Some Features of Poetry and Literature of Ly

economic center of both agriculture and commerce of the whole country. Commerce developed strongly thanks to the irrigation system. Commercial centers such as Tu Pho (Thanh Hoa), Long Bien (Hanoi), Luy Lau (Ha Bac), Thang Long, ... many villages had markets. Relations between Dai Viet and other countries such as China, Champa, Chenla, Siam were carried out mainly by sea and some large commercial ports such as Van Don (Quang Ninh).

To develop the circulation of goods, Dai Viet kings all minted money. The Tran Dynasty expanded the purchase and sale of fields with money, and the minting of money was undertaken by the factory officials. Monetary relations had penetrated into economic life.

- society. The state collected taxes in money, the function of paying in money had developed widely by the Tran Dynasty.

In the handicraft economy, the state continued to build large industrial workshops including many industries such as: pottery, weaving in Trich Sai (Hanoi), mulberry in Nghi Tam (Hanoi), hat making in Ma Loi (Hung Yen), carpentry, forging, weapon production, paper making, etc. During this period, handicrafts were mainly produced in families, with a self-sufficient nature.

Maybe you are interested!

Weaving is a traditional craft of the nation. During the Ly Dynasty, the weaving industry became popular and was sponsored by the state, especially silk weaving. In 1040, King Ly Thai Tong taught his palace maids to weave brocade.

Pottery has existed for a long time in the history of the nation, and by the Ly Dynasty, it had reached a high level of both technique and art. The court ordered people to make large tiles and bricks decorated with towers, flowers, and dragons in the construction of the Imperial City, pagodas, temples, shrines, etc. Household items, architecture, and Buddhist sculptures demonstrated creativity and ingenuity reaching a level of sophistication. Therefore,

After the country gained independence, the pottery profession contributed to creating a unique cultural identity of the nation.

Metallurgy, in 1014, Ly Cong Uan had just ascended the throne and issued an edict to distribute 310 taels of gold from the treasury to cast a bell to hang at Hung Thien Pagoda. In 1057, Ly Thanh Tong issued an edict to cast two golden statues of Pham Vuong and De Thich for worship. In addition, in 1010, Ly Thai To gave 1,680 taels of silver to cast a large bell at Dai Giac Pagoda; in 1056, Ly Thanh Tong gave 12,000 pounds of copper to cast a bell to be placed at Sung Khanh Bao Thien Pagoda,... Although the technique at that time was manual, our people knew how to melt metal to cast statues, make weapons and mint money.

From the 12th to the 14th century, the commodity economy and foreign trade developed, the small-scale agricultural economy and the large landlord economy developed strongly, contributing to the sustainable development of Dai Viet's economy.

The economic life of our people in this period developed sustainably thanks to the wise kings who established a stable political regime, appropriate economic policies, and met the needs of the people. When the economy developed, the people's living standards were improved, and people had the conditions to care about the fields of culture, spirituality, etc.

Economic and political conditions are not directly reflected in the philosophy of life, but the economic, military and diplomatic development contributed to creating the philosophy of life in Ly - Tran poetry and literature.

On Vietnamese culture and society during the Ly - Tran dynasties

In terms of society, changes in political and economic life, along with the establishment of a strong autocratic monarchy, have affected the class structure in society during the Ly - Tran period. Social structure with

village community system and communal land ownership and patriarchal kinship. Society has three main classes:

First, the aristocratic class: In the class structure of the Ly - Tran period, the king played a special role, leading the center of the community, running all state affairs. The king held the sole and supreme power, concentrating comprehensive leadership in an indivisible unity. According to Eastern concepts, the emperor was considered the "son of heaven", the son of heaven, so obeying the emperor's orders was following the will of heaven. In the Proclamation on the Transfer of the Capital, the king also said that he followed the will of heaven and the country "Above, he followed the will of heaven, below, he followed the will of the people" [4, pp. 229 - 230]. The combination of divine power and royal power, politics and religion was a characteristic of Eastern culture, aiming to increase power in the hands of the Emperor. The Ly - Tran dynasties maintained the system of hereditary succession in the royal family, maintained marriage within the clan, in order to limit the intrusion of other clans. To avoid conflicts over the throne and maintain the dynasty, the Tran Dynasty also applied the Supreme Emperor system, meaning that the father king only ran the country for a certain period of time and then transferred power to his successor.

Assisting the king was a team of mandarins and nobles. When the kings ascended the throne, the first thing they did was to confer titles and marquises on the nobles and their close and distant relatives. The structure of the family into important positions such as Dong Chinh Vuong, Vu Duc Vuong, Khai Quoc Vuong, etc., the positions such as Thai Tu, Thai Uy, Do Nguyen Soai, Pho Do Nguyen Soai, Dai Tuong Quan, etc. were reserved only for the royal family. The Tran Dynasty also implemented the "Tong Tu Duy Thanh" regime to firmly protect the king's family. The system of mandarins and nobles expanded due to economic development, population growth, and territorial expansion.

Second, the common people: are the masses of people in society, including many components from urban people to villagers with all kinds of

occupations from farmers, handicrafts, small traders, fishing, making baskets, etc. In which farmers are the main part that creates material wealth for society, the core part that plays an important role in the economy of the whole country. Farmers have to pay taxes to the national treasury. With the policy of "royal soldiers in agriculture", the common people can both produce agriculture and serve as soldiers. Organize the life of farmers according to villages and clans. The village system plays an important role in Dai Viet society, it is the nucleus that nurtures the whole nation, a solid wall against foreign invasion and cultural assimilation. The village is a solid wall protecting the centralized feudal regime. Therefore, the government highly values the village and the elders in the village.

Third, the slave class: they also contributed to production and cultivation, but they had to serve the king, nobles, and princes in the palace. Their status was low, they were just servants to the royal family. Slaves were free people who had fallen into poverty and were forced to work as slaves for the palace. The laws of the Ly - Tran dynasties also had provisions recognizing slaves of the noble class. This meant that slaves were the lowest class in society recognized by the court and society.

The socio-political structure of the Ly-Tran period had three classes: nobles, commoners and slaves. This class system existed, balanced and stabilized a unified system. Power was concentrated in the hands of the king and the nobles, establishing a strong centralized feudal state apparatus.

In terms of culture and ideology, feudal dynasties proactively adopted Confucianism. From the Ngo - Dinh - Tien Le dynasties, newly established dynasties had to spend time paying attention to building the country after a thousand years of Chinese domination, building the economy, developing politics and stabilizing social life. Cultural and ideological issues were not given much attention and development. By the Ly - Tran dynasties, the country

peace, the need to build and develop the country is increasingly higher, proactively accepting Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism. During this period, Buddhism had a profound influence on social life, solving problems of ethics, humanity, and human psychology, creating stability in society. Therefore, literature, especially Buddhist literature, developed with many authors who were both Zen masters and poets.

During the Ly - Tran period, Confucianism - Buddhism - Taoism all existed, however Buddhism had a great influence during the Ly - Tran period. In the early period of independence, Confucianism did not develop significantly. During the Ly Dynasty (1070), when Confucianism had its first examination to select officials, Confucianism began to step onto the political stage of the feudal dynasties of Vietnam. Buddhism developed and entered the lives of the people. It focused on solving the problems of people's morality, it could not become a theoretical system to manage society. Therefore, Confucianism had a new land to exist and develop. When Confucianism - Buddhism - Taoism coexisted and developed, the Ly - Tran achieved many achievements in all fields, became prosperous, and promoted the combined strength of the three schools. During this period, the intellectual classes not only purely understood Confucianism - Buddhism but also developed a new land to develop.

– Taoism, which they study all three schools. Thanks to that, they can promote the power of Confucianism – Buddhism – Taoism.

During the Tran Dynasty, Confucianism and Buddhism coexisted but there was a mutual struggle in ideology, creating an underground stream of division of areas of operation. Confucianism operated on politics, Buddhism operated on morality. Although Buddhism dominated folk life, due to the development of the Confucian education system, the number of Confucian scholars increased, along with the strength of the feudal government, creating conditions for Confucianism to have a higher position than Buddhism.

When Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism were actively accepted by our people, there were great changes in many aspects, especially the contents, viewpoints and categories of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, which changed according to the needs of Vietnamese society. For example, the Confucian idea of "heavenly mandate" not only protected the interests of the king but also protected the interests of the nation. Buddhist thought originated from the world, but when it entered Vietnam, it entered the world, loyalty to the king was associated with patriotism. In particular, the values of Confucianism and Buddhism had mutual influence. The Confucian scholar class also accepted the values of Buddhism. In the work "Nam quoc son ha", Ly Thuong Kiet used the Confucian idea of "heavenly mandate" but the content changed. That is to show the will of independence and self-reliance, to care about protecting the country, to reflect patriotism, to reflect the will of the Vietnamese people. It can be said that when our people proactively accepted, many problems appeared in social life associated with the identity of Vietnamese literature, such as the appearance of Nom script.

Therefore, according to Nguyen Cong Ly, the Ly - Tran era was a glorious, brilliant, heroic and beautiful era in Vietnamese history. It was the spirit of the era that produced kings, monks, generals who were also writers and poets. And it was also the sentences and poems that reflected the spirit of the era. It was an era of national independence, national unity, and community unity. An era of national renaissance and national development. An era of leisurely, peaceful, forgiving, open and noble.

1.2.2. Some features of poetry and literature in the Ly - Tran period

The Ly - Tran period was the period when our country was liberated from the domination of foreign invaders and began the work of building the country. This was the most glorious and brilliant period in the history of the nation. When we say this is a glorious period, it is shown in the fight against foreign invaders, and brilliant in the work of protecting and building the border after the victory. According to "Ly - Tran Poetry and Literature, Volume I:

“We can understand the joy of an entire nation at this time. This is the excitement of the whole country. The royal regime, the Ly dynasty (1009 - 1225) as well as the Tran dynasty (1225 - 1400), in general, had kings worthy of a heroic nation. That excitement included a belief, a determination. Belief in the future of the country, determination to protect the border, and build a foundation.” [4, p.35]. Therefore, the Ly - Tran was a period of peak development in terms of economy, politics, culture, and ideology.

Literature in this period developed in a special context when our nation gained independence after a thousand years of Chinese domination. Literature had major turning points, with the birth of written literature (10th century) and the appearance of Nom literature (late 13th century) with a diversity of genres and inspirational content.

In terms of genre, literature in the Ly - Tran period had main genres such as: poetry including Zen poetry, narrative poetry, lyric poetry, etc.; parallel prose had ways of expression such as fu, hich, cao, chieu, bien, tap, etc.; prose had typical forms such as commentary, ngu luc...; narrative had main forms such as stories, history, elegy, memoirs, etc. Many literary genres in this era contributed to creating the political - social face and revealing specific viewpoints and ideas in building and defending the country.

Literature of the Ly - Tran period includes Buddhist literature and patriotic literature. Buddhist thought in Ly - Tran poetry and literature is mainly Zen thought. It includes philosophical works, history, poetry, prose, verses written by knowledgeable monks and nuns, such as works such as Khoa hu luc, Thien tong chi nam by Tran Thai Tong, Thien uyen tap anh ngu luc, Tam to thuc luc, etc.

The first verse of the Impermanence Verse in the lower volume of the Khoa Hu Luc: “The night color is first understood,

Divine light gradually emerged from the sky. The darkness gradually turned white.

Poetry translation:

The old beauty of the shop. Suddenly the old flower touched,

Because of the karma of fighting, the body is like an ice shard, fate is like the wind. Do not be a long-time guest,

"In the end, early success is the key" [5, p.172]

The night was just breaking,

The sun peeks out from the sky. Spring hair is secretly white, Jade features are about to fade to pink.

Who knows the years are short, Still fighting for the results of heroic deeds. Body: a layer of ice shining in the sun, Fate: a torch blown by the wind. Don't be a guest forever, Return early to collect your work.

A typical poem with Zen inspiration is the poem Tu Tai by Tue Trung Thuong Si:

"This path is endless, gradually encroaching, In the end, I will return to the old forest.

Sai gate Mao house is a cool place to live,

"The mind is free from seeing and non-seeing" [5, p.241]

Poetry translation:

The rat fangs and vines keep encroaching. Let's go home, I'll be old and sent to the mountains.