The Development of Buddhism and Its Influence on Vietnamese Society Throughout History

Introduction

The Buddhism religion was founded by Siddhartha Gautama who was also known as the Buddha in India more than 2500 years ago. In the second century BC, the Indian emperor Ashoka the Great-declared Buddhism as the state religion in India where the Buddhist monasteries were set up all over the country and missionary work was encouraged to assist in the spread of the religion. In the next two centuries after the declaration of Buddhism as the state religion, Buddhism was noted to have spread widely in India, and the philosophies and thoughts concerning Buddhism had become diverse although the Buddhism followers interpreted the religion's ideas differently. However, the religion, later on, spread in other regions and countries such as China and Vietnam. Currently, different forms of Buddhism exist around the globe with each form having a different interpretation of the Buddha's teaching. The various forms of Buddhism represent different geographical areas around the globe. This includes, first, Mahayana Buddhism, which exists mainly in Japan, China, Taiwan, and Korea. Secondly, Theravada Buddhism that is present in Cambodia, Thailand, and Burma. Thirdly, Tibetan Buddhism that exists mainly in Nepal, Tibet, Mongolia and various parts of north India and Russia. Each type of Buddhism tends to reveal a specific text and tends to have a slightly different interpretation of Buddha teaching. The Buddhism religion has approximately 470 million followers around the globe, thus being considered to be among the major religions around the world. This study aims to discuss the introduction and development of Buddhism in Vietnam and its influence in the Vietnamese society.

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Introduction of Buddhism in Vietnam

The Dynastic Period

Before the end of the second century BC, Vietnam had embraced the Buddhism religion that was centered or started at Lay Lau that is located towards the northeast of the current capital city of Hanoi. Luy Lau was considered the capital of Han region that was located in Jiaozhi which was a very popular center since it was visited by most if the Indian Buddhist missionary's monks who were on route to China. The monks decided to follow the maritime trade route from India to China since it was the route that was mainly used by the Indian traders. Therefore, it was considered to be safe.

Over the next eighteen centuries, China and Vietnam were considered to have shared various common features of religious, philosophical, and cultural heritage. This was due to their proximity, their continuous trade, and Vietnam being annexed at least twice by China. Therefore, Vietnamese Buddhism is considered to be related to Chinese Buddhism. The type of Buddhism that was initially adopted in Vietnam is the Mahayana Buddhism which tends to make Vietnam unique mainly among the Theravada countries of Southeast Asia. There is also the Theravada Buddhism in Vietnam, which exists primarily among the Khmer ethnic group that is located in the southern region of Vietnam

During the Dinh dynasty, Buddhism was recognized at the Vietnamese state as the official religion, and this was due to the increased esteem of Buddhist faith that was held by the Vietnamese monarchs. The Early Le dynasty also continued to offer the same kind of recognition to the Buddhist church as a way of ensuring the spread of the religion throughout the country. However, the development of Buddhism during that period is also attributed to the recruitment of erudite monks into the countries courts since the newly independent country needed a certain ideological base on which they would build a nation. All the kings that ruled during the Ly dynasty sanctioned and professed Buddhism as the country's main religion. This continued even during the Tran dynasty that existed between the years 1225 and 1400, however during that period, Buddhism had to share the platform with the emerging growth of Confucianism. In the fifteenth century during the Le dynasty leadership, the Buddhism religion fell out of the court's favor. The religion, however, regained some stature during the Nguyen dynasty who upheld royal support to the Buddhism religion. In 1920, the Buddhist revival movement was introduced in Vietnam with the intention of reforming and strengthening the institutional Buddhism that was facing huge depression due to the increased spread of Christianity and other religions in the country. The movement continued its effort to revive the Buddhist movement until the 1950s.

The Republican Period

In 1954 to 1975, Vietnam split into two, forming the southern and northern Vietnam. Before the spit, approximately 50 to 70 % of the population in Vietnam was considered to be following the Buddhist religion. The country split occurred due to the policies introduced by President Ngo Dinh Diem. The policies were considered to bring about claims of religious bias in the country where one religion was favored as compared to the other. The president who was among the minority Catholic Vietnamese introduced the pro-catholic policies that were focused on antagonizing the Buddhist religion that had dominated the country. These policies triggered the split of the nation due to contradictions or disagreements that occurred between the Buddhists and the non-Buddhists. The policy was considered to support or uphold the Catholic religion, which was a clear indication that the policies were biased.

In 1963, the Buddhists were prohibited from raising the Buddhist flag during the Vesak celebrations in the city of Hue. This was an act of discrimination since the Catholics had previously been allowed to raise their religious flags that were planned in honor of the newly elected archbishop. This favoritism led to increased protests in the country that resulted in the deployment of the law enforcement officers, a huge number of civilians were killed during the protest. The mass rallies against the government were termed as the Buddhist crisis. The conflict was considered to culminate in Thich Quang Duc, leading to the extent of deploying the military tactics that lead to the killing of thousands of Vietnamese citizens. The increased cases of violence in the country also contributed to increased conflict and disagreements between the Vietnamese government and the nations supporting nations around the globe. This incidence made the United States government withdraw their support from the region. The Buddhist crisis triggered a government coup in 1963 that lead to the death of the then president Diem. However, the political strength of the Buddhist was considered to increase in the 1960s. The union or collaborations of different schools and orders led to the formation of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam brought about the huge political influence. The leaders of the church were considered to have a huge say or opinion in the Vietnamese polities. For example, Thivh Tri Quang was one of the church's leaders who could at times challenge the government opinions or plans.

In 1975, after the fall of the Saigon regime, the increased religious practices that include Buddhism were abolished in the country, and the entire nation was put under the control of the communist rule. In North Vietnam, the government formed united Buddhist Sangha of Vietnam that forced the Buddhist clergies to function under the control of the government. While in South Vietnam, the United Buddhist Sangha of Vietnam was resistant against the communist government rule. This resistance lead to the arrest and detention of the Sangha leadership, the Sangha properties were also seized, and the union was outlawed. The government, however, founded a new union known as the Buddhist Sangha of Vietnam. This union was in charge of all the Buddhist organizations that were considered to be under the government control. The government intention was to control the Buddhist religion that was practiced in the country to avoid the increased cases of Buddhist resistance against government rule and policies.

However, since 1986, various reforms have been developed in Vietnam that has allowed the Buddhism religion to be practiced in Vietnam without any individual resistance. On the other hand, no organized Sangha is permitted to function independently in the Vietnamese state. Every Sangha has to be under the control of the government to avoid resistance against the government policies and opinions. In 2007 the pure land Buddhism which was considered to be the most practiced Buddhism in Vietnam was officially recognized by the Vietnamese as an official religion in the country. This was an indication that the government was focused on the support of Buddhism religion in the country. The government support of the religion encouraged people to join the Buddhism religion. According to research, approximately 9% to 16% of the Vietnam population identify themselves as Buddhist. Currently, the religion has spread both in the northern and southern region of Vietnam and has been embraced by the vast majority of the population.

The Influence of Buddhism in the Vietnamese Society

The practice of Buddhism religion in Vietnam brought about various influences in the society that was not present before the introduction of the religion by the Indians who were on route to China. The influences triggered by the introduction of Buddhism religion include: first, Buddhism brought about significant Vietnamese adulteration since its doctrines were considered to be mixed with other philosophies, for example, the Taoism. Some of the Buddhist monks started to study the exile of immorality while others were involved in the study of toasic magic. Some of the monks were praised for their supernatural power while others turned to become doctors of fame. After the eleventh century, Buddhism had deeply penetrated Vietnam. Due to the religions mixture with Taoism and Confucianism that formed an indigenous part of the fundamental beliefs of the common population. The mixture of deities and spirits in Buddhism lead to little difficulties due to sit flexible format. The various elements present in the Buddhism, religion lead to the development of a ritual that satisfied the spiritual demands of the Vietnamese population. After the religion being completely ingrained into the Vietnamese thoughts and life, it became hard for people to leave the religion. However, the government's efforts to eradicate Buddhism in the region were futile since the religion has already influenced the minds of the followers.

Secondly, the native animistic beliefs and Taoism were considered to affect the idea of Buddhism that was held by the Vietnamese and even amongst the higher echelons of the society. These effects altered the people's perception of the religion, for example, through making them stick to the religion such that even the government regulations cannot change them. Also, magic and sorcery, which formed part of the religion, turned to become acceptable principles among the Buddhist monks, this highly contributed to the end of the Buddhism religion

Thirdly, the religion triggered compassion and salvation among the Vietnamese. Buddhism in Vietnamese tried to emphasis on the physical and mental discipline instead of the acquisitions of doctrine knowledge. In Vietnam where Buddhism is mostly, practiced salvation tends to be the non-transferrable reward of a person's effort to achieve Buddha-hood. The Vietnamese Buddhism allows or fosters for collective salvation as opposed to the poorly individual salvation. Even though the Vietnamese salvation doctrine rationalized political activism and social commitment, it could ultimately determine the authority of the throne.

Fourth, the increased cases of adulteration among the followers of the religion led to the alteration of the Vietnamese traditions...