The Art of Character Building

With the purpose of propagating Buddhism, the poems published in Buddhist newspapers before 1945 were imbued with national sentiment and contained Buddhist thoughts and philosophies. Most of the authors used expressions and ways of speaking that were very close to life, but the expressive nuances were not rich. The poetic language was simple and used flexibly, so it easily entered people's hearts. These means effectively contributed to conveying the profound teachings of Buddhism to the people.

Poets have also been creative in language, knowing how to combine reality and fantasy, and at the same time using abstract words in Buddhist philosophy to create meaningful verses and poetic images with high symbolic and expressive value. Tam Binh demonstrated this through the poem Playing on Thien Thai Mountain published in Vien Am So 8:

“The dream of ignorance has just awakened. Sitting waiting for the moon to rise, the wind is blowing from all sides.”

There are poems that use simple, rustic language, both as a promise and as a gentle advice: The world is full of hardships, only by recognizing the nature of life and letting go of all attachments, greed, selfishness... in the heart will life be more peaceful and free. As Giac Nhien expressed in the poem The Boat of Suffering in the magazine Tu Bi Am No. 2:

Maybe you are interested!

“The sea of suffering, whose boat is sinking in life? Experiencing so many storms, thinking of it, oh, how sad. People in this world are lost in dreams, causing sorrow. Tears are more abundant than the ocean.”

The author used metaphors, borrowing the images of “sea of suffering” and “boat” to compare life and people. People are boats that are always drifting in the sea of suffering and cannot escape. From there, the author continued to use the rhetorical device of comparison, to compare that human “tears” are more numerous than the ocean. With simple words, close to the language of the people: sea of suffering, storms, tears, ocean… the seven-word poem in Tang Dynasty by author Giac Nhien is no longer

A classic, noble literature that seems to have been composed by a folk author, with lyrics close to life and people.

It can be said that Giac Nhien's art of using language, metaphors, and comparisons is nothing new, but it gives readers a wide range of associations, allowing them to feel the philosophy of Buddhism contained in the poem, and through that, the author can easily express his deeper, more passionate sympathy for everyone.

With the use of language, metaphors, and comparisons, other authors also expressed the profound philosophy of Buddhism. As Diệu Không compared, all things in the world are just dreams, that is, the author abstracted things into a dream and this helped readers easily understand the nature of all things is not to exist forever:

"The whole world is like a dream

Hidden away with the sunset.

Here, the author used figurative language to describe things and that description made the poem more meaningful. In addition, the author both abstracted and concretized all things. Just bringing the scene into the dream, then immediately returning to concretize the thing like "the sunset shadow". Although the sunset shadow or the dream are not permanent, they are two different states, one has form and the other has no form. Thanks to the author's art of using figurative language in these two verses, it has expressed the meaning of the operation of all things.

The two verses have nothing special in their art of expression, but through the figurative language of Buddhism, they evoke in the reader contemplations about the floating world.

Tam Binh with the poem Playing on Thien Thai Mountain published in Vien am so 8 also shows us clearly the temporary life with practical language, at the same time the author also uses historical references to talk about the glory and wealth in life:

"Seeing defeat is better than seeing a pair of mushrooms on the ground, Pitying life, fame and fortune are like a pot of millet."

How many human struggles and victories, how many honors in life, but the author used rhetorical comparisons, condensed into only the images of "a pair of mounds of earth" and "a pot of millet". The image of "a pot of millet" is the author's use of the story "The dream of golden millet" to show that wealth and glory are no different from a dream. Thus, through those two verses, we understand the author's intention to show people that all honors and victories in life, no matter how good or bad, will eventually turn to dust, nothing lasts forever.

The poem Knowing the illusion, one must seek the truth by Bich Phong published in Tu Bi Am issue 21 also shows us the impermanence of life through the author's art of using very ordinary language. Bich Phong used a comparison comparing human wealth to "silver clouds" and comparing human life and death to "the sound of drums and watches":

“Wealth and honor are like silver clouds. Life and death are not even a full hour.”

The two comparisons in the two verses show that the author has shifted from visual observation to auditory perception, that is, he has just taken us to observe the clouds, then quickly pulled us back to listen to the sound of the drums. This proves that the author has used language that evokes associations and creates images somewhat sensitively.

Not only that, monk Bao Giam in Early Bell No. 1, using metaphors, also clearly showed people that the world we live in is only temporary:

"Willow invites each other to return to Pure Land

Don't be greedy for lodging in Sa Ba."

The beauty of Bao Giam is that it has incorporated Buddhist language into the verse with the words “Pure Land” and “Sa Ba Temple”. Thanks to this, the author has emphasized to us that the world we live in is just an inn and the time we are living is just a temporary resting place, not an eternal life. Therefore, we should not be attached to this world and should not try to cling to it, because the more we cling, the more suffering we will have. Only the Pure Land, a peaceful and pure place, is the true homeland.

human reality. The author is someone who knows how to use Buddhist words and realistic, familiar images to create artistic verses.

Along with this use of concrete words, Nguyen Thien Chinh also created two simple verses:

“Good things are treasures we should cherish. Taste them and see how sweet and delicious they are.”

“Good things” have no form, no color, no smell, cannot be tasted, smelled or touched, but the author knows how to use the rhetorical device of concretization to turn abstract things into things with form and smell. It is very interesting that the author has helped people taste the delicious flavor of good things. The art of using language in the author’s poetry has created for people the feeling of stepping from darkness into light and thus before their eyes, a whole cool, blue sky appears, very attractive and impressive.

In addition, there are authors who know how to use language that is rich in imagery and music, that is, rich in images and colors as well as rich in melody, as Thanh Bao described:

“Destroy the forest of delusion and enter enlightenment. Tear apart the net of views and see the true nature.”

Or as TB wrote:

“The Cao bell and the Dou gong stir up the souls of the mundane world. The forbidden forest and the dragon well hide the shadow of the sun.”

Or as Huyen Am hummed:

“The silver stream cries out over thousands of feet of rock. The green mountains reach up to several layers of clouds. The flock of birds seems to be reciting Buddhist scriptures. The distant wind carries the sound of the Master's verses.”

The language of the above verses is simple and familiar. The poetic images are often a combination of images in Buddhist language and traditional language.

folk, making the verses not heavy on the classical nature of ancient poetry. Thanks to the combination of linguistic images like that, the musicality in the verses is more strongly influenced by the musicality of folk poetry, creating a closeness that is easy to understand for the masses when learning about Buddhist teachings. The images in the verses are images close to people's daily lives, but that does not mean that the verses lose their figurative nature. Because it is these images that create the figurative nature of the verses that carry the breath and life of Vietnamese people, conveying the profound teachings of Buddhism into folk life from these familiar and familiar images.

Through rhetorical devices: comparison, metaphor, personification, symbolism... poets create poetic lines rich in imagery, painting, and music that make readers feel like the rhythm of life is peaceful before the scene of Zen, bringing people back to a peaceful mind in their own lives. That is also the initial contribution of poetic language in Buddhist press before 1945: bringing poetry and its language closer to people's lives and entering people's lives.

The Zen literature of the 10th - 14th centuries, represented by the Ly - Tran Zen poetry, clearly depicted the image of a person who has deeply understood Buddhist philosophy. The human being is the first element and can be said to be the main image in poetry. Coming to Zen poetry, the image of the human being is discovered in a surprising and interesting way through pictures of life. Works such as Cao tat thi chung (Man Giac), Ngu nhan (Duong Khong Lo), Thi de tu (Van Hanh),... have conveyed philosophical views, views on life and a subtle, beautiful view of society in general and contemporary people in particular. Thanks to being imbued with Buddhist philosophy, most Zen poets share the same concept of human beings, of the existence - birth and death of human life. They believe that the human body is composed and exists by the four elements and five aggregates, it is dependently born, and selfless. Impermanence is the nature of human life with all its stages, from childhood, adulthood to old age and death to continue a new life, a new existence. Therefore, some people believe that the human body lives in this life and dies in this life like a shirt, old must be replaced, there is no

There is no need to be confused or afraid. This has been mentioned many times by Zen masters, as a warning to those living in the impermanent stream of life.

Inheriting the ideology and philosophy of the image of the temporary human body from Zen poetry, Thanh Tam also expressed the poem " Advice to practice" on Vien am number 8. Although the author has not created unique poetic language like Zen poetry, but with the use of simple language, he has partly described the impermanence and illusion of the human body:

“A hundred years in the human world

What is the point of a thin body…”

Through that, with the use of simple language, Tri Hai with the poem " Having a body, one must cultivate" published in Torch of Wisdom issue 68, also showed great optimism when seeing through the impermanence and falseness of the human body:

"Thinking about it makes me laugh

Ask you what life you were born into?

In Compassion Sound No. 26, Venerable Bich Lien, using everyday language, also boldly showed people clearly the impurities and impermanence in the human body with a spirit of freedom:

"Everyone born in this world has that body, and within that body, everything is counted.

Bones, skin, blood, flesh, large intestine, small intestine.”

The above verses show us that the authors have also expressed Buddhist philosophy in the art of building human images, but the artistic quality is not high. Therefore, if we talk about the artistic value of using language in Buddhist poetry and literature in the press before 1945, it is true that it has not met the enjoyment needs of readers. However, with concise and simple language, the poets have also painted a realistic picture of people, making readers feel like they are facing the real scene and feel the thoughts conveyed by the poets.

In general, the characteristic features in the artistic style of using language of the poems expressed in the Buddhist press at that time were simple, sincere,

imbued with Buddhist philosophy. Through that, we see that the poets' ability to use artistic language always shows the combination of religion and life. The poets' inner world is expressed not only by the meaning of words but also by the sound, rhythm and image of those words. Each word and each sentence is expressed by the poets exactly as they see and feel, which is an echo from the poet's soul, which shows that they have expressed the concentration of conciseness of language.

In short, the poetry pages in Buddhist newspapers mostly revolve around the topics of practicing according to the Dharma and presenting the philosophy of living a noble life, living well, bringing benefits to oneself, to others and to the whole nation. That contributes significantly to the work of bringing religion into life and secretly fostering the spirit of protecting and preserving the homeland. Most of those poems are born from Buddhists and aim to illustrate and convey Buddhist philosophy without placing emphasis on artistic innovation. Therefore, although the artistic value is not high, and does not bring readers aesthetic vibrations in poetry, each word, each idea, each image and the tone of expression are sincere, genuine, pure and close to people's daily lives.

3.4.2. The artistic value of prose

The innovations in prose are innovations in the art of expression. Studying the artistic value of memoirs, short stories, novels, and essays in Buddhist newspapers before 1945 will, to some extent, contribute to giving us a comprehensive and profound view of the innovations in Vietnamese literature when shifting from the medieval literary system to the modern literary system. Especially the changes in the art of construction as well as the structure and language of the work. In addition, this study may contribute more or less to the study of literature in the transitional period in our country.

3.4.2.1. The art of character building

Character is the basic form to describe and convey human image in literature. Learn the artistic value of building character appearance and psychology.

can help us grasp the writer's thoughts, because the character is the element for the writer to reveal the theme and thoughts of the work. At the same time, through the character, the writer wants to express his ideas, thoughts and concerns about the world, about life, thereby helping us to recognize the philosophy of life of the era in which the writer is living.

Through studying the novels and short stories in Buddhist newspapers before 1945, we can see that almost all authors have one thing in common in the style of character development. Every author builds characters according to the concept of “good” and “evil”. This is a continuation of traditional literature when writers build characters according to the concept of “bao” and “biem”.

The girl named Quynh Lien in the novel "Tu la cuu phuc, tinh la vien han", was used by the author to build her appearance according to traditional concepts.

when compared to the beauty of nature: "Spring green, almost at the age of marriage, dignified appearance, graceful demeanor, bright blue eyes, curved eyebrows, hair mixed with clouds, skin color shining like snow, truly a peerless beauty in the world, thinking back to the rows of fairies in the royal palace, cinnamon palace also cannot compare".

With the same way of building the character's appearance, the author Chanh Niem in the novel Duyên trước tình sau made the reader unable to help but be stunned by the beauty of Thieu Hoa: "The couple gave birth to a daughter named Thieu Hoa, at the age of eighteen, with a beautiful appearance, clouds surpassing her hair, snow surpassing her skin color, eyebrows as high as phoenix eyes, a smile like a spring flower, truly a heavenly beauty, one of a kind in the world, second to none in the world".

With the novel Filial Piety and Buddha Feelings , Lien Ton, although somewhat realistic from the initial description, then the author also borrowed the metaphorical and poetic way of writing to emphasize the physical beauty of the character he wanted to mention: " One day, Phan Qui went to the temple to burn incense and pray, just as he stepped out, he suddenly saw a woman about the size of a full moon, with a beautiful face, holding a young child's hand, coming from outside the temple gate. The two of them just met and both stopped to look, it seemed like there was a predestined relationship in a previous life, causing one to be beautiful, the other to be talented, their love was already there but they were still shy on the outside".

Comment