Phan Văn Khải Phan Văn Khải Phan Văn Khải (; 25 December 1934 – 17 March 2018) was a Vietnamese politician who served as the fifth Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam from 25 September 1997 to 27 June 2006. Phan Văn Khải was born on 25 December 1934 in Tan Thong Hoi Commune Củ Chi District, Saigon in French Indochina. Already during his youth he worked in revolutionary organizations. After the end of the first Indochina War and the subsequent partition of the country, Pham Van Khai took the opportunity to emigrate to North Vietnam. Phan Văn Khải joined the
Layman Pang in a river. Following this, the family began to lead an itinerant lifestyle, travelling around China and visiting various Buddhist masters while earning a living by making and selling bamboo utensils. It was during this period, beginning around the year 785, that Pang began to study under one of the two preeminent Chan masters of the time, Shitou Xiqian, at Nányuè Mountain, one of China's sacred mountains. Upon arriving at the mountain, Pang went directly to Shitou and asked, "Who is the one who is not a companion to the ten thousand dharmas?" At this question, Shitou placed his hand