VIETNAMESE, BUDDHIST INFLUENCES ON LITERATURE IN

Vietnam was ruled by the Chinese from 111 b.c.e. to the tenth century c.e. As a result, classical Chinese was the official language of Vietnam until around the middle of the nineteenth century. During the Tr?n dynasty (1225–1400) in medieval Vietnam there were sporadic efforts to create a system of demotic script (Nôm) to be used for transcribing vernacular Vietnamese. However, this script was based on Chinese radicals and phonetics and required fluency in classical Chinese, so it was never able to replace classical Chinese.

Vietnam came into contact with European countries, particularly France, in the seventeenth century. Within three centuries, and after various modifications, Vietnamese was written exclusively in the Roman alphabet, partly as a result of the work of Catholic missionaries. This romanized Vietnamese was referred to as qu?c ng? (national language) and it became the official language of the country in the middle of the nineteenth century.

From the thirteenth century c.e., when the first Buddhist writings were composed, to the early twentieth century, most Buddhist literature in Vietnam was in classical Chinese, although a number of texts contain chapters, glosses, or afterwords in Nôm. There were also some writings entirely in Nôm, but these works did not gain as wide a circulation as those written in Chinese.

Magazines and newspapers in qu?c ng?, were first published in Vietnam as early as 1865, but most of these early qu?c ng?, periodicals were published by the government and advanced particular political and propagandistic agendas. Buddhist literature in qu?c ng?, did not appear until the 1920s; it was inspired by motivations to modernize Buddhism and to make it more appealing to the general populace. It was a time when classical Chinese studies was on the wane and educated Vietnamese Buddhists, both clerical and lay, believed that the use of qu?c ng?, would help people through the transitional period.

Magazines and periodicals

The Pháp Âm (Sounds of Dharma) and Ph?t Hóa Thanh Niên (Buddhist Teachings for the Youth) were the first two Buddhist magazines published in qu?c ng?, in the 1920s. In the 1930s, three more magazines, the Tù,Bi Âm (Sounds of Compassion), the Viên Âm (Sounds of Perfection), and the ?u?c Tu? (Torch of Wisdom), were launched by the three associations of Buddhist studies in Saigon, Hue, and Hanoi, the major cities in the three parts of Vietnam. The articles in these magazines covered topics beyond the boundary of Buddhist doctrines and practices to address issues such as Buddhism and society, Buddhism and science, and Buddhism and modernization. This pattern continued in subsequent decades and reached a high point between 1954 and 1975. For example, T? T??ng (Thought), a journal published by V?n H?nh Buddhist University in Saigon in the late 1960s, was a pioneering effort in the comparative studies of Buddhism and continental philosophy.

Books

Vernacular Buddhist literature in the form of books can be divided into two categories: books on a variety of topics on Buddhism and translations, mostly from Chinese, of Buddhist texts. Around 1932 in Saigon, the lay Buddhist scholar ?oàn Trung Còn founded a publishing house named Ph?t H?c Tùng Thu, (Buddhist Publications), which published a number of books covering a wide range of Buddhist topics. In 1940 the Ph?t H?c Tùng Thu, began publishing books aimed at a young audience. Some of the most prolific authors in this period, such as the monk Thi?n Chi?u, aimed at explaining Buddhism from a modern perspective to a new generation of intellectuals with a Western education. In sum, the majority of Vietnamese books on Buddhism were written with a view to making Buddhism accessible to the general populace. They range from Buddhist catechism to instructions on ni?m Ph?t (contemplating the name of Amit?bha Buddha, nenbutsu).

Translations of Buddhist texts

Most Buddhist literature in qu?c ng?, consists of translations of Buddhist texts from Chinese. Qu?c ng?, translations of Buddhist texts began in the 1920s with the translation of the Guiyuan zhizhi (Returning to the Sources), a Chinese text on the practice of Pure Land Buddhism. During the 1930s the Ph?t H?c Tùng Thu, published translations of the major Mah?y?na s?tras and philosophical treatises such as the Lotus S?tra (Saddharmapu??ar?ka-s?tra), the Amit?bha S?tra, the Liuzu tan jing (Platform S?tra), the Diamond S?tra, and the Awakening of Faith (Dasheng qixinlun). This effort continued in subsequent decades, and eventually other principal Mah?y?na s?tras, such as the Perfection of Wisdom S?tras, the Ratnaku?a-s?tra, and the ?ura?gama–s?tra, were also translated into Vietnamese. In the 1970s the monk Thích Minh Châu, then rector of V?n H?nh Buddhist University, translated the P?li nik?yas into qu?c ng?, Given the fact that Vietnamese Buddhism is predominantly Mah?y?na, Minh Châu's work was a remarkable contribution to the country's Buddhist literature. Since the fall of South Vietnam in 1975, there have been massive reprints of Buddhists texts, mostly qu?c ng?, translations by Vietnamese Buddhists living overseas.

The most important vernacular Buddhist works in Vietnamese, however, are manuals for daily chanting and occasional rituals. These manuals vary from one temple to another, but they contain almost the same materials: complete or partial qu?c ng?, translations or transliterations of the Buddhist texts that are used in daily and special rituals and observances.

In sum, Buddhist literature in qu?c ng?, includes an array of writings on a variety of topics covering basic Buddhist teachings and practices, together with translations of the major Buddhist s?tras. Most were published for practical religious use and to address the immediate needs of Vietnamese Buddhists. Occasionally, books on aspects of Buddhist philosophy or translations of philosophical treatises are published. For instance, there are qu?c ng?, translations of some principal treatises of the Madhyamaka and Yog?c?ra schools (the two major philosophical schools of Mah?y?na Buddhism), but these are intended more for personal intellectual gratification than as part of a larger systematic program of sectarian learning or practice.

See also:Pure Land Buddhism; Ritual; Vietnam

Bibliography

Nguy?n Kh?c Kham. So,-th?o m?c-l?c thut?ch v? Ph?t-Giáo Viêt-Nam (A Bibliography on Vietnamese Buddhism). Saigon, Vietnam: Ministry of National Education, 1963.

Nguy?n Lang. Vi?t Nam Ph?t Giáo S?, Lu?n (Essays on History of Vietnamese Buddhism). Hanoi, Vietnam: Literature Publishing House, 2000.

Ph?m Th? Ng?. Vi?t Nam V?n H?c S? Gi?n U,ó,c Tân Biên (A New Concise History of Vietnamese Literature), Vol. 1. Saigon, Vietnam: Qu?c H?c Tùng Thu,, 1961–1965.

Tran, Van Giap. Contribution à l'Etude des Livres Annamites conservés à l'Ecole Francaise d'Extrême-Orient. Tokyo: La Societe Internationale du Bouddhisme au Japon, 1943.

Tr?n H?ng Liên, Ph?t Giáo Nam B? T?, Th? K? 17 ??n 1975 (Buddhism in the South: From 17^th Century to 1975). Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam: Ph? H? Chí Minh City Publishing House, 1996.

Cuong Tu Nguyen