Literature and Buddhism in Vietnamese Buddhist Press before 1945

Chanh Tri, through the novel " Sea of Love and Waves" published in Vien Am So 1, built the character of a girl named Phuong Tam, the main character in the story, in a polished writing style. The author described the girl's physical beauty by combining it with the beauty of nature, thus making her beauty even more radiant like a stunning beauty: "One morning, I suddenly saw a young girl standing next to a pot of roses, her hand cupping her cheek as if she was thinking a lot. The sun had just risen, the light filtered through the bamboo, shining on her face, her snow-white skin was rosy, clearly a flower branch could speak. She gently picked a rose, her autumn-water eyes looked intently."

Indeed, the way the characters’ appearances are described in those novels makes readers feel excited. In life, perhaps everyone likes beautiful appearances. Whenever hearing about someone’s stunning beauty, almost everyone wants to look at them. That shows that writers still use traditional writing styles and traditional symbolic descriptions to build characters’ appearances. This way of describing is very suitable for the concept of dividing characters into two sides, good and evil, and also suitable for expressing the Buddhist theory of cause and effect.

Studying the pen describing the psychology of the character of Lien Ton in the novel Tu la cuu phuc, tinh la troi oan, shows that the author paid attention to describing and analyzing the psychology of the character in a way of psychological contrast. Quynh Lien is a person who chooses a husband, after many competitions between young men, she finally chooses a worthy person, suitable for the conditions she set. In this situation, she would have been very happy because she found a husband to her liking. But in the novel, the author has placed the psychology of the character Quynh Lien in a different situation, with a sad mood, unable to bear that situation, so she just tries to be happy. Her mood at this time is completely opposite to Ma Sanh, the young man who has just fulfilled the request she made before proposing to her: "At this time, Ma Sanh's eyes were like a clear mirror, his laughter like sharp waves, he was happy to have a beautiful relationship and considered it a rare opportunity, so he felt extremely honored". Quynh Lien, on the other hand, said: "As for Quynh Lien, seeing this, she felt even more heartbroken and could not bear the situation, but she tried to be happy, not letting Ma Sanh understand."

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The way Lien Ton describes the character's psychology in this work has created questions for readers. According to the concept of traditional description, here the author has described the character's psychology more deeply, making the character more vivid and realistic.

Close to that style of describing the psychology of the characters in contrast, there is the author Chanh Niem through the novel Duyen truong tinh sau. First of all, the author tells about the happy marriage of the young couple, Vuong Hi and Thieu Hoa, but experiencing the law of impermanence in life, in just a short time, both of their parents passed away. That situation caused Vuong Hi's mood to change completely. From a person who was happy in the happiness of a newly-found couple, he became extremely bored with the feelings in life, because he clearly saw the truth of birth, aging, sickness, and death happening very quickly right before his eyes. So he completely abandoned all ties of love in the world to find a way of life of freedom and liberation: "Oh! This birth, aging, sickness, and death makes people suffer so much! How can we avoid these four sufferings? We must practice as the root, find the four noble truths of suffering, then we can hope to escape the cycle of reincarnation. If we are bound by the four pleasures of the world forever, then how many more lives will we be in trouble?

Having freed himself from suffering, but when he saw Thieu Hoa still lingering over the temporary love affairs in this world, Vuong Hi felt extremely sorry for her and wholeheartedly encouraged her to escape from those sorrows: " Immediately he wrote a poem pointing out the miseries of this world to advise her to think about purifying her mind, not to be bound by the love affairs of this world, which are as fleeting as a shadow, as a shuttle, as lightning, seen then lost."

In addition, the authors build characters with a fairly simple psychological description through the rapid change of character psychology. It is not necessary to go through a lot of time and events, but only need to give a few examples to help the other person completely change their psychology. The simplicity in the way of describing character psychology is because the authors do not put much emphasis on the artistic role but the purpose is to "transmit religion", to spread Buddhist teachings. It is also for this reason that most authors have built characters according to subjective thoughts to educate people, to encourage good and punish evil. However, with

This simple art of character psychology further shows that Buddhist teachings have the effect of quickly transforming human spirituality, helping people quickly escape from the suffering and bondage in life.

In the novel The World is also “Enlightenment”, D.NT builds the psychological style of the character Mr. Han Phu, who changes from negative to positive quickly thanks to the direct impact of the second character. This is a fairly common style of character building in prose in Buddhist newspapers before 1945. Mr. Han Phu is one of the richest people in the province, always living with the idea of respecting the rich and despising the poor, with a clear class division. However, with the appearance of Tho - his son - who is well-educated and especially knowledgeable about Buddhist teachings, he has transformed from an arrogant person who despises the poor into a person who knows how to live with an equal mind, loving everyone.

When Mr. Han Phu heard Tho asking for permission for his sister to marry Duc, a poor classmate who made a living by sewing, his face changed and he shouted: "Oh my God, a high-ranking family like the eldest son of the Huong mandarin in the province is not satisfied, but wants to marry a poor tailor, the son of a commoner from somewhere, who just drifted to the streets and markets of our village like that? If this matter gets out, and the Tham and Phan mandarins in the province find out, you will really be smearing ashes and chaff on my face."

In a fit of anger, but when he heard his son talk about the Buddhist philosophy of equality, he quickly understood, showed a calm attitude, and gently said to his son:

Yes, Buddha himself had to eliminate the evil of class. In life, if we divide our class into lower classes, those in higher classes will oppress us even more. Like the other day when we played cards in our district, two groups did not win any game, the third group got a good hand, they should have won, but they immediately put the first person down and said that we were joking. At that time, if we said it out loud, it would create resentment, but if we kept quiet, we would be so angry that we would die. Let's imitate Buddha, we ourselves eliminate the evil of class first.

Here, the character of Mr. Han Phu also shows the author's attitude: Borrowing the image of Mr. Han Phu to convey the desire for people to have the spirit of mutual love and respect for each other in human life. The author directly analyzed psychology and gave specific evidence, not just empty words. Mr. Han Phu changed his attitude towards life not only by listening to his children's explanations but also by applying that theory to what happened in real life. From there, he understood the truth of life, clearly saw the solid truth to build a happy life is to abolish classes, people are equal to each other in nature.

Miss Ba Lieu in the story Miss Ba Lieu by Chau Hai written in Vien Am So 4 was also built by the author according to the psychological process from negative to positive, through the help of the second character, Giac Hoa. Miss Ba Lieu is sad about her love life: "In the newly decorated living room, Miss Ba Lieu is sitting with her face furrowed, her hands cupping her cheeks in a sad manner, when she hears a woman knocking on the door, she invites her in". Although she is in a very sad mood, when she meets Giac Hoa, she still tries to hide her sadness: "I live happily like this, why do you say I live a miserable life?" . However, when Giac Hoa pointed out the suffering and said earnestly: "Sister Lieu, don't lie to me, I pity you infinitely, because while you were pretending to be happy, I clearly saw that your intestines were being cut into pieces by the ghost of trouble", Ba Lieu burst into tears, expressing all her feelings: "Sister, with this frustration, I must die, I will never see your face again!"

Miss Ba Lieu had been in a state of sadness for a long time, but after hearing Giac Hoa's advice, especially when she heard Giac Hoa talk about building family happiness not being decided by money, she understood the truth of life and was no longer sad: "Miss Ba Lieu listened, immediately got in the car to find Mr. Truc, she apologized and took him home to talk."

Although the author builds the psychological process of the character Ba Lieu in an increasing way, that is, from bad to good, because the plot is too simple and not rich, it does not create a strong attraction for the reader. However, no matter what, the work still shows the character's psychological style in a moral direction and sends specific education to those who want to build a happy family.

Kim Xuan's novel Under the Buddha's Feet also follows the path of transforming negative psychology into positive, but there are a few points that are different from the above works. The author emphasizes the psychology of the two characters, the couple of the mandarin Phu Minh Hue, especially the worried and anxious state of Mrs. Phu towards her husband. Because she saw Mr. Phu doing things that went against human morality, she was sad, trying to explain the cause and effect of karma in life to her husband, hoping that he would understand the sins and blessings he created and correct his mistakes, to live a better life. And it is true that Mrs. Phu advised and discussed morality very well, making Mr. Phu understand more and more deeply the more he listened: "She discussed morality really well, making him happier and more forgetful of his sadness... The two of them talked for a long time, until three o'clock in the morning, when they turned off the lights and went to bed."

When Mr. Phu understood everything clearly, he quickly changed his bad habits and learned to live a better life:

I don't know what the Governor thought, but from then on, he focused on practicing Buddhism. He no longer bullied the people, but instead guided many of them to the path of morality. He often donated money to charitable organizations and donated money to various places. He repaired any damaged pagodas for the monks and nuns to practice. He also willingly donated money to help those who translated Buddhist scriptures but did not have money to print them. In less than two years, he had done many great deeds, and people near and far knew him as a great monk.

In particular, Mr. and Mrs. Phu's son, Minh Thanh, was also influenced by their humane and moral way of life and completely changed his lifestyle, transforming from a child who was a playboy and disobedient to his parents into a good and dutiful son: "Minh Thanh saw his parents like that and also knew to repent, no longer playing around and playing around, but staying home to help his parents with charity work."

Only with the wife's dedicated advice on humanity and morality can the husband's way of life be changed quickly. And from there, it continues to create a strong influence on the child. This is the type of psychological impact that spreads, specifically expressed through the way of life of real people. The simplicity in the way of describing the character's psychology also easily creates sympathy from the reader.

Returning to the author Lien Ton through the novel Hieu Nghi Cam Phat , the author still describes the character's psychology according to traditional concepts through the character Phan Quy and many other characters closely related to Phan Quy. When Phan Quy heard his adoptive mother angry, scolding him for not marrying to continue the family line, Phan Quy felt infinitely sad: "He stayed at home, partly remembering the virtue of his homeland, partly thinking about the fate of reunion, a hundred things were tangled in his heart, extremely sad, extremely sad".

Even the character of Mrs. Ly Thi is no different: “Speaking of Mrs. Ly Thi, she is Phan Quy's biological mother. Since sending him to visit his younger brother Huyen, he has not returned for a long time. Every day she is worried, burning incense and praying to Quan Am Buddha, asking for mother and son to meet. She is standing and sitting, crying and crying.”

As for Bich Ha, she is really pitiful:

At this time, speaking of Bich Ha, from the time she met Phan Quy at Hung Duyen pagoda, and then returned home a few days later, her father fell ill and passed away, making her very sad and sorrowful. Moreover, news of him became increasingly short, causing her to miss him endlessly, her face was pale and her body was thin, it had been more than a year and she still had not calmed down. As for the young masters who saw her beauty, they all asked for matchmakers to come and talk to her. Her mother wanted to marry her off, but she kept crying, determined not to like anyone.

This way of building the character’s psychology by author Lien Ton can make it easier for readers to understand the plot of the story. Because these are the main characters and they have a close relationship through events and changes. The author has thoroughly and tragically described the worries and sufferings between these characters through the situation of “loving but having to separate and being separated without knowing where the loved one is going”. This way of describing makes readers sympathize with the characters’ situation and wish for them to reunite soon. That shows that the author’s humanitarian ideology has been clearly expressed through the plot of the story.

Studying the art of character development and psychology in some typical works in Buddhist press, we can see that the description of characters' appearance and exploitation of their psychology by writers still follow the traditional way.

The good changes of traditional character psychology have conveyed the message of Buddhist teachings to the masses. Through that, it also helps us understand that writers at that time often leaned towards realistic character psychology and lived in specific circumstances, because each character clearly revealed his or her own nature and personality. The development of character psychology was sometimes a bit complicated, with a tragic nature that was reasonably expressed, but in general, the characters still did not have major changes. Perhaps that is why the prose works in Buddhist press before 1945 rarely created surprising and attractive details to satisfy the aesthetic vibrations of readers. The illustrations of Buddhist teachings of the characters were still strong. That made the characters closer and easier to enter the lives of ordinary readers to convey Buddhist teachings.

However, the living environment of the characters no longer exists simply in loyalty and righteousness but has become closely associated with daily life. The characters have initially changed from mere symbols to become vivid characters. This is one of the contributions to the innovation of Vietnamese prose. At the same time, it also contributed to opening a new period for the story genre in our country's literature in the early years of the 20th century and later.

3.4.2.2. Structure of the work

Every literary work, whether large or small, includes many elements and parts... All of these elements and parts are arranged and organized by the writer in a certain order and system to express a certain artistic content, called structure. In other words, structure is the entire vivid and complex artistic organization of a literary work [48, p.315].

Structure has the task of contributing to expressing the theme and ideas of the work. Structure has the task of organizing the system of character traits, events, incidents, images, emotions... making those elements closely linked, interacting from within the work, making it an indivisible whole of art [48, p.315].

Thus, by studying the structure of typical works in Buddhist press, we can know the viewpoints, attitudes, thoughts, artistic styles, and creative personalities of the writers towards life at that time. Through that, we can also see the changes in the construction of the structure of the work.

It can be said that the short stories and novels examined above are constructed according to the structure of two opposing character lines, but in general they all meet in the aspect of structure according to the chronological order of events - that is, the art of narration always follows the natural progression of linear time, going from "cause" to "effect". This is the most common structure in Vietnamese literature before 1930. This shows that the prose works in Buddhist newspapers at that time were still influenced by the poetics of medieval short stories - a structure closely linked to many events and incidents.

With the novel Cultivation is the root of blessings, love is the rope of resentment, the author has built the work according to the structure of two opposing character lines and imbued with Buddhist philosophy. The character Quynh Lien is fed up with worldly love, only considering practicing as the way to create blessings for life. Meanwhile, Ma Sanh insists on marrying her to build a happy couple. As a result, happiness does not come true. Through that, the author emphasizes that only the path of practicing according to good things can bring eternal happiness. Reading through the title of the work, we can also clearly see the two opposing moods and personalities.

Regarding the art of constructing the structure of a work according to two opposing lines of characters, there is also the novel Duyên trước tình sau. The young man Vuong Hi and the young woman Thieu Hoa initially had opposing thoughts. Vuong Hi gave up his love affair to go into the mountains to practice asceticism, but Thieu Hoa was still attached to love affairs, so she tried every way to persuade him to return to take care of his family and enjoy high salary and privileges. However, he was able to influence Thieu Hoa, helping her understand all the illusions in life and find a place to practice. In the end, they both achieved enlightenment. This type of happy ending is a unique feature in Buddhist teachings, those who know how to develop the mind to practice and seek liberation.