- Systematically and clearly present the main issues of Buddhism and literature in Buddhist newspapers before 1945.
The thesis can contribute to rediscovering the value of Buddhist journalism before 1945, the contributions of Buddhist journalism to the spiritual life of the nation.
7. THESIS STRUCTURE
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Literature and Buddhism in Vietnamese Buddhist Press before 1945 - 33 -
Literature and Buddhism in Vietnamese Buddhist Press before 1945 - 25 -
Truc Lam sect's pure teachings in Vietnamese Buddhist literature of the medieval period - 1 -
Truc Lam sect's pure teachings in Vietnamese Buddhist literature of the medieval period - 10 -
The influence of Indian culture on Chinese Buddhist architecture and sculpture - 14
In addition to the Introduction, the thesis consists of 3 chapters:
Chapter 1: The Buddhist Revival Movement and Vietnamese Buddhist Press before 1945 : General presentation of the Buddhist Revival Movement and the situation of Vietnamese Buddhist Press before 1945 (from page 11 to page 55).
Chapter 2: Buddhism in Vietnamese Buddhist press before 1945 : Presents the Buddhist worldview, Buddhist ethical thought, Buddhist issues for the nation and the masses, aiming to draw out the basic values of Buddhism in this period (from page 56 to page 124).
Chapter 3: Literature in Vietnamese Buddhist newspapers before 1945 : General presentation of literature in Buddhist newspapers, analysis of content and artistic value of poetry and prose in those newspapers (from page 125 to page 204).
The thesis topic is “Literature and Buddhism in Vietnamese Buddhist Press before 1945”. The thesis must put the word “Literature” first to be consistent with the code of Vietnamese Literature, but in the implementation, Buddhism (Chapter 2) is presented before Literature (Chapter 3). This is done because in Buddhist press, Buddhist thought is the central and most important issue, so we must study Buddhism (Chapter 2) first and then Literature (Chapter 3). Literature is still the issue that comes after ideology and is mainly the means to spread Buddhist thought.
At the end of the thesis is the Conclusion (from page 205 to page 207), List of Buddhist press (page 208), Bibliography (from page 209 to page 218) and List of published works of the author (page 219). The author has prepared an Appendix (from page 220 to page 258), introducing some press photos, a general list of poems and literature in Buddhist press before 1945.
Chapter 1
BUDDHIST REVIVAL MOVEMENT
AND VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST PRESS BEFORE 1945
1.1. BUDDHIST REVIVAL MOVEMENT FROM THE LATE 1920S TO 1945
1.1.1. The situation of Vietnamese Buddhism in the early 20th century
In the early 20th century, after pacifying Vietnam, France implemented a policy of supporting and creating conditions for Catholicism to develop. The French government, wanting to eliminate the influence of Buddhism and Confucianism, was determined to eliminate Chinese characters and replace them with French characters [84, p.474].
At that time, Buddhist scriptures were all in Chinese, so people who studied French or had little education could not read the scriptures. From then on, followers did not understand the teachings of Buddha, and this was the premise that made people gradually distance themselves from Buddhism, causing Buddhism to decline more and more. Buddhism declined to the point that there was not a single Buddhist school in the whole country for people to attend [51, p.20].
The French colonialists deliberately eliminated national culture and replaced it with Western culture. The concepts of patriotism, loyalty, religious ethics, customs, beliefs, etc. were all criticized as backward and outdated. Buddhism was almost pushed to the margins of contemporary social life. Although it is known that at that time, every village in Vietnam had a temple to worship Buddha, some villages even had three temples. However, those temples were only places reserved for women, old ladies, etc., who went to the temple to worship Buddha every full moon and new moon day of the month. Buddhism at that time had become a negative, world-weary, superstitious religion. People revered Buddha as an almighty God with the power to bestow blessings and curses.
Specifically, the colonial government implemented a policy of discrimination and suppression of Buddhism such as: checking the daily life of monks in pagodas, any pagodas that wanted to build or repair had to apply for a permit and the government issued a permit before they could build. They used a policy of corrupting our people by allowing freedom
superstitious activities, but limited the path of traditional cultural education of the nation. Their purpose was to make our people ignorant so that they could be easily manipulated, not wanting our nation to become strong and Buddhism from there to be assimilated with foreign heresies. In addition, a number of large pagodas were gradually destroyed by the French government [84, p.475].
Viet Lien with the article Buddhism is not a theistic religion recorded very clearly about this event:
But if we consider carefully, most of our people do not understand the essence of Buddhism, thinking it is a theistic religion, also praying, also atonement for sins, no different from those who rely on divine power. Or thinking it is a superstitious and fanciful religion, containing illusory and superstitious things, not understanding that Buddhism has a very profound philosophy. Over the centuries, it has been buried deep in the superstitious brains of ignorant people and hidden behind the exploitative hearts of a class of uneducated followers... If Buddhism is not revived, Buddhism is not reformed, then Buddhism, like other religions, will follow a pattern of elimination and be destroyed before the world reaches great unity [E, No. 2, pp. 6-8].
The period of suppression lasted until 1920, when the monks and intellectuals in the country had the opportunity to stand up and call for the revival of Vietnamese Buddhism. From then on, Buddhist newspapers had the opportunity to be born and widely disseminated everywhere, and at the same time, Buddhist scriptures, thanks to advanced printing means, were also published and circulated more widely.
Thanks to the development from the first decades of the 20th century, the training of monks and nuns in Vietnam gradually became more organized. The education system was formed and followed a hierarchy from primary, secondary, college to university.
Indeed, in the early 20th century, although the country was divided into three regions, under three different forms of governance, the unity of ethnicity, culture and religion at that time was still maintained and preserved. The presence of Buddhism throughout the North and South was a major contributing factor in opposing the division of the country to rule according to the French policy. Moreover, despite being influenced by
Despite the strength of the Europeanization process, Vietnamese Buddhism has developed strongly through the Buddhist Renaissance movement.
Buddhism during the period of resistance against the French in the first half of the 20th century was united with the masses, united with the patriotism of all people, expressed by the purpose of practicing to find happiness for others and contribute to the mission of bringing peace to the homeland. At this time, many monks took off their cassocks to put on military uniforms, joining the nation in the fight against the French, many of them sacrificed heroically in the nation's arduous resistance war.
1.1.2. Causes of the Buddhist Revival Movement
In the early 20th century, after World War I (1914-1918), the capitalist economy fell into crisis. In the period 1920-1930, the economic crisis began and lasted, the imperialists increased their exploitation policies in the colonies. Indochina became a victim of the brutal exploitation policy of France. Vietnam also fell into a miserable situation, "one neck, two yokes" - both Japanese fascism and French colonialism weighed heavily on the shoulders of the colonial people, leading to conflicts and class divisions in Vietnamese society. This had a strong impact on all areas of life from economics, politics, culture and even spiritual beliefs.
Thanks to absorbing the bourgeois democratic ideological trends through the new books and articles of Liang Qichao and Kang Youwei, along with the revolutionary movement in China; the theories of humanity and human rights of the 18th century French enlighteners such as J. Rousseau, S. Montesquieu, F. Voltaire, Vietnamese patriotic intellectuals had a profound change in their thinking. Besides, the example of Japan defeating the Russian empire thanks to Duy Tan for several decades increased the confidence of Vietnamese patriotic intellectuals. The Duy Tan movement in Vietnam arose from the above causes. The purpose of the movement was to build an independent, unified, and prosperous Vietnam. The form of operation of the Duy Tan movement in Vietnam took place both publicly and secretly, but was quite comprehensive, widely spread throughout the 3 regions of the country.
It was these historical changes that strongly impacted the Buddhist Revival Movement during this period. Many Confucian scholars highly appreciated the role of Buddhism in the development of society and the self-reliance of the nation. In that context, the national language press with a reformist tendency was born, such as: Nong Co Min Dam (1901), Luc Tinh Tan Van (1907), Dang Co Tung Bao (1907), Dong Duong Magazine ( 1913 ), Nam Phong Magazine (1917), An Nam Magazine (1926), Phu Nu Tan Van (1929)... These newspapers contributed to "enlightening the people, strengthening the people's spirit, and improving the people's lives" as the slogan of the Duy Tan Movement in the early 20th century. These newspapers also contributed to promoting the Buddhist Revival Movement to take place quickly and develop strongly in social life.
The representative revolutionaries of the Duy Tan movement, including Phan Chu Trinh, once stated that if Buddhism flourished, the country would also prosper. It can be said that Phan Chu Trinh was a person who placed great faith in the contribution of a revived Buddhism to national peace, so he often called for the revival of Buddhism to support the revolution. In a speech, he once said:
The reason why our Dai Nam country is weak today is because we lack religious spirit . We do not know how to be steadfast and sacrifice ourselves for justice, but only cling to our own way. Now, my fellow countrymen, consider why our people were so brave during the Tran Dynasty: the Yuan army defeated all of Asia and Europe, swallowed up China, but when they came to our country, they were defeated; some were robbed of their flutes at Chuong Duong Do, some were captured and tied up at Bach Dang. Wasn't this because Buddhism was very prosperous in our country at that time? Because of our religious spirit? [67, p.750].
In mid-1935, there were many articles in the Trang An newspaper under the name of HT discussing the Buddhist Revival Movement . The author stated that there were three reasons for the Buddhist revival: national pride, the desire for an ideal to follow, and the economic crisis.
However, there are also opinions that the Buddhist Revival Movement was born out of the French colonialists' demagogic intentions: they wanted to push our people into being immersed in religious superstition, so that they would forget about their opposition to foreign powers. According to Nguyen
Lang, that doubt arose from two events: first, because the Protectorate State easily signed the permit to establish Buddhist Associations; second, because there were a few people considered as "government officials" who were active in Buddhist Associations, such as Tran Nguyen Chan in the Southern Buddhist Research Association, Nguyen Nang Quoc and Le Du in the Northern Buddhist Association [67, p.762]. But patriotic scholars from the beginning did not think so, prestigious scholars such as Nguyen Lang [67], Tran Van Giau [44] all frankly rejected that erroneous point of view.
Huynh Thuc Khang in Vien Am newspaper, Phan Khoi in Trang An newspaper have dismissed the wrong views about Buddhism and the Buddhist Revival movement. They have expressed their agreement with Phan Chu Trinh's point of view that reviving Buddhism is a useful work for the nation as mentioned above.
In particular, Huynh Thuc Khang expressed his agreement with the issue of reviving Buddhism in Vien Am magazine , and advised Vien Am to try:
Vien Am, please try your best. People say that science and religion do not go together, that is in some civilized country, but in a country that is slow to develop and where people are ignorant like ours, religion is still an effective medicine to cure common illnesses for our people. What's more, the Buddhist theory of compassion, salvation, enlightenment, and the cycle of cause and effect of reincarnation applies to all social classes, and those who practice it are not few in number, not to mention "Nirvana" which is the highest and most profound place [D, No. 3].
The above views help us understand that the Buddhist Revival movement in Vietnam received the sympathy of many patriots in the early 20th century.
Looking at Asia more broadly, the Vietnamese Buddhist Revival movement took place in the general context of the Buddhist Revival movement in Asian countries: Sri Lanka, India, China... aiming to restore the values of Buddhism and develop Buddhist studies.
It began with the layman David Hewavitarane, a Sri Lankan who later became a monk and became the Venerable Dharmapala. To revive Buddhism, Dharmapala founded the Mahabodhi Society of India and published the Bodhi magazine, established Buddhist centers and monasteries.
Buddhism. Dharmapala often inspired the Indian Buddhists to revive Buddhism with his appeals during each sermon in India: “Buddhism in India has been persecuted for a long time, 800 years. Today, they have returned to their homeland. Let us all awaken, transcending the system, caste and creed, with the sole purpose of the Mahabodhi Society being to bring the Buddha's teachings to all the people of India” [64, p. 201].
In 1908, Venerable Dharmapala wrote a letter to lay Buddhist Duong Nhan Son in China to invite collaboration, and from there the movement spread rapidly.
In China, layman Duong Nhan Son stood up to establish Ky Hoan Tinh Xa, convening scholars to study Buddhism in Chinese, English and Pali. Then, in 1912, Venerable Thai Hu established Vu Xuong Buddhist Academy, published Giac Xa magazine in 1918, later changed to Hai Trieu Am , creating the premise for many Buddhist academies to be born. Associations of Buddhist Education, Hop Tien Buddhism, General Buddhist Association, United Buddhist Association, Buddhist Laymen Forest... were continuously born everywhere.
The active activities to revive Buddhism by outstanding Buddhist figures from Sri Lanka, India, and China have influenced other Asian countries such as Burma, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, etc. The Buddhist reform movement from these countries has also taken place quickly and effectively. It can be said that the Buddhist revival movement in Vietnam was directly and strongly influenced by the Chinese Buddhist revival movement, especially the Buddhist reform ideas of Venerable Thai Hu.
On the other hand, in Vietnam at the beginning of the 20th century, due to many economic, cultural, social and ideological reasons, many new religious movements emerged. These religious movements originated from Buddhism, from folk beliefs, or from the "Three Religions" (Buddhism - Taoism - Confucianism) and then were modified, including Cao Dai religion founded in 1926 by Ngo Minh Chieu (1878-1930), Le Van Trung (1875-1934), Pham Cong Tac (1893-1959),...; Hoa Hao Buddhism founded in 1939 by Huynh Phu So (1920-1946),... The development of contemporary religions created strong competition with Buddhism. This was also a factor influencing the birth of the Buddhist Revival movement.
In addition to international, political, social and religious causes in the country, the birth of the Vietnamese Buddhist Revival Movement was also due to internal causes within the Buddhist community. Before that and even during this period, at times and places, the decline in the prestige of Buddhism among the people was quite obvious.
The main reason is that a part of the Buddhist community has gone astray from the path of the true Dharma, not focusing on practicing but only focusing on "responding" to the temple to collect money and material things, taking advantage of folk beliefs to seek fame and profit for themselves. Layman Khanh Van directly condemned this situation in the magazine Duy Tam Phat Hoc No. 18 in 1926: "There are those who borrow Buddha to make a name for themselves, also practice two sessions of daily practice, receive and uphold, enter the morning and night, also repent like everyone else, but practice charms, practice magic, practice magic whips, when they become men, when they meet women, they call it saving people and helping the world, but in reality they take advantage of the ignorance of good men and women, and are greedy to plunder everything."
Layman Thanh Quang also spoke about this situation in the newspaper Torch of Wisdom with harsh criticism: “It is painful in our country, most of those who leave the family to go to the temple only learn a few sutras, practice breathing well, practice chanting rhythms until old age, today lead this group, tomorrow lead that group; also wear rosary beads, also kasaya, if we turn their faces around and see, they are no different from ordinary people” [F, issue 178-179, pp. 3-5].
Obviously, the problem of “moral degeneration” of a part of the clergy has affected the decline of Buddhism. That has made many Buddhist leaders, those who are passionate about Buddhism, worried and anxious. Master Thien Chieu, a young and enthusiastic intellectual, could not sit still and boldly criticized in the Dong Phap Thoi Bao No. 532, published on January 14, 1927: “Reviewing the current Buddhist order in our country, especially in the South, most of them are not focused on their studies. The good-hearted people are only concerned with good deeds, sometimes falling into pessimism and do not know their duties and responsibilities; if we do not know, how can we spread the knowledge to others?”
In general, in such a domestic and international context, many monks and patriotic intellectuals with enthusiasm and faith in Buddhism sought every way to revive Buddhism to restore the nation's traditional beliefs, ethics and customs, and at the same time unite and gather forces to fight against the French.