The History of Buddhism in Vietnam

Cultural Heritage and Contemporary Change Series IIID, South East Asia, Volume 5 General Editor George F. McLean The History of Buddhism in Vietnam Chief editor: Nguyen Tai Thu Assistant editor: Hoang Thi Tho Authors: Dinh Minh Chi Ly Kim Hoa Ha Thuc Minh Ha Van Tan Nguyen Tai Thu Institute of Philosophy, Vietnamese Academy of Social Sciences The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy Copyright © 2008 by The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy Box 261 Cardinal Station Washington, D.C. 20064 All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication The history of Buddhism in Vietnam. Chief editor: Nguyen Tai Thu; Assistant editor: Hoang Thi Tho; Authors: Dinh Minh Chi, Ly Kim Hoa, Ha Thuc Minh, Ha Van Tan, and Nguyen Tai Thu. p. cm. -- (Cultural heritage and contemporary change. Series IIID, South East Asia; vol. 5) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Buddhism—Vietnam—History. I. Nguyen Tai Thu. II. Dinh Minh Chi. III. Ly Kim Hoa. IV. Ha Thuc Minh. V. Ha Van Tan. VI. Series. BQ492.H57 2006 294.3’09597—dc21 CIP ISBN1-56518-098-4 (pbk.) Table of Contents Introduction 1 Part One. Buddhism’s Entry into Vietnam and Its Practice under Chinese Control (from 1st to 10th Century A.D.) Chapter I. The Introduction of Buddhism into Vietnam: 9 Dates and Routes Chapter II. Ancient Luy Lau during Chinese Control 17 of Vietnam in the Early Centuries A.D. Chapter III. The First Buddhist Missionaries in Vietnam 25 Chapter IV. Vietnamese Buddhism from 41 Mid-3rd Century to the 5th Century Chapter V. The First Ch’an Sect in Vietnam: 55 Vinitaruci and Phap Hien, Founders Chapter VI. The Second Ch’an Sect in Vietnam: 65 Wu Yan Tong, Cam Thanh, and Thien Hoi Part Two. Buddhism from the Ngo to the Tran Dynasties (10th-14th Century A.D.) Chapter VII. Buddhism under the Ngo, Dinh and 75 Early Le Dynasties Chapter VIII. Buddhism under the Ly Dynasty 89 Chapter IX. Buddhism under the Tran Dynasty 125 Part Three. Buddhism from the Later Le to Tay Son Dynasties (15th to 18th Century) Chapter X. Buddhism in Prosperity and Peace: 165 the Le Dynasty (15th Century) Chapter XI. Buddhism in the Period of the Country’s 177 Partition by Different Feudal Groups (16th –18th Century) Chapter XII. Buddhism in the Period of Peasant 205 Insurrections (the latter half of the 18th Century) Part Four: Buddhism under the Nguyen Dynasty (19th Century) Chapter XIII. Buddhism in the Period of Dominant 223 Confucianism under the Nguyen Dynasty Chapter XIV. Buddhism as Characterized by Great Poets 233 under the Nguyen Dynasty Chapter XV. Typical Bonzes under the Nguyen Dynasty 243 Part Five: Buddhism during French Colonial Times (Second Half of 19th through First Half of 20th Century) Chapter XVI. Buddhism’s Tendency towards 261 World Acceptance Chapter XVII. The Development of the Buddhist Movement 269 in the Early Decades of the 20th Century Glossary 297 Index 331 INTRODUCTION This work on Vietnamese Buddhism from its beginnings through the 20th century provides much evidence requiring Western Buddhologists to radically revise their heretofore accepted time-table for the arrival and development of Buddhism in Vietnam. It provides previously unknown data, details of nomenclature, time, and place, scrupulously gathered from archeological finds and ancient archival records by Vietnamese research- teams. Providing much historical analysis and cultural interpretation along the way, this work carries its project forward through the various royal dynasties and the French colonial period. Part One: Buddhism’s Entry into Vietnam and Its Practice under Chinese Control (from 1st to 10th Centuries A.D.) Chapter I, “The Introduction of Buddhism into Vietnam: Dates and Routes of Introduction,” argues that Buddhism came directly to Vietnam from Indian traders and missionaries in the 1st or 2nd century A.D., centuries before the massive waves of Buddhist influence which came from China. Indeed, by the beginning of the 4th century, Vietnamese Buddhist monks were traveling in turn to India to retrieve more Buddhist sutras and do advanced study. Chapter II, “Ancient Luy Lau during Chinese Control of Vietnam, in the Early Centuries A.D.,” shows that the Vietnamese people of Giao Chau, in present-day Ha Bac province, Vietnam, had Buddhism, probably a Mahayanist form, by the 2nd century B.C. Two or three centuries later it had 500 monks and was already sending Buddhist missionaries to South China. The Chinese feudal landlords who dominated Giao Chi during much of this time were Confucianists and Taoists. But from Luy Lau in Giao Chi, Buddhism spread to the rest of Vietnam, gradually developing into a unique Vietnamese form of Buddhism. Chapter III, “The First Buddhist Missionaries in Vietnam,” reconstructs the missions of the Indian monks Mahajivaka and Kalacarya, filtering out fiction and legend insofar as possible. It then examines the Li Huo Lun, a Buddhist primer written by Mouzi, a Chinese who became a Buddhist in Vietnam and returned to China in his old age. Finally it moves to Khuong Tang Hoi, an Uzbekistani who entered the monkhood in Vietnam and became an early predecessor of what was later to be the first Vietnamese Ch’an sect. Chapter IV, “Vietnamese Buddhism from Mid-3rd Century to the 5th Century,” first reports on Kararuci and Dao Thanh, who disseminated Buddhist “lotus-meditation”. It then proceeds to a discussion of the book Bach Hac Luan (“Discussion between Black and White”), written by the monk Hue Lam. Hue Lam rejected the Pure Land (or “Lotus”) school prominent in Vietnamese Buddhism at the time, probably because he 2 Introduction wanted to reconcile Confucianism and Buddhism. This chapter goes on to argue that the famous self-immolation of the monk Dam Hoang, and the latter’s visible ascent to the Pure Land, functioned as a monastic defense of Pure Land teaching and a refutation of Hue Lam. The chapter closes with an intriguing analysis of a well-known epistolary correspondence between the Chinese official Li Miao and two Vietnamese monks, revealing the impact of contemporary doctrinal controversy on Vietnamese society and vice versa. Chapter V, “The First Ch’an Sect in Vietnam: Vinitaruci and Phap Hien, Founders” records the history of Vinitaruci, an Indian who was tonsured in China and officially transmitted Chinese Ch’an to Vietnam circa 580 A.D. This chapter translates one of his litany-prayers, which emphasizes the Prajna (‘wisdom of emptiness’) tradition and Ch’anist ‘direct transmission’ of bodhi (‘enlightenment’) from Master to disciple. The chapter continues on to a detailed biography of Ven. Phap Hien, who succeeded Vinitaruci as head-monk of the Vinitaruci Ch’an sect, becoming its second Patriarch. Chapter VI, “The Second Ch’an Sect in Vietnam: Wu Yantong, Cam Thanh, and Thien Hoi,” explains the foundation of the Wu Yantong sect, the second Ch’an sect in Vietnam, named after its founder. Wu Yantong was a Chinese monk ordained in China by the great Bai Zhang, a reputed founder of China’s Caodong and Lingji sects. Wu arrived in Vietnam in 820 A.D. and, shortly before his own death in 826 A.D., transmitted his ‘Buddha-heart seal’ to Cam Thanh, the sect’s second Patriarch. The Wu Yantong sect emphasized Bai Zhang’s well-known doctrine of ‘no-thinking’. This chapter concludes with biographies of the Ven. Cam Thanh and the Ven. Thien Hoi, respectively the second and third Patriarchs of the Wu Yantong sect. Part Two: Buddhism from the Ngo to the Tran Dynasties (10th -14th Centuries A.D.) Chapter VII, “Buddhism under the Ngo Dinh and Early Le Dynasties,” examines Buddhist developments after Vietnam’s great victory of 938 A.D., putting an end to 1000 years of Chinese domination. Over the next century Buddhism steadily strengthened itself. The monks provided an intelligentsia for the royal court, were entrusted with diplomatic missions, etc. This chapter delves into the growth of Buddhist Tantrism during this period, the widespread use of mudra, dharani, and the like. Prayer columns excavated by archeologists supply much of this helpful information. Chapter VIII, “Buddhism under the Ly Dynasty,” reports on the ascendancy of Buddhism throughout this dynasty’s tenure (1010-1225). Because the Ly Kings venerated Buddhism, even urging as many men as possible to become monks, the bureaucratic strata supplied many monastic vocations. The Vinitaruci Ch’an sect at this time emphasized both Tantrism and the ideological issue of ‘existence and non-existence’. The Wu Yantong The History of Buddhism in Vietnam 3 Ch’an sect emphasized direct enlightenment and the doctrine of sunyata. This chapter does the service of translating many beautiful poems of this period. It closes with a careful description of Ly religious architecture, and a profile of popular religiosity (Amitabha-worship, etc.). Chapter IX, “Buddhism under the Tran Dynasty,” describes the big changes which took place in Vietnam during the transition from the Ly to the Tran and the latter dynasty’s tenure. King Tran Nhan Tong took tonsure and founded, with the help of two others, The Truc Lam Ch’an sect, ending the preceding two Ch’an sects. At the end of the twelfth century, the Buddhist monastic establishment had begun to fall into corruption, breaking the Precepts both surreptitiously and publicly. This chapter provides many translations, and describes much of the Tran dynasty scholarship (which became highly developed). King Tran Thai Tong’s great Buddhist works and their special teachings are critiqued, as are those of Tran Nhan Tong. It closes with two biographies, that of Ven. Phap Loa, who consecrated 15,000 monks and nuns in his lifetime; and that of the great monk-poet Huyen Quang, who shrank from being the third Patriarch of the Truc Lam sect, preferring the eremitical life.

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