8 - “Buddhism for This World”: The Buddhist Revival in Vietnam, 1920 to 1951, and Its Legacy

Summary

Anyone who is a Vietnamese…when it's sunset, approaching a temple in a daze, upon hearing the compassionate sound of the temple bell, cannot fail to be startled awake from mundane dreams.

(Nguyễn Mục Tiên, Sài Gòn, 1927)

As for the term “chẩn hưng” [revive], “chẩn” means to move or shake, and “hưng” means to raise up, to wake up, a deeply-sleeping person.

To revive Buddhism is a great act of merit, especially for our nation's citizens.

(Phạm Tài Luyện, Hà Nội, 1936)

Introduction

On the morning of 11 June 1963, 67-year-old monk Thích Quảng Ðức sat down in a meditative position at a busy intersection in Sài Gòn and burned himself to death, shocking Vietnam and the world. His motivation was to “startle awake” sentient beings, to enlighten all to the repression of Buddhism and Buddhists under the Diệm regime. This dramatic act, the historiography agrees, propelled the “Buddhist Struggle Movement” of the 1960s forward and into international attention. At least fifty-seven monks, nuns, and lay people subsequently committed self-immolation; this movement was also characterized by countless protests and demonstrations against war and repression, the monks of Sài Gòn's Ấn Quang Pagoda at the forefront, as well as war relief and rescue work and grassroots development projects. Scholars conventionally trace the term “engaged Buddhism” to Thích Nhẩt Hạnh and his many activities during this period, such as the School of Youth for Social Service and his efforts in peace negotiations abroad. However, that “pure” and “beautiful” struggle was shortlived and was transformed in nature, according to Thích Nhẩt Hạnh, as religious factionalism and years of war took their toll; Thích Nhẩt Hạnh himself was exiled overseas from 1967. After communist reunification in 1975, Buddhists suffered decades of persecution and tribulations, still ongoing with the grievances of Buddhist dissidents.

These are the agonistes aspects of contemporary Vietnamese Buddhism that have preoccupied Western scholarship and global concern.