or Buddhadharma can be divided into two broad categories: 'Dharma' or doctrine, and 'Vinaya', or discipline...

 master and became ordained. Dissatisfied with his own progress, Huairang found Dajian Huineng in Shaozhou and became his disciple. One can read of their first meeting in the Wudeng Huiyuan. Huairang gave Dharma transmission to six individuals, the most prominent being Mazu Daoyi.